8 SUGAR 



ing ; the refuse is called " pulp," and is used for cattle 

 food. 



Sugar-juice, no matter whether it comes from cane 

 or beet, has next to be cleansed of certain elements 

 which are called "impurities." These so-called im- 

 purities are, for the most part, organic elements of the 

 juice other than sugar- germs, amongst them being fer- 

 mentation germs, which would soon get to work and 

 wreck the formation of sugar ; by the help of milk of 

 lime and carbonic acid a large proportion of alien 

 matter is collected, and the process of clarification is 

 completed by filter process. Before clarification, the 

 sugar-juice is opaque and grey ; afterwards, it is clear 

 and straw-coloured, and although it still contains a 

 certain amount of impurities, there are not enough 

 left to interfere with the birth of the sugar-germs. 



Next, the clarified juice, which naturally contains 

 a great deal of water, has to be concentrated. The 

 water is thrown off by evaporation, the juice, under 

 the influence of extreme heat, becoming a thick 

 syrup. This syrup is the incubator of the sugar- 

 germs, wherein they are born as tiny grains. The 

 grains are separated from the liquid by a process of 

 draining, or by means of a wonderful machine called 

 a "centrifugal." 



The residue liquid is treacle or "molasses." The 

 dry sugar assumes one of three general forms, accord- 

 ing to the methods of incubation and separation that 

 are followed : (a) It is soft and powdery, consisting 

 of single grains ; (b) granulated, consisting of crystal- 

 lized forms, composed by the union of several grains ; 

 (c) moulded, in slabs of compressed grains, which can 

 be cut up into square or oblong lumps. 



