514 SOUTHERN FIELD CROPS 



SIRUP-MAKING 



499. The equipment. Since the making of sugar is a 

 highly specialized branch of manufacturing, and not a part 

 of farm work, a discussion of sugar making would be out 

 of place in this book. On the other hand, the making 

 of sirup is usually a part of the farmer's operations ; hence 

 it will be briefly discussed here. 



The usual equipment for the making of sirup is not 

 expensive. It consists essentially of a mill for crushing 

 the cane and of a shallow pan, heated by furnace heat or 

 by steam, for evaporating the juice of the cane down to 

 the density required in sirup. 



The small roller mills operated by a single horse often 

 extract only about half of the juice, thus causing an enor- 

 mous loss. A first-class three-roller mill, properly set, 

 will extract 60 per cent of the weight of the cane or 70 

 per cent of the total juice. More powerful mills with a 

 larger number of rollers and usually driven by steam, may 

 express more than 80 per cent of the juice. 



The evaporator is usually a rectangular pan placed above 

 a home-made furnace, in which wood furnishes the neces- 

 sary heat. The bottom of the pan consists of a sheet of 

 copper or galvanized iron, and the sides are usually of 

 wood. In the pan are three divisions, separated by par- 

 titions, in which are gates or openings intended to regulate 

 the flow of juice from one compartment to the next one. 



When steam is available, it is more convenient to cook 

 the sirup by means of the heat given off by coils of steam 

 pipes laid in the bottom of the evaporating-pan. The 

 advantage of steam heat consists in the ability to regulate. 



