From Soil to Sack 



of a set of cylindrical vessels called 

 a diffusion battery. These vessels 

 communicate with each other by 

 pipes so arranged that the juice 

 issuing from the bottom of one dif- 

 fuser flows into the top of the next. 

 By this means the sugar content 

 is dissolved and the sweet, viscous 

 liquid or syrup which is the starting 

 point of both beet and cane sugar is 



secured. 



* * * * 



This viscous liquid as it comes 

 from the mill, whether from cane or 

 from beets, is subject to almost 

 immediate fermentation, since it 

 forms an ideal culture for the prop- 

 agation of germs. If allowed to 

 stand, it will quickly sour and 

 invert into single sugar. 



It is a curious point about the 



sugars, well worth noting here, that 



in weak solutions they are easily 



fermented, while in concentrated 



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