The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-01-26


 total solid content in the juice of more than 14 per cent and a cane su- gar content frequently not exceeding 12 per cent the good quality of such canes as the abovefis rendered more apparent and as the syrup producing capacity of a cane Is practically in di- rect proportion to the amount of total solids in the juice, the superiority of these canes for syrup making is at once evident.
 As has been before stated. by the use of judicious methods of cultivation and maturing greatly increased toun- age on these light soils can be secured, and the more progressive cane growers are giving careful attention to this im- portant feature of the question of cane production.
 While the employment of improved and intelligent methods in. the cultiva- tion and fertilization of the crop is ab- soIutely necessary to success, the ap- plication of progressive and rational principles in the manufacturing pro- cesses is even more essential, and it is in connection with this feature of the economy of syrup production that there is the most urgent need of improvement and the betterment of existing meth ods. Indeed. in view of the unpro- gressive and uneconomic methods which have been employed in many sec tions in the manufacture of this com modity, it Is somewhat surprising that the industry has been conducted with any profit whatever.
 To begin with the expression of the juice from the cane. it Is found that many of the small mills employed in connection with the syrup industry only give an extraction of from 55 to 60 per cent. out of total of 90 per cent. in the cane, leaving from 30 to 35 per cent of the juice in the half crushed cane after the farmer has ex- pended much time, labor and money in the production of a heavy tonnage. Even where a mill may be normally capable of securing an extraction of from s5 to 67 per cent, the maximum efficiency Is seldom realized on account of failure to screw up the rolls sufi- ciently tight for fear that the feeding of the mill will be interfered with or that more power will be required to operate 1t. As regards the clarification and defe- cation of the juice, there is in many cases a striking absence of intelligent | care and skill in carrying out this DOT tion of the process of syrup making, and quite often no clarifying agents whatever are employed. In fact, 1t may | De Sdlu HtIittt III PiopoitiOh Oi ! the syrup plants outside of Louisiana the use of lime and sulphur Is prac- | tically unknown. the spontaneous CO., agulation or fiacculation of some of the | impurities in the juice under the in- huence of heat being relied upon to yield syrup of supposed high purity and quality. Cooking the Syrup.
 With the type of direct heat evap- orators more commonly employed on n small scale the juice is rapidly brought to boil and Is hurriedly pushed for ward from compartment to compart-
 ment without allowing time for the re- moval of the blanket of scums, the impurities in solution. as we'll as those left in suspension, being rapidly cooked down with the syrup. As a result, a product Is secured which is dark in
 color. lacking in flavor and palatabiI- lity and by reason of the presence of
 an excessive proportion of albuminous
 and other organic impurities, it's sus- Iceptibiilty to fermentation is much in-
 creased and It's keeping qualities there-
 by injuriously affected
 Many of the small syrup producers
 in a number of States, as is we'll known.
 have no means of determining when the product has reached the proper density except by the application of the simple rule of thumb" the Beaume lsaccharometer or hydrometer being un-
 known to them, and on this account the syrup is greatly lacking in uni formity of density and quality. Where
 such conditions prevail. the syrup boil
 CT may be liable. on the one hand, to
 draw off the syrup before the proper
 density is attained. in which case fer mentation Is all the more likely to en- sue, while on the other hand. if an ex- cessive density is reached. the product
 Is sure to crystalline or sugar" sooner or later
 With the small open fire evaporators
 in common use, the dificulty attendant
 upon the regulation of the heat rend-
 CTS the production of a syrup of uni form quality almost impossible, and
 the product is often scorched by over heating. or else loss is occasioned by boiling over. On the other hand, the
 employment of steam, even in small evaporators. enables the syrup maker to regulate the heat at will, and he can secure a rapid or slow rate of
 evaporation by simple turn or half Iturn of a valve.
 The fact that cheaply constructed
 wooden evaporators equipped with gal
 vanized iron coils can be employed tc
 advantage in syrup making has enabled lmany small syrup producers to install steam plants and an increased produc- ton of an improved quality of syrup has been the result. Tn many cases a
 steam boiler can be used to good ad- Ivantage in other departments of farm economy, but where even a crop of cane of modern size is to be worked up into syrup the employment of a steam outfit
 will be highly desirable without re- gard to any other possible use of the boiler and engine.
 | While in many localities the crude and unprogressive methods to which l
 have referred may be seen fin opera | tion, l am glad to say that in other l sections may be seen evidences of real
 and substantial progress both in cane culture and in the manufacture of l syrup. The success attendant upon the l efforts of some of the leading syrup producers of southeast Georgia to build Iup a market for their product has been due to the fact that they have concen- | trated their energies upon the produc-
 ton of a syrup of uniformly high quail ty and excellence and they have suc- ! ceeded in creating a large and increas-
 ing demand for their goods by reason
 of the fact that their product was of a
 standard quality and character and had
 attained a reputation based upon the
 actual merit of the article.
 In this State, I know of parties who
 produce large quantities of syrup for
 the trade selling 1t exclusively in bar rel packages and making no especial 1 effort to produce a syrup distinguished for brightness of color. excellence of
 flavor and uniformity In density. Some