THE SUGAR-CANE PLANT 



SACCHARUM 



OFFICINARUM 



Sugar Products 



former is refined or worked up into loaf sugar. In India a more compre- 



Grades of Sugar, hensive classification is necessary. The following are some of the chief 

 grades, and the more generally used vernacular names for these : (1) The 

 CANE JUICE is ras ; (2) The REFUSE (MEGASS) is pata ; (3) The JAGGERY 



GUT. or RAW SUGAR is gur or gul (this is practically the MUSCOVADO of the West 



India planters), but when more carefully prepared and dried to a greater 

 extent, it is sometimes clarified with lime and forms a sort of low-grade 

 sugar. This is, in fact, the sugar of the well-to-do cultivators and middle 

 classes of the population of India as a whole. (4) When intended to be 

 refined, the juice is not boiled down to the extent of gur, but is sold in a 



no,. more liquid condition known as rob. (5) MOLASSES and TREACLE are two 



grades of the uncrystallisable sugar drained from gur, and to a less extent 

 from rob. They are known as bhira, choa, lapta, math, etc., for molasses, 



country Sugar, and putri Idt for treacle. (6) COUNTRY SUGAR is a higher grade article 

 than the sugar of (3) above. The juice has been boiled to a greater extent 

 than for gur, and on cooling it is stirred with a stick till it thickens. It- 

 is not, however, refined, though fairly well drained of its molasses, and 



Refined Sugar, is known as lal-shakar, khanr, bhura, clioyanda, etc. (7) SUGAR REFINED. 

 This is often called WHITE SUGAR. The rob is generally boiled, clarified and 

 the scum (shim) removed, then drained of its molasses. It is at this stage 

 called putri, or, carried farther, it is washed completely free of molasses 

 and then crystallised, when it is khand. For this purpose putri is placed 

 in a long conically shaped basket lined with fine cloth and suspended, 



Diffused Water, water in a finely diffused state being the while made to pass through. 

 The water is derived from a layer of moist aquatic weeds placed on the 

 top for that purpose. The weeds part gradually with the water, which 



Crystallised is seized by the sugar. The layer of crystallised sugar formed immediately 

 below the weeds is again and again removed until the whole has been 

 crystallised. In place of lime various other substances may be used in 

 the clarification, such as the ashes of certain plants or impure carbonate 

 of soda. Milk may be employed, as also the mucilaginous substances 

 of certain plants, such as Hibiscus, Kt/dia, etc., or, more rarely, 

 oils are added to the boiling rob. These mucilages coagulate, and in 

 doing so bind up the impurities which are then skimmed off. 



The various qualities of khand are recognised according to their position 

 in the straining-basket. The top layer, the middle portion and the bottom, 

 all constitute separate grades recognised in the trade. So also the khands 

 of different localities have reputations of higher or lower merit. But the 

 greatest possible diversity of opinion prevails as to the exact value of the 

 names given to these different qualities. The clarifying and crystallising 

 of sugar by the Native methods, thus briefly outlined, is supposed to 

 involve such special knowledge that it is rarely attempted except by 

 experts, and hence every village community possesses, or formerly 

 possessed, its small refining factories. From the skimmings (shira), 

 as also the pata, vinegar is prepared in some parts of the country (see 

 p. 1109). 



Sugar-candy or Twice-refined Sugar. In Indian trade three 

 widely different substances are returned as sugar-candy misri, kuza misri, 

 and chini. In the preparation of all three, khand is dissolved in water, 

 boiled, and milk used in its clarification. Slightly different systems of 

 production prevail, but these need not be detailed. The result is the same, 

 namely the white crystalline sugars known as misri and chini. These 



952 



Qualities of 

 Khand. 



Village 

 Refineries. 



Vinegar. 



Misri. 



Clarified. 



