93 



of time the manufacturing of sugar and the growing ot cane may become 

 separated, like the producing of milk and the making of cheese have 

 become in Ontario. 



As in other plants, the sugar of the cane is found dissolved in 

 the juice. In Louisiana, this juice contains about Q%-i4% of sugar, 

 sucrose, i% to 2 % glucose, and about an equal quantity of other solids. 

 Two methods are at present used, on a large scale, to extract the 

 juice. The one most generally employed for cane is that of pressing it 

 out by passing the stalks as they come from the field between large iron 

 rollers which almost touch each other. These rollers are frequently almost 

 three feet in diameter, and six to seven feet long, and five, six, or even nine 

 of them are placed in successive sets of three near each other. In the 

 case of a five roller mill, the front set has three rollers and the one 

 behind the remaining two. The stalks of cane in passing through these 

 successive sets of rollers are, of course, pressed twice in each set of three; 

 for two rollers are lying side by side at the bottom and the third is 

 placed above and between these, in such a position that it almost touches 

 the second one of the lower rollers but allows a little more space to be 

 between it and the first of the lower rollers. This enables the cane to 

 pass easily into the mill and to be at the same time thoroughly pressed. 

 In order to make the extraction of the sugar from the cane as complete 

 as possible, the cane is generally moistened with water while passing 

 from one set of rollers to the next. When the stalks leave the mill they 

 are practically dry and torn into comparatively small pieces, and present 

 a somewhat spongy appearance. They are now largely used as fuel 

 under the boilers of the sugar houses. The other method for extracting 

 the sugar from the cane is called the diffusion process. It is the method 

 almost exclusively employed in obtaining the sugar from beets. In it 

 the cane is first cut transversely into pieces not more than an inch long, 

 subsequently sliced, or shredded longitudinaly as fine as possible 

 and paciced tightly into a battery of iron cylinders or cells all connected 

 with each other by pipes. Water is pressed into the first cell and from it 

 to each succeeding one, remaining about ten minutes in each. Fresh 

 water is passed through in this way several times, or until the chips in 

 the first cell are practically free from sugar. These chips are then 

 thrown out. After the cell has been refilled with fresh chips of sugar 



