94 



F A R M E R S ' R K G 1 S T E R 



[No. 



hurdle is then carefully passed thronfrh the Ii(:(uor, 

 afterwards well rubbed with a brush, and then 

 washed in clean water. 



Cistern in lohich the Bags are Prepared. 



The cistern should be larwe enou<!'h to contain the 

 juice which is separated dLiiintr the above opera- 

 tion ; it ou<iht to be a few inches wider than the 

 hurdles, ami a Jbot or so lontrer than double the 

 lenjTth of the same. Thus supposinii' the hurdles 

 are 2 feet wide, by 2^ teet lon^, the cisiern should 

 be of the IbllowiiifT dimensions: — 



Breadth 

 Lenifih 

 Dei)th . 



. . 2^ feet. 

 . . 1' " 



There should be a cock in one corner of the cis- 

 tern. 'I'his vessel ought 'o be of stout wood, lined 

 Avilh thin cop[(er. Its situation tii the building is 

 between the rasj) and the press ; and one of its ends 

 ought to be as near as possible to the cistern for 

 receiving the pulp from the rasp. For the conve- 

 nience of working, it ouffht to be raised a ihw 

 inches above the level of the floor. It should be 

 surrounded by lour stout moveable rails to hang 

 the bags on, when they are arranoed. 



It is in this cisiern that the hurdles are recom- 

 mended to be washed with the cold lime water. It 

 is needless to say, that after such washing, the dir- 

 ty water should always be let oti', and clean admit- 

 ted. Cleanliness is indispensable in every stage. 



Cistern for the Juice, Pipes, Pumps, Sfc. 



This cistern serves to receive the juice as it 

 comes iVom the press ; and from thence it is trans- 

 ferred immediately to the clarifying copper. It 

 should be provided with suit;ible pipes, leading 

 from the press into it, and with a pump to throw 

 up its contents into the claril'yinir copper. This 

 cistern, therefore, should be placed lower than the 

 press; and, like the Ibraier, should be of stout 

 wood, lined with copper. The bottom should be 

 sliijhtly inclined, to enable the juice to draw to one 

 side, at the lowest part of which is a hollow, in 

 which the end of the pump is inserted, that it may 

 be entirely emptied. 



The dimensions depend on the mode of working. 

 If only one delineation take |)lace in twelve hours, 

 the cistern need not be above half the cubical 

 size of the dcfecatinn: copper. But if the plan be 

 to work on small charges, so as to make two or 

 three defecations in twelve hours, then the cistern 

 ought to be ofeciual capacity with the copper. 

 The form is of no importance whatever. The 

 ; pipes should be of copper, and the whole carefully 

 and frequently washed with lime water, and after- 

 wards well rinsed. 



3. Operation of the Press. 



'The cistern in which the bags are prepared, be- 

 ing placed as above described, one of its ends be- 

 in2r a foot or more from the pulp cistern, the four 

 .■rails are fixed, to support the hurdles. On the top 

 ,of these rails, as a fran)e, a hurdle is laid ; and on 

 the hurdle, a bag charged with pulp ; the bag and 

 its contents are then spread evenly on the hurdle 

 Jay two laborers, so as when finished to occupy a 



comparatively small space in point of thickness. 

 This done, another hurdle is placed upon the bag, 

 then a bag, and so on, in alternate layers of bags 

 and hurdles, till the pile amounts to ten or twelve 

 bags ; it is moved to the other end of the cistern, 

 where it remains till a third laborer carries it to the 

 press; another pile is then formed of equal height 

 to the one removed, which, in its turn, is moved 

 on, and replaced by another. The average charge 

 of the press is thirty bags. It is unnecessary to 

 explain fiirlher the details of this operation; expe- 

 rience would very soon dictate the best system of 

 working; we shall, therefore, go on to say, that 

 when done, the press is discharged, and the three 

 laborers proceed to empty the bags in a place ap- 

 pointed to receive the pressed pulp. The bags and 

 hurdles are then separated, and got ready lor an- 

 other charge. Supposing that only one set of bags 

 and fiurdles are in use, it is easy to work off ten or 

 twelve charges of a hydraulic press in twelve 

 hours. Thus from charges amounting to 400 kilo- 

 grammes (883 lbs.) of pulp, one should press in a 

 day 4 tons to 4f tons of roots, which, at seventy 

 per cent, of juice, would yield li^om 644 to 764 gal- 

 lons of juice. This juice is received in the cisiern 

 before mentioned. 



During the preparation of the bags, there collects 

 in the cistern, in vvhich this work is perlbrmed, a 

 certain quantity of juice, which would be hurtful 

 if suffered to remain there long. This, therefore, 

 ought to be removed at every charge, or, at most, 

 every two charges of the press, which is easily 

 done by the plug, or cock, at the bottom of the cis- 

 tern, and which communicates by pipes with the 

 juice cisiern. 



CHAP. V. 



Defecation of the Juice. 



The jmce of the beet, as it first issues from the 

 press, contains all the soluble matter of the root, an 

 analysis of it giving (as will appear hereafter,) a 

 mixture of suuar, water, and divers foreign sub- 

 stances. If the juice contained nothing more than 

 sugar in solution with water, it wouFd be easy 

 enough to separate them by the simple process of 

 eva|>oiaiion, liie waiergoesoff in steam, and leaves 

 the sugar behmd. What then hinders the extrac- 

 tion of' sugar from beet-root juice by the same 

 simple means ? The answer is obvious. Because 

 of the foreign matter which the juice brings with 

 it, and which, combined or mixed with the sugar, 

 render the evaporation of the water difficult, and 

 its crystallization extremely troublesome, if not im- 

 possible. The atteniion of themanufiicturermust, 

 therelbre, be directed to the separation of these 

 particles, and this is accomplished by the process 

 known generally by the name of defecation. This 

 is entirely a chemical operation. It consists in 

 finding such agents as will precipitate, in a solid 

 form, all the substances foreign to the sugar, 

 whether in combination with it, or solidified with- 

 out such combination. It is necessary also that 

 these agents shall not be of a qualify to alter the 

 sugar when in contact with them, and that they 

 may be afterwards carried away with the residuum. 

 Whatever be the nature of the agent employed, it 

 ought to be simple, and open to the comprehension 

 of a common workman, and moreover, that it be 

 not of too costly a description. 



