CHAPTER XXVII 



The Control of the Factory 



By the term " chemical control " it is not meant that the control of the 

 factory should be given over to anyone but the manager ; but by it is implied 

 a system of routine analysis and sampling combined with an organized 

 scheme of technical book-keeping whereby the chemist can detect, locate, 

 correct, and hence control any imperfections of the process of manufacture. 



To obtain this end three postulates are demanded : correct weights, 

 correct samples and correct analyses ; neglect of any one of these three will 

 vitiate the control, but as shown in some sections below incorrect measure- 

 ments may, in some cases, be indicated from analytical data alone and it is 

 not the least of the duties of the chemist to check the weights against the 

 analyses ; this is particularly the case where the cane is bought or where 

 its weight forms a basis of payment for the labour. 



In addition, the sugar factory should be regarded as a huge chemical 

 experiment, and efforts should be made to account for every pound of sugar 

 entering the factory. The points necessary to the control as defined above 

 are discussed below. 



Determination and Definition of Weights. Cane. — For the purpose of 

 the technical control cane should be defined as everything which goes 

 through the mill, including the dry leaves and other foreign matter. In 

 some cases where cane is purchased it is customary to make an arbitrary 

 deduction from the recorded weight; and executives, not without reason, 

 may object to the appearance of two cane weights as likely to be a source of 

 misunderstanding with an ignorant population. 



No difficulty attaches to the weighing of cane, which is conducted pre- 

 cisely as for other material. In Cuba the transfer derricks {Plate XIX) 

 are now often fitted with means for weighing the suspended load of cane before 

 it is dumped into the cars. 



Juice. — The weight of the juice is often determined on beam scales, two 

 tanks, one filling and one emptying, being employed. These apparatus are 

 provided with appliances which print the weight on tickets at each weighing. 



In many houses automatic self-recording weighing machines, of which 

 the Richardson^ may be taken as an example, have been installed with very 

 satisfactory results. The Baldwin and Hedemann machines described in 

 the first edition have found no extended use. The Richardson weigher is 

 shown in Fig. 347. It consists of a strong iron frame, supporting the equal - 

 armed beam A ; to one end of the beam is hung the weighing tank or hopper, 

 B, in which the liquid is carried, and to the others is suspended the counter- 

 balance or weight box, C. 



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