59 



into the jaws of the pulper, where they are seized between revolv- 

 ingcjlinders armed with knife blades,which speedily reduce them 

 to fragments. These fragments pass into the pulper proper, to 

 which consists of a double revolving drum, driven by belting ; 

 and the speed of this drum is 600 to 700 revolutions per 

 minute. The pulp is received in front of the pulper in a small 

 reservoir. The next stage is extracting the juice from the 

 pulp by hydraulic presses worked by steam power, and is at 

 once simple, easily managed, and efficient. For this purpose 

 the pulp is put into wool bags, 33 inches deep by 22 inches 

 broad, in a quantity not to exceed, when slightly flattened, 

 the thickness of a finger. These bags, or sacks, are piled up 

 one over the other, separated by sheet iron trays, and, after 

 some preliminary pressure, are transferred to the hydraulic 

 presses, where the remainder of the juice is squeezed out. 



" The cake obtained after this pressure is used as fodder for 

 cattle, or in the manufacture of brandy and vinegar, as well as 

 for the manufacture of paper, for which it is increasingly in 

 demand. 



" The total cost of the machinery and implements employed 

 in the washing, pulping, and pressing department to work 

 160,000 lbs. of beet per 24 hours is stated to be ^1,967. 



"3. The Woollen Sachs.— From 900 to 1,000 sacks are sent 

 to the washing machine every six hours ; and the price of 

 a sack varies from 2s. to 3s. The first cost of a full set of 

 them for a 500-acre factory is .£400. About 2,000 trays are 

 required, costing about .£200 ; and the price of a sack- 

 washing machine and connections is <£20 ; making a total 

 under this head of £620. 



"4. Defecation of tTie Juice. — After the liquid product has 

 been collected into a special reservoir, there are various im- 

 purities to be eliminated, some of which can be removed 

 before crystallisation of the sugar by the combined action 

 of heat and the use of lime. This operation is known as 

 defecation of the juice, when a certain portion of the sugar 

 combines with some of the lime used, forming the saccharale 

 of lime ; and from this saccharate the sugar has to be freed 

 by the action of carbonic acid gas, which, having a greater 

 affinity for the lime, combines with it, forming insoluble car- 

 bonate of lime, while it liberates the combined sugar. This 

 process is called the " carbonatation " of the juice. Defecation 

 is effected in a batch of open, circular, round-bottomed pans, 

 made of copper, into which the liquor, after being conveyed 

 from the juice reservoir, into an upright iron boiler, called a 

 " monte-jus " (literally mount juice), is then passed into the 

 defecating pans, when milk of lime is poured into the warm 

 juice, and well stirred into it. 



