418 THE AMERICAN FARMER. 



the skill with which this is accomplished. On account of the acids and other matter 

 contained in it, as has been previously stated, cane-juice will commence to deteriorate as soon 

 as exposed to the air. The result of this deterioration is to destroy crystallization, and convert 

 true cane-sugar into grape-sugar, or glucose. It should, therefore, not be retained in the 

 reservoir, but be carried at once from the mill to the boiling-apparatus. The tendency of the 

 juice to fermentation by contact with the air may be arrested by sulphur fumigation. Syrup 

 and sugar thus treated are lighter in color and usually superior in quality. This is not, 

 however, a necessary practice in the process of sugar-making. 



The first important treatment of the juice as it leaves the mill, is defecation, or the sepa 

 ration of it from all the impurities which it may contain. The strainer only removes the 

 coarse foreign substances, but the acids and other impurities, which it holds in solution, can 

 be freed from it only by chemical action and heat. The most common method of accom 

 plishing this is by the use of lime. It must, however, be used with care and skill. It must 

 be pure and fresh, and never used in its caustic state, but carefully slaked and washed in 

 boiling water to remove the potash it may contain, lime itself being but slightly soluble in 

 hot water. When properly prepared, it will be of the consistency of thin cream, or milk of 

 lime. The exact quantity to be used will depend upon the amount of acid in the juice, and 

 can only be determined by a person experienced in the business, or tests with litmus paper. 

 From one to four pounds of lime are generally used to five hundred gallons of the juice, 

 according to the quality of the latter. It must be remembered that the use of lime is to 

 separate those substances in the liquid that are held in solution in it, which prevent crystalli 

 zation, but unless judiciously employed, the aim will be defeated, and the crystallization will 

 be impaired or prevented. Mistakes of this kind made in the early stages of the process 

 cannot be successfully remedied by subsequent treatment. 



Next to lime, heat is an essential agent in the process of defecation, and this should also 

 be employed judiciously, both being used in connection, the juice of the cane running 

 directly from the mill into the defecator. On account of the rapidity with which the juice 

 changes on exposure to air, it is important that this process should progress as rapidly as 

 possible. As soon as the juice runs into the tank, the heat should be applied. When the 

 entire quantity of liquid to be defecated has risen to the temperature of about 180, or a 

 degree of heat just endurable by the hand when immersed in it, the preparation of lime may 

 be added, and stirred in thoroughly to become well mixed. The heat should then be brought 

 up to the boiling-point, but not permitted to boil. When this point is reached, the heat 

 should be shut off at once, and with a large skimmer or other appliances for the purpose, the 

 thick, dark-colored scum that has formed should be quickly removed. The liquid may then 

 be drawn off into another tank, and the sediment at the bottom strained to remove the 

 impurities. Various methods are employed in clarifying the juice; sometimes a portion only 

 of the quantity of lime is added to the liquid at first, and the contents heated and skimmed, 

 after which the process is repaated before evaporating. After the removal of the scum, the 

 liquid will be clear, and of a lighter color than before. 



Evaporation. This is conducted in various ways. The three principal methods of 

 concentrating or evaporating the juice of the cane are, first: by a direct application of fire 

 only, as in the use of kettles, common pans, and some kinds of evaporators. The second is 

 by the use of both fire and steam, where fire evaporating-pans and steam defecating and 

 finishing-pans are employed. The third is by the use of steam alone, as in the ordinary steam 

 trains, or the steam trains with vacuum-pans. While the steam train is considered complete 

 in itself, vacuum-pans are to be preferred, especially on the larger plantations. 



The oldest method of evaporating the juice of cane consists of a series of open kettles, 

 four or five in number, varying in size and arranged in a row in an arch over a fire. This 

 was called a &quot;kettle train.&quot; The kettles were made of iron or copper, and varied in size, in 



