68 SUGAR 



outlay of capital, and were largely regulated in nature 

 and extent by the amount of money a proprietor was 

 willing and able to invest in improvements. The 

 result as seen at present — the revolution still being in 

 progress — is the distribution throughout the islands of 

 plantations and factories where cultivation methods 

 and sugar-making machinery are nearly all in different 

 stages of evolution . Taking the improvements en masse, 

 the outstanding features of the advance movement are : 



(1) The adoption of the Louisiana system of cultiva- 

 tion, which favours implemental weeding and ploughing. 



(2) The erection of steam crushing-mills. In the case 

 of furnaces which will only consume dry megass, the 

 power is more or less intermittent, according to the avail- 

 able supply of fuel, but any steam mills are much less 

 at the mercy of weather conditions than are windmills. 



(3) The adoption of the Santa Cruz factory system, 

 in which the leading advantage is provided by furnaces 

 which will consume green megass ; provided the 

 weather conditions are favourable to reaping, such 

 furnaces insure a continuous grinding season. 



(4) The use of Aspinall pans. These are steam- 

 heated pans for expediting evaporation, and so facili- 

 tating the concentration of cane-juice. 



(5) The use of centrifugal machines. These machines 

 separate sugar-grains from molasses in a few seconds, 

 whereas the same work takes many days by the 

 draining process. 



The factories at which you find one or more of these 

 improvements, all produce Muscovado sugar. The 

 molasses, or residue syrup, is of superior quality, and 

 a valuable asset. Occasionally, too, the pure cane- 

 juice is not brought up to the crystallization stage, but 



