The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1911-11-24

pounds of nitrate of soda per acre is
recommended. This should be mixed
with the soil at the time of applica
ton, to get the best results.
Stripping.
Early in October stripping should
begin. All dead leaves should be re-
moved, so as to admit sunlight to the
stalks, which helps to sweeten the
juice. This can be done at odd times.
and so one will be so much work
ahead when the rush of harvesting be-
gins. The crop should be allowed 20
stand as long as possible before cut
ting. because immature canes make
inferior syrup.
Cutting.
From the middle to the end of No
vember is time enough to harvest the
sugar cane anywhere in the state In
the preparation for harvesting the first
consideration is the topping. The i'm
mature joints contain much glucose
and to prevent sugaring of the syrup
we need to leave some green joints on
the cut cane. About one immature
joint to every eight mature ones is a
good proportion to maintain in the
topping process. After topping. the
cane should be cut and windrowed as
soon as possible, and in the event of a
cold snap, the canes should be covered
with leaves or trash of any kind to
protect them from the frost.
Grinding.
When preparing to grind the crop
a heavy mill should be used; because
with a light mill the extraction will be
low. The location Of the mill should
be where the juice can be run by
gravity to the evaporation. If an inch
pipe connects the juice tank with the
evaporation, considerable time and
trouble viii be avoided when making
syrup.
Straining.
The juice tank demands our close
attention, and the straining of the
juice as 1t runs from the mill must be
done thoroughly. The best juice tank
is make from the half of a barrel, set
on a platform right below the mill
spout. If black moss is available as a
filter the tub should be filled with it.
On the top of the juice tub a double
layer of cheese cloth should be placed,
held in position by a hoop, SO as to
be easily removed for cleaning Right
under the will spout a piece OF com
mon window wire screen should be
placed. This will catch the rough
trash that runs from the mill with tho
juice, and it can readily be cleaned as
often as desired. In fitting the tube
to the bottom of the tub it should be
inserted so as to be flush with the DO
tom. and a piece of wire gauze should
be fitted on the mouth of the pipe to
act as a strainer. These strainers and
the moss filter will require cleaning
several times day when in full oper-
alton. 1t is best to have several tub
fuls Of moss, and when one tubfuI gets
foul, to remove, wash and dry it before
using it gain. This saves waiting for
the moss to dry, for to cleaning il
thoroughly it must he first dried.
EVaporating.
The kind of eVapOrator to use is of
Importance, and our aim should be to
have an evaporator with large skim
ming surface. If one is going to use
furnace, the eVapOrstOr should be
constructed SO that it is easy Of ma
nipulatiOn. A long box IS feet by 80
inches, divided into three compart
ments, viii be found satisfactory. Il
should be made Of 2-inCh poplar or
cypress, about 10 inches deep and fit
ted with q bottom of No. 20 galvanized
sheet iron. This is divided into three
compartments, the first one foot OF
so longer than the others, so as to
have plenty Of skimming surface for
the green sap when 1t goes in at first
The kind of SKINNER is also of i'm
portance. The strainer skinner, gen
orally used in syrup-making on the
Florida farm is not a perfect skinner:
for the most of the material that ii is
supposed to remove escapes through
the perfOrations in the bottom and
mixes with the boiling juice, thus
giving a dark, cloudy product of in
ferior flavor. When the first compart-
ment of the eyaporator is filed with
juice, the heat should be applied grad
ually, and it should never be allowed
to come to the boiling point. The
heavy green scum that rises at first
should be removed by means Of a
/ board used like a scraper, and taken
off into a gutter fitted for the purpose
on TO the end of the evaporation. When