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THE CUBA REVIEW 



passes through all of the mills in order that as much of the juice as possible may be 

 extracted. The cane after it is crushed is termed "bagasse" and is conveyed by a 

 carrier directly to the boiler furnaces where it is consumed as fuel. In many of the 

 factories the cane leaving the second mill and sometimes that from the first mill is 

 sprayed with hot water. This process of spraying water on the crushed cane is known 

 as "maceration" and facilitates the extraction of the sucrose or sugar content in the 

 cane. 



The component parts of sugar cane are juice and fibre, the juice being known as 

 the water or moisture of the cane with all its solids in solution. The juice is made 

 up of sucrose, moisture and impurities, and these impurities, such as organic acids, 

 nitrogenous bodies, etc., are partially removed from the raw extracted juice by the 

 defecation or clarification process and in part accumulated in the final molasses. 



The mixed juice coming from all the mills is first strained through wire screens 

 or by Link-Belt strainers to remove particles of floating cane. It is then pumped to 

 the top of the factory building and enters the liming tanks. Here milk of lime, about 

 15° Beaume, is added to neutralize the acids and is thoroughly mixed with the juice 

 by means of compressed air. The limed juice is pumped into juice heaters where 

 exhaust steam is used to raise the temperature of the juice to 215° to 220° F., and 

 from these heaters the juice is discharged into settling tanks. The combined effect 

 of the lime and the heat results in the formation of many mineral compounds which 

 settle to the bottom of the tank, carrying down, also, some organic impurities which 



