406 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



No. 7 



quarter of an hour, whereas if only one is used, 

 the interval between these will he half an hour. — 

 Experience has phovvn that the most suitable 

 temperature lor fillinir the pans is from 60*^ to 70*^ 

 R. [167 to 190 FJ. The boiled syrup should re- 

 main 10 or 12 hours in the pan, provided that the 

 temperature does not fall below 60" ; to [)revent 

 which, it may be advisable, besides a lid, to cover 

 the sides with flannel, wliich preserves it trom con- 

 fact with the air. In case these precautions should 

 fail of preventing the pan from cooling too fast, it 

 can be charired every 6 or 8 hours; by which 

 means, thoutrh it wonid not be full, yet this is a 

 matter of no great consequence, [n any Ctase, it 

 will be advisable, every fliur or five charges, to 

 Btir up the mass wiih the iron spatula. 



CHAP. XI. 



Filling the Moulds. 



The operation of filling the moulds consists in 

 pourinir the syrup into certain vessels, where il is 

 mtended to crystallize. This immediately Ibllows 

 that of the coolinij pan (rafraichissoir); but before 

 we proceed to filling them, it may be as well to 

 Bay something of the moulds themselves. 



§ 1. Moulds. 



These are principally of common earthenware. 

 Those most commonly in use tor beet-root sugar 

 are of the largest size, and are known by the name 

 of bastards. They will hold from 10 !o 12 gallons 

 each. They are cone-shaped, and have a hole at 

 the bottom of them. Each mould should have a 

 pot, made of burned clav, placed underneath the 

 point ol the cone, [as will be herentter e.xplained,] 

 to receive the molasses which drains from it. 



A mould of this kind, full of well-boiled svrup, 

 will purge itself of molasses in a month. Thus 

 the number of moulds requisite for a work of any 

 given size, may be easily ascertained. For in- 

 stance, in such an one as has been imagined, in 

 which 21,000 litres [6000 irallons] of juice are pro- 

 duced daily, yielding 2370 htres [610 gallons] of 

 syrup, it would be requisite to have 48 moulds for 

 each day ; or, as each mould requires 30 days to 

 clear itseii; it will be necessary to have 48x30r= 

 1440 moulds, and as many pots or receivers, for a 

 manufactory capable of working off 4000 Ions in 4 

 months. Each mould thus serves four times in 

 the season ; but perhaps the salijr way will be, to 

 have about 1800, to provide against contiuirencies. 

 In many beet-root sugar manufiictories they make 

 use of large oaken moulds, well-hooped, contain- 

 ing 200 litres [45 gallons] ; but care must be taken 

 to keep the hoops tight, lest the syrup should 

 escape at the joints. However, it is next to im- 

 possible entirely to prevent this, and therefore this 

 kind of mould is not to be recommended. 



§ 2. Operation of filling the Moulds. 



When a pan containing 1 185 litres [305 gallons] 

 of syrup has been poured into flie moulds, it will 

 be necessary to prepare a number of moulds cor- 

 respondinir to this quantity; — which will be 24, 

 each containing 12 gallons. Eight or ten hours 

 before filling, these 24 moulds should be hi id in 

 water, for which purpose a large wooden cistern 

 ( bac a formes )\s provided in a convenient situation. 



These moulds have all a hole at the bottom, 



through which the molasses drains; but as they 

 are to be filled with sugar in a liquid state, this 

 hole is tem|)orarily stopped up, either with clay or 

 a cork. 



When they are all corked, the workmen pro- 

 ceeds to the planting (^plantage) of them, which 

 means the setting them on end ready to fill, and 

 this usually occupies two rows. 



A workman then, by means of the iron spatula, 

 detaches the grain which adheres to the bottom of 

 the coolitig pan, and continues stirring the contents 

 till the pan is emptied. 



A second workman then takes a sort of basin 

 suited to the purpose, called a filling-out basin, 

 {hassin d^cmpli) which is filled by a third man, by 

 means of the ladle, with syrup from the pan to 

 within a lew quarts of its capacity. It is then 

 poured from the basin into the moulds, taking 

 care not to give it all to one, but to divide the 

 charge between two or three moulds. After this, 

 a similar quantity is poured into other two or three 

 moulds, and so on till the whole 24 have received 

 nearly an equal quantity. This is called a round. 

 WMien one round is finished, another is begun in 

 the same manner, till the moulds are full ; and this 

 ought to complete the discharge of the cooler. To 

 expedite the work, two men should be employed 

 at the basins ; whilst one is filling the moulds, the 

 other may be charging the basin at the pan. 

 Whilst filling, a moderate temperature ought to be 

 kept up ; say 15 to 20° R. (67 to 77 F). 



In a general way, the syrup, in a few hours after 

 the moulds are filled, is covered by a crystalline 

 crust, if of good quality, but with a mere skin if 

 not so rich. In every case, the sugar ought to 

 begin to crystallize at the bottom and sides of the 

 mould, layer on layer; so that in 24 hours after 

 filling, all the crystallizable matter, which ought 

 to form in this first operation, is nearly precipitated. 

 During this time, the sugar cools, a contraction 

 takes place in the mass, and if the moulds have 

 been filled at a suitable temperature, this contrac- 

 tion manifests itself at the surtiice by a slight de- 

 pression towards the middle. This bespeaks a 

 good boiling (^bonne cuite^, and a good filling (ion. 

 empli'). 



CHAP. XTI. 



On, conveying the Moulds to the Refineries, (Pur- 

 geries,) and Purifying the Brown Sugar. 



The moulds, after cooling, contain crystallizable 

 matter saturated with a mother liquor or syrup, 

 which must be got rid of. To this end, 36 or 40 

 hours after the filling out, and when the tempera- 

 ture has fallen to about 20" R. (77 F.) they are 

 taken into the refinery No. 1, where they undergo 

 the first purgation. There the corks or other 

 stoppers are taken out of the bottoms of the moulds, 

 and each mould is placed on its receiver in a verti- 

 cal position. The moulds, as soon as they are 

 unstopped, jiive out molasses, which runs into the 

 receivers below, and as this at first is a tolerably 

 rapid operation, the pots should be carefully 

 watched, in order to change them when full. 

 They are emptied into a cistern capable of holding 

 a large quantity. 



These moulds ought to remain a fortnight in the 

 refinery No. 1, where the temperature should only 

 be 12 to 15° R. [60 to 66 F]. There they give 

 out full two-thirds of their molasses. Both the 



