430 FIELD OROPS 



587. The Manufacture of Sugar. After the beets reach 

 the factory, they are washed and trimmed, and are then cut 

 into long strips called ''cossettes." The juice is then ex- 

 tracted from these cossettes by means of hot water, leaving 

 the by-product known as beet pulp. A small quantity of 

 Ume is then added to the juice; the impurities combine with 



Figure 144.— A mill for the manufacture of beet sugar. Thig factory has a capa- 

 city of 15,000,000 pounds of sugar a year. 



it and solidify, and are removed by filtering. The purified 

 juice is then boiled down; when it thickens sufficiently, it is 

 placed in pans within a vacuum and boiled until the sugar 

 crystallizes. The grains of sugar are now separated from the 

 molasses by placing the "mass-cuite,'' as the product is called 

 as it comes from the vacuum pans, in a centrifugal machine 

 lined with fine sieves. The whirling action of the machine 

 drives the molasses through the sieves and the sugar is re- 

 tained. The wet sugar is heated to drive off the extra mois- 

 ture, after which it is ready for market, while the molasses 

 is again boiled in the vacuum pans until the sugar it contains 

 ciystallizes. This second sugar or mass-cuite is dark in 

 color, and is mixed with fresh juice to hghten it. It is then 

 boiled again m the vacuum pans and the sugar extracted. 

 The molasses from the second boiling is used for stock feed. 



