8 MANUFACTURE OF TABLE SIRUPS FROM SUGAR CANE. 



Althong'h no weighings were made of measured portions, it was evi- 

 dent to all familiar with cane fields and the yields which they give 

 that the field of cane showii in PI. IV, fig. 1, would yield from 25 to 

 30 tons per acre. Mr. McRee estimated that his crop would yield an 

 average of 850 gallons of sirup per acre. lie had 5G acres in cane, 

 all of which was devoted to siruj) making. The fertilizer which he 

 used was a complete one, composed of potash, cotton-seed meal, and 

 acid phosphate, and of this mixture the amount usually applied is 

 from SOd to 1,000 pounds to the acre. On new land, however, the 

 quantity of this material is corresjiondingly diminished. 



This part of Georgia appears to be practically the center of the 

 cane-sirup industry, and, judging by what has been accomplished by 

 Mr. McRee, there is no limit to the extent of the industry save the 

 capacity of the market to be supplied. 



The Georgia Land and Improvement Company is said to have 

 options on over 400,000 acres of land in Clinch C/Ounty, which will be 

 utilized for the establishment of a cattle industr}^ and for raising cane. 



At Quitman the party was taken in charge by Judge Joseph Till- 

 man and Mr. W. A. Davis. The board of trade was visited and a 

 large number of the citizens of Quitman were presented to the pai'ty. 

 W. A. Davis & Co., of Quitman, sell about 3,500 barrels of sirup a 

 3^ear. Until a few years ago the market was restricted to Georgia, 

 but it now extends from Massachusetts to Texas. 



From Quitman the party i^roceeded to C-airo, where the mill of Mrs. 

 M. L. Wight was visited. This is th(^ largest sirup mill in this sec- 

 tion and is a type of tlie best modern construction. In most of the 

 factories visited no attempt was made to (chemically clarify the juices, 

 but dependence was placed altogether on the action of heat and skim- 

 ming. At the Wight mill, however, the juices were sulphured cold, 

 as is practiced with the cane juices used for sugar making in Louisi- 

 ana, and subse(j[uently lime was added nearly to neutrality, thus pro- 

 ducing a good clarification without darkening the color of the finished 

 product. 



Cairo is the center of shipment for sirup iu southern Georgia. 

 About 2,500 acres are planted in cane within a radius of 15 miles from 

 the town, and the shipment from Cairo last year amounted to 10,000 

 barrels of sirup. A general view of the Wight mill is shown in 

 PI. V, fig. 2. 



Particular attention is called to the contrivance at the Wight mill, 

 as shown in the figure, for handling the cane by machinerj'. In load- 

 ing a wagon ropes are first laid across the wagon body, on which the 

 canes are laid. These ropes are afterwards tied, and by means of a 

 crane the whole load is removed at once. The factory is built on the 

 side of a hill, so that all the handliug of the nuxtei-ials iu the factorj% 

 after the unloading of the cane b}" nunins of tht; crane, is by gravity, 

 thus securing the greatest economy iu manual labor. 



