StJGAIi PLANTS. 259 



Cane is ground during November and December. 

 The remaining leaves are removed and the tops, with 

 a couple of the upper joints, are discarded. This is 

 usually done in the field. Where there is danger 

 from frost the canes are often thrown in a windrow, 

 so that the tops cover the lower parts of the canes 

 just in front of them. 



The manufacture of sugar may be simple and with 

 comparatively inexpensive machinery, but for the best 

 results, both in quantity and quality, an extensive 

 plant, large capital and much skill and technical 

 knowledge is required and cannot be described here 

 in detail. In brief the steps are about as follows: 



The juice is extracted by some form of pressure, 

 which ruptures the cells and allows the juice to escape, 

 or by diffusion, in which the juice flows out of the 

 cells on the same principle that it flows from one cell 

 to another. The juice is then purified by heat, chem- 

 icals and filtration. The surplus water is next evapor- 

 ated and the thickened syrup set away in a proper 

 temperature, when the sugar crystallizes. The mo- 

 lasses may then be allowed to drain away through 

 openings in the bottom of the receptacle, such as a 

 hogshead, or the molasses may be extracted by plac- 

 ing the massicuite in a rapidly revolving cylinder, 

 whose sides are a sieve which allows the molasses to 

 escape, but retains the crystals of sugar. 



The result is a soft sugar of a varying color from 

 brown to white and varying in purity, according to 

 the skill in manufacture and the completeness with 

 which the molasses is extracted. These processes 

 are usually performed on the plantation; the sub- 

 sequent refining, frequently at some distant refinery. 



