SUGAR MILLS. 



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five thousand acres of sweet potatoes, two thousand acres of sugar cane, and a considerable num- 

 ber of acres of beans, taro, and other kinds of grain and vegetables. The implements of labor, 

 as has been observed, are rude in construction, but are handled with great skill and effect. The 

 agricultural machinery is simple in principle but generally effective. The sugar mills consist 

 of three cylinders of hard wood, supported in an upright position by means of a wooden frame. 

 The cylinders are about a foot in diameter, and are arranged in a row, with a mortice between 

 them to regulate the approach and their pressure upon the cane. The central one has a wooden 

 axle or shaft extending through the frame which supports it, to wliich is attached a curved lever 

 of fifteen feet in length, by which the mill is readily worked. This central cylinder has a row 

 of cogs of hard wood near its upper end, which play into mortices cut into each of the two other 

 cylinders. A single bull or horse is generally used to work the mill, and the animal moves in a 

 circuit of about thirty feet in diameter. The cane is placed first between the central and right 

 cylinders, and before its escape it is caught by the hand of the workman and, being twisted like 

 a rope, is thrust in between the central and left cylinders, by which it is completely crushed and 



Sugar Mill in Lew Chew. 



its juice expressed, which flows through gutters into a tub placed in a hole near by. The juice 

 is then conveyed to neighboring houses, temporarily constructed for the purpose, and there boiled 

 in iron pans containing about eight or ten gallons. What use is made of all the sugar it is difficult 

 to understand, as the common beverage, which is tea, is never sweetened. 

 40 J 



