138 CULTURE OF THE SUGAR BEET. 



ployment of large numbers of workmen, which it has become the desire 

 and the necessity of the manufacturers to avoid, and the improvements 

 that have been brought to bear upon it depend for their value upon 

 their automatic functions, by which the suppression of manual labor is 

 effected. But before proceeding to the discussion of the means referred 

 to for suppressing manual labor, it will be proper to call attention here 

 to the means devised for increasing the effective power of the hydraulic 

 press, the most important of which seems to be that of Gallois, depend- 

 ing upon the principle developed by others working with the continu- 

 ous presses that the juice of the root liberated from the cells cannot 

 carry out all of the sugar under pressure, and that much is lost by me- 

 chanical adhesion. His idea was, therefore, to wash the sacks from the 

 preparatory press with a small stream of water, amounting in all in the 

 operation to about 15 per cent, of the normal juice obtained. The water 

 is made to flow automatically upon the center of each sack as it is put in 

 place on the hydraulic press from the preparatory press. It has been 

 found more efficacious to use hot than cold water. The water becomes 

 slowly diffused through the thin layer in the sack and thoroughly washes 

 the mass. 



It in no way affects the quantity of pulp produced, but reduces the 

 proportion of sugar left behind by about 1.7 per cent. ; that is, the ex- 

 periments of Gallois prove that for each 100 pounds of beets worked he 

 was able to save 0.39 pounds of sugar, amounting to 39 sacks of 220 

 pounds each, for each 10,000 tons of beets worked, and this quantity in 

 France is worth 2,000 francs ($400). The cost of evaporating the extra 

 water added is estimated at 300 francs (8 GO). 



Viviens* analyses of pulps obtained in the application of Gallois' 

 method for washing the pulps in the hydraulic press and with the hy- 

 draulic press alone showed that with washing the loss in sugar was 0.8 67 

 per cent, of the beets worked, while the pulps not washed carried away 

 1.28 per cent, of the beets handled. 



Lalouette conceived the idea of surrounding the movable platform of 

 the hydraulic press with a chest made up of strong vertical iron bars 

 placed very closely to each other and lined inside with a strong perforated 

 metallic sheet generally of copper. The press has the advantage of sup- 

 pressing part of the manual labor, as no sacks are required, they being 

 replaced by simple small sheets or towels which serve to divide the 

 charge to the press into layers, but in order to render the press com- 

 pletely effective second pressing must be resorted to. In order to ren- 

 der the work more automatic, therefore, this press is used in connection 

 with filter presses, into which the pomace from the rasp is forced by 

 means of a strong force-pump. By this means 60 per cent, of juice is 

 obtained. The filter presses are so arranged that the pulp from them 

 falls directly into the chest of the Lalouette press, and much handling 



* La Sucrerie Indigene, xii, 350. 



