66 SUGAR 



that may be hobnobbing with the impurities is recovered 

 by squeezing the scum through coarse canvas bags, in 

 a hand- worked filter press. 



The clarified juice is conducted for concentration 

 purposes to the " copper wall "; this consists of a series 

 of big, open pans, known as " tayches," under each of 

 which there is a furnace. The juice is boiled in the 

 first pan until a certain amount of evaporation has 

 taken place, when it is ladled out into the next tayche ; 

 here, further evaporation brings the liquid to a denser 

 stage, and again it is ladled out into a neighbouring 

 tayche. The ladling is done by hand, with a " dipper " 

 — a small copper bowl with a very long handle — and 

 the liquid is thus transferred from one tayche to another 

 until it has been brought to the requisite stage of density. 



The now treacly mass is next whirled about in an 

 oscillator, which looks like an old-fashioned churn ; by 

 this process, the sugar-grains are detached, to some 

 extent, from the liquid. 



From the oscillator, the mass is poured into large 

 tanks, called " coolers "; here it is left for a few days, 

 after which it is dug out and put into hogshead casks. 

 These hogsheads, which have perforated bottoms, are 

 taken to the stanchion-room, which has an open fioor 

 of rafters, with tanks beneath ; here they are left to 

 drain. It takes about four weeks for the molasses to 

 drip out, at the end of which time the contents of the 

 hogsheads consist of dry, powdery grains, or Muscovado 

 sugar. The top of the contents of a cooler is usually 

 taken off separately and drained in sacks. 



Barbados is one of the very few centres of the 

 industry where such methods are still followed, but 

 year by year the romantic aspect of the landscape is 



