Lime-Sulphur Concentrate. 7 
MAKING THE CONCENTRATE. 
PRELIMINARY STEPS. 
As previously stated, the materials needed for the manufacture 
of lime-sulphur concentrate are lime, sulphur, and water. In order 
to facilitate the making of the concentrate certain preliminary 
preparations should be made before the actual process of cooking is 
begun. The usual procedure is to weigh out accurately the desired 
amount of sulphur and to mix it with water until it is of a smooth, 
pasty consistency, taking care to break up all the lumps. This will 
require considerable time and patience if done by hand, but with the 
aid of a mixing machine, as shown in Figure 6, the work of making 
sulphur paste is greatly lessened. If a mixing machine is employed, 
water may be drawn from the water storage tank, a_ sufficient 
amount being used to make a paste that is not too thick to flow 
freely. Sulphur paste may be conducted from the mixing machine 
to the cooking tank by means of a trough. Although often desir- 
able, it is not absolutely necessary to make a paste of the sulphur, 
since the latter may be used in dry form, provided the lumps are 
first removed by screening. The important consideration is to break 
up the sulphur lumps as completely as possible. Sulphur should 
never be dumped into the cooking vessel in large bulk, but should be 
sprinkled gradually or poured so that a homogeneous mixture will 
result. 
In order to expedite the slaking of the lime, it is desirable to use 
hot or boiling water. Sufficient water to slake the lime may be heated 
while the sulphur is being prepared. As described in this bulletin, 
this is automatically provided for in the larger plants which have a 
water storage tank heated by either furnace flues or steam coils. 
Assuming that there is sufficient hot water in the cooking vessel and 
that the sulphur is free from lumps, the next step is to place the 
requisite quantity of lime into the cooker and begin the slaking. 
More water should be added from time to time to prevent burning of 
the lime. Sulphur should preferably be added when the slaking is 
well under way or promptly at the conclusion of the slaking. As 
soon as this has been done. the full quantity of water (preferably 
hot) should then be added so as to bring the contents up to the 
volume called for in the formula and an additional amount should 
be used to equalize that which is expected to be lost through evapora- 
tion. If desired, the sulphur may first be placed in the cooking 
vessel with a little water and the lime added later. After the lime is 
slaked additional water is added to bring the contents up to the 
required volume, as described above. 
MEASURING GAUGES. 
It will be convenient to have a graduated measuring device to 
enable the operator at any time to ascertain readily the volume of 
the solution in the cooking vessel, since best results are obtained by 
not allowing the contents to fall below the volume of the finished 
product. In small cooking plants an ordinary measuring stick will 
serve this purpose. This can be made from a wooden strip with 
notches cut in the edges to indicate the contents. Thus, if a 50-gallon 
110416°—22 2 
