MANUFACTURE OF TABLE SIRUPS FII()3I SUGAR CANE. 



INSPECTION OF GEORGIA SUGAR-CANE FIELDS AND SIRUP 



FACTORIES. 



Since the introclnction of sugar cane into the United States over a 

 hundred j'ears ago its cultivation for the purpose of manufacturing 

 table sirups has been extended until it is now practiced over large 

 areas of southern Texas, nearly the whole of the Slate of Louisiana, 

 poi-tions of southern Mississippi and Alabama, the southern part of 

 Georgia and South Carolina, and over the whole extent of Florida. 



Nearly all of the methods which have been emijloyed for this pur- 

 pose have been of a crude nature and involve no accurate knowledge 

 of the character of the cane employed, the amount of sugar which it 

 contained, or the chemical composition of the product secured. Very 

 few manufacturers have measuicd the land on which the cane was 

 grown, weighed the cane pi-oduced, or determined tlie percentage of 

 extraction in the mills employed or the yield per ton and acre of the 

 sirup secured. 



The quality of the product made has usually been of high character, 

 and the appreciation of its value for the breakfast tabhMind for cook- 

 ing pui-poses has gradually grown until it is now a recognized food 

 product throughout the whole of the region mentioned and in many 

 other parts of the Union to which it has l)een sent. So great has 

 become the demand for this wholesome, palatable, and nutritious 

 article of diet that in the past few years manufacturing establish- 

 ments have been erected on a much more elaborate scale and under 

 much more rigid control than heretofore. The old-fashioned mule 

 mill and iron kettle have given way to the steam mill and steam 

 evaporator. Imijroved methods of the treatment of the juice have 

 been practiced, and attempts have been made to secure an article of 

 standard quality and properties. Merchants desire to handle a uni- 

 form grade of sirup, so that when its value is once established thej^ 

 can meet the demands of their customers for this particular kind. 



One of the greatest difficulties, from a cominercuil point of view, 

 with which the table sirup industry in the South has to contend is 

 this lack of uniformity. This, coupled with the tendency of the sirup 

 to ferment in warm weather, has i-estricled its markets to a rather 

 limited area. An additional difficulty which these sirups find on the 



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