CHAPTER IV 



BEET JUICE 



FORTUNATELY for the producer of beetroot sugar his 

 raw material, the root, will keep fairly well, so he is 

 able to make sure of a constant and sufficient supply 

 from the day he begins work until his last load of roots 

 comes in. This is of immense advantage in the working 

 of such a delicate article as sugar juice. Interruption 

 of work is a most ruinous proceeding, but it must 

 sometimes happen in the case of the sugar cane. 



The roots have to be delivered to the factory as free 

 as possible from soil or stones, and thoroughly trimmed 

 as to the crown and the rootlets. They go straight 

 to the washing machine where they are completely 

 cleansed. Their next visit is to the weighing machine, 

 because in some countries the duty was levied on the 

 weight of the roots. In any case, the manufacturer 

 must know the exact weight of the roots he works, and 

 the knowledge is also necessary for fiscal statistical 

 purposes. 



Then comes the extraction of the juice. Fifty 

 years ago this was done by tearing the roots into pulp 

 in a powerful machine, and then squeezing the juice 

 out of the pulp by hydraulic pressure. It was an 

 interesting process to watch. The number of hands it 

 employed was remarkable. There was a constant 

 rushing about of people in a hurry ; first to fold up 

 the pulp in cloths and place it on the trays to go to the 

 press ; then the carrying of these trays and adjusting 

 them, one above another, on the press. And while 

 this was going on an opposite gang was as busy removing 



