OTHER FARM CROPS 665 



conducted to the sulphur box. This is a long narrow box with per- 

 forated wooden shelves through it, so placed that as the sulphur 

 fumes come in at the bottom, they will meet the juice as it falls in 

 a spray delivered at the top. From the sulphur box the juice goes 

 to the storage tank, and from there is drawn directly to the first 

 cooking pan, of which there may be only one, but should be three. 

 In this pan, whether the first of three, or the only one used, the juice 

 is limed. The quantity of lime added will vary somewhat, with the 

 ripeness and condition of the cane. The lime is slaked to a paste, 

 and if the cane is somewhat green, some 290 cubic inches of this 

 paste is added. If the cane is fully ripe, 215 cubic inches will be 

 sufficient. In the former case, when an excess of lime was added in 

 order to secure clarification, the excess is corrected by the addition 

 of a small amount of sulphurous acid or dilute phosphoric acid, 

 known to the trade as "clariphos." This second acid treatment pre- 

 vents the formation of dark-colored compounds in the sirup by the 

 union of the lime with the glucose sugar of the juice. From one 

 quart to one-half gallon of clariphos will be required for every 300 

 gallons of juice that has received the lime treatment. When most 

 of the scum arises to the surface and is removed, the juice goes to 

 the next or second pan, where it is still further heated, and any light 

 scum removed. With steam heat, the juice in first and second pans 

 can usually be freed of scum and ready for transferring to strike 

 pan, in about one hour. The preliminary boiling and removal of 

 scums is shown to be about complete, when a small bottle (two to 

 four ounce) of syrup is removed, and the sediment in it settles 

 quickly. The clarified sirup, if more than one pan is used, is then 

 drawn off by gravity into settling tanks, where it is allowed to stand 

 some time for the separation of sediment. From the settling tank 

 it is carried back to the storage tank, and from there to the "strike" 

 or "cooking pan." Here it slowly cooks and boils into a strong 

 foam, and the experienced eye can tell whether or not it has received 

 the proper treatment in the previous pans. If the bubbles are large 

 and nigh, they indicate that hardly enough lime has been used in the 

 process of clarification. But if the bubbles are small and low it in- 

 dicates an excess of lime remaining in the sirup. When the bubbles 

 are bright and clear and of medium size, they indicate that the skim- 

 ming has been good. As the foam rises to the surface in the strike 

 pan it brings with it most of the scum remaining in the juice; this 

 is swept off with a wooden paddle into the catch all, which is a trough 

 running around the rim of the pan. The scum rises as a dark cov- 

 ering or cloud on the surface of the bubbles. This foam and cov- 

 ering is swept off as explained above, rather than any attempt being 

 made at skimming ; it goes from the catch all by a pipe into a stor- 

 age tank below, and finally back into the clarifiers to be reworked. 

 As the finished sirup leaves the strike pan it is usually passed into 

 long cypress troughs, where it is allowed to cool and settle, before 

 being barrelled. But this is not by any means the best practice. 



The sirup, after being made, should be allowed to settle in long 

 narrow boxes set upright. If this is done, it not only frees the sirup 



