230 SYNOPSIS OF THE PROCESS OF MANUFACTURE, 
upon the lime another gallon or two of hot water, and 
decant a second time. Place the washed lime in a deep jar, 
mixed with just enough of water to make a mixture of the 
consistence of very thick cream. The coarse particles will 
fall to the bottom, while the finer sediment will occupy the 
upper part of the jar. Dilute it with a little water when it 
is to be used. 
Cleansing of Barrels. Syrup barrels of all kinds, and 
especially those which have contained old molasses, should 
be thoroughly cleansed. ‘The importance of this will be 
better appreciated when it is known that if it be neglected 
or imperfectly performed, a refined syrup will acquire from 
the barrel a flavor which will render useless all the care 
and skill previously bestowed upon it. The barrels should 
first be washed out by pouring hot water into them, turn- 
ing them frequently, and standing them up on each end 
alternately until the water has abstracted all that it is ca- 
pable of dissolving. Lime-water may then be poured in, 
the bung inserted, and the casks turned at intervals, for a 
day or two, as before. Finally rinse them out, and suspend 
into each barrel, upon a bent wire, a lighted sulphur match, 
made beforehand by dipping a piece of cotton cloth into 
melted brimstone. A narrow slip of muslin may be so 
prepared, and afterward cut into pieces of three or four 
inches square, one of which is sufficient for fumigating 
a single cask. Insert the bung while the match is burning. 
Afterward withdraw the wire, and keep the barrel bunged 
up until just before it is to be used, when it should be care- 
fully rinsed out. 
New casks of oak may be purified simply by introducing 
into them a few gallons of lime-water, or asmaller quantity 
of thin milk of lime, and rolling them about frequently, 
so that the whole of the interior may be saturated with 
