318 



SUGAR CANE 



in the mills. In a few districts railroads are built into the cane 

 fields and one handling of the crop is avoided. Loading machines 

 are quite commonly used, particularly in Louisiana. 



About twenty tons per acre is a good yield of stripped cane 

 from bottom lands, but many fields produce twenty-five or thirty 

 tons per acre. The sugar content varies from one hundred and 

 fifty to one hundred and sixty pounds of refined sugar per ton. 



The yield of sugar, therefore, 

 may vary from about 3000 to 

 8000 pounds per acre. 



Manufacture of Sugar. The 

 modern method of removing 

 the juice from the stalks is by 



PI! heavy rollers. The cane is 

 *^~^i mm passed through one series after 



fU another until practically all of 



the juice is removed. The be- 

 I gasse or crushed material is 

 passed through furnaces for dry- 

 ing and is then used as fuel to 

 operate the mill. 



The juice is boiled down and 

 impurities are removed by the 

 addition of lime, or milk of lime, 

 which helps to absorb them. A 

 scum forms on top and is re- 

 moved by skimming. This pro- 

 duct, rich in lime and other fer- 

 tilizing ingredients, is suitable 

 for use on the fields. After the 



FIG. 211. Interior of a sugar cane mill, . . .. . . . 



showing the vacuum -pans." ^ The ^ap^ is syrup is clarified in this manner 



it is boiled in vacuum pans at 

 low heat (Fig. 211). As it begins 

 to crystallize it is dried chiefly by centrifugal process, and is ready 

 to be packed in sacks and barrels for shipment. 



Other Products. Besides the yield of sugar the chief product 

 is molasses, and after the above amounts of sugar are extracted 

 there may be about one hundred or one hundred and twenty-five 

 gallons of molasses per acre. Much syrup is obtained from sugar- 

 cane that may never be condensed and refined into sugar. The 

 juice is boiled down to any desired density. This is not called 



rated under pressure much below that 

 of the atmosphere to lower the 

 of boiling. (Louisiana Station.) 



