»2 



F A It M E ft S REGIS I' E It. 



[No. 2 



CITAP. II. 



fJ'ashing tlic Roots. 



Washiiioris' not indi!?peni=ilile where proper pains 

 jv.ive been taken by ihe cleaners ; neiiher can il 

 be done in every .situation, the (luantity of water 

 required heinij i^o considerable. A stream of wa- 

 ter contiiTuoui? to a su^ar iTianufarlory would be 

 an ini|)oriant advantarre. In general, however, 

 the washing is attended witii many difficulties, par- 

 ticularly those arising Irom i'rosi, which not unli'e- 

 (inenlly puts a stop to it entirely; and some are 

 (iispoKed to thiidv that it may be (ii.«penHed wiih al- 

 togf'ther, i)y spending a liitlemore time and money 

 about the previous cleaning, and especially by us- 

 ing a largi"' rough lirusli, alter the scraping knife; 

 but this latter has not yet been tried. 



It is imfiortant that the vulgar prejudice in fa- 

 vor of" washing, and even the idea that a large 

 quantity ol water ie r'^quired in the manufactory 

 of beet sugar, should be done away with. The 

 manufacturers may rest asRured that the want of 

 water need not be an obstacle to an establishment, 

 in any case: and that the quantity absolutely ne- 

 cessary to carry it on is very small indeed. 



CHAP. Ill, 



Rasping the Roots. 



When M. Achard first attempted to mfike sugar 

 from the beet root, he began by drying the roots 

 by steam, then reducing ihem to paste by a me- 

 chanical process, and fiiiall}' extracting the juice 

 by pressure. It appears that the plan did not suc- 

 ceed, lor he abiuiduned it. In I'act, it is not that 

 the sugar undergoes alteration from this drying or 

 baking the roots, but that the pulp resulting iiom 

 the drying process is so finely divided and slippe- 

 ry, as to render it extremcdy difhcult to separaie 

 the juice from it. After many inefi(:>clual aitonipts, 

 M. Achard at last resorted to the method of rasp- 

 ing raw, 



Tlie texture of the bc^t root is so firm and com- 

 pact, especially the better varieties, that mere 

 pressure will extract but a small proportion of its 

 jince.s, which appear to be enclosed in a number ol" 

 little cells, and it is necessary to Itreak these by 

 rasi)ing, in order to set the juices at libertv. 



Other circumstances being equal, the best and 

 most minutelv divided roots will yield the greatest 

 quantity of juice with the least pre.'jsure ; and this 

 constitutes the perfection of rasping. 



1, BaspiPg Machines. 



There nre rasping mills of various kind?!, but 

 tliat invented by M. IMolard has been considered 

 one ol'the best in use. The principle is that of"a 

 cast-iron eyli'ider, setrourul with jairged, saw-like 

 blades, by means of which the roois are cut, torn, 

 and squeezed, till they part with as much of iheir 

 juice as is possible. It will rasp about three and 

 half tons of beet in an hour. Price charged by 

 M.JVlolard on deli very, 1000 francs (£41 13.s Ad) 

 The cylinder alone is worth halt'this sum, there- 

 fore an extra cylinder will add so luucU more to 

 U)ti cost of the wuchiue. 



2. Operation of Rapping. 



Two laborers are reqidred lo work JM. JVloIa"d'« 

 rasp, or pomelimes it is worked by one man and 

 two children. 



Of ail the operations connected with sugar mak- 

 ing, the ras[)ing demands ihe greatest expediiicjn. 

 As liltle as possible should be rasped belbrehand, 

 because the pulp speedily ahers fiy exfosure to 

 (he air. In fict, this alteration shows iiself in n 

 quarter of an hour, or, at most, half an hour after 

 ras[)ing. This operation, therefore, should oidv 

 keep pace with that uf the press, and not be mucii 

 in advance ol it. 



The rasp slioidd be washed at least once a day, 

 and kept as free from dirt as possible, all |)articlea 

 of juice, or pulp, being but the elements of fermen- 

 tation. 



3. Poicer for Working a Rasp Mill. 



The rasp ought not to l)e worked by hands, on 

 account of the expense. Horses or oxen are far 

 cheaper, and more powerfid agenl-s, but better 

 than these are wind or water powers. The last 

 decidedly the best, wherever a suflicienf fi^dl can 

 be obtained. Of" the two first mentioned, the au- 

 thor gives the prelijrcnce to oxen, as working 

 e(]ually well, and requiringfarlesscostly keep than 

 horses, the pulp from the mill being generally all 

 that is required to keep them — a description of 

 food which horses will not touch. 



M. Dubrunlaut is inclined to prefer a wind pow- 

 er, as being a r.Tore practical and general agent 

 than either water or steam, the former being rare- 

 ly to be met with in level agricultural disiricis, and 

 the latter very expensive, except in the immediate 

 vicinity of coal. The society IJir the encourage- 

 ment ofnational industry, aware of the importance 

 of this po\ver, offered a premium of 4000 f"ranc9 

 (£160) l()r the best mill, which premium was 

 awarded to M. de Lamolere. It is intended to be 

 placed on some one ol" the farm buildings. Cost 

 only 2,400 francs ( £ 100 ;) horses or oxen niaj' be 

 attached to it in the absence of" wind ; this provi- 

 sion is absolutely necessary in a beet-root sugar 

 n)anuractor3\ A pair of stones may also be ad- 

 ded, by means of which the family may l)e supplied 

 with meal and flour. The only inconvenience at- 

 tending a wind power is its inequality. This has 

 sometimes been complained of by the raspers. 



riiAP. IV. 



§1. Extract ion of the Sugar. 



The extraction of sugar from the pulp is only to 

 be performed by pressure; and the more power- 

 ful this is, the more the juice from a given quanti- 

 ty of pulp. However, it is impossible, do what 

 one will, to get it all out; for, even after the great- 

 est pressure, the pulp will still continue moist. 



In this operation, as in many others of a like 

 nature, the last particles of matter become so diffi- 

 cult to obtain, as to render it more economical to 

 neglect them altogether. Thus in pressmg the 

 pulp of the beet root, the first juice runs out of it- 

 self" fi'om the bags, and it continues to flow abun- 

 dantly under the slightest efforts of the press, 

 which the first alwavs are; the quantify then de- 

 creatfcs, i;erhaps in the inverse ruiio of the square 



