PRACTICAL FARMER. 



47 



undergoes the first operation. Of this I shall 

 speak immediately. 



If an iron screw press is not to be had, a wine 

 press, a lever pi'ess, or a cylinder press will an- 

 swer the purpose. 



The operation of the press should be complet- 

 ed nearly at the same time with that of the rasp. 

 Everything that has been moistened with the 

 juice, must then lie washed so as to be ready for 

 a new operation. The utmost cleanliness must 

 be ])reserved, otherwise the rr.sps will become 

 rusty, the juice will change, and the boiling will 

 be rendered difficult. 



The juice extracted from beets, is not always 

 of the same degree of concentration. It varies 



from 5' to 10 , (==speeific gravity of 1.036 to 

 1.075,) according to the size of the roots, the nature 

 of the soil in which they grew, and the state of at- 

 mosphere during vegetation. 



The juice of the large roots is less concentrat- 

 ed than that of the small ones. The juice of such 

 as grow in a light soil, and have been exposed* to 

 heat and drought, marks 11 , (=specific gravity 

 of 1.083 ;) but there is but little of it. The great- 

 er the specific gravity of the juice is, the greater 

 is the proportion of sugar contained in it ; and, of 

 course, the greater is the saving of labor in the 

 extraction of the sugar. 



ON THE PURIFICATION OF THE JUICE. 



As soon as the boiler which receives the juice 

 is one third full, the fire is kindled; and as the 

 juice continues to flow, the heat is raised to 65° 

 of Reaumur, (=180 3-4'' of Fahrenheit.) I have 

 worked 10,000 pounds of beet roots i)er day, at 

 two operations of 5,000 pounds each. The first 

 began at 4 o'clock, A, M., and the other at noon. 

 The round boiler, which received the juice of one 

 operation, was five feet and six inches in diameter, 

 and three feet eight inches in depth. I had a 

 separate boiler for each operation, and each boiler 

 had two stop-cocks, one close to the bottom and 

 the other five inches above. Between these two 

 boilers, there were two vessels fifteen inches deep, 

 and each of sufficient.capacity to receive the ju'ce 

 of an operation. In these, evaporation is carried 

 on. The rims of all the boilers should be very 

 wide, so as to cover the thickness of the wall in 

 which they are set. 



My rasus and presses are placed upon the first 

 floor, in order ihat the juice may flow through 

 leaden pipes into tiie boilers, which are upon the 

 the ground floor, and thus save the labor of trans- 

 portation. By this arrangement, I c^n have my 

 depuratory boilers so much raised, that upon turn- 

 ing the stop cocks, iho juice will flow into the 

 evaporating vessels. 



Whilst the juice is heating, some milk of lime 

 is jji-cpared by pouring gradually some warm wa- 

 ter into a bucket containing ten pounds of lime. 



My boiler contains 475 1-2 gallons of juice, so that 

 I employ the lime in the proportion of about 46 

 grains troy. 



As soon as all the juice has passed into the 

 boiler, and become heated to the degree mention- 

 ed in the last paragraph, the milk of the lime is 

 thrown into it, the greatest care being taken to 

 stir and mix them well together ; after which the 

 temperature may be raised to the boiling point. 

 As soon as the first bubble makes its appearance 

 through the thick, glutinous scum which rises 

 upon the top of the liquor, the fire is immediate- 

 ly extinguished by throwing a pailful of water in- 

 to the fireplace. The scum thickens, dries, and ■ 

 hardens by rest. The juice becomes clear, and 

 takes a ligrht yellow hue. When there can no lon- 

 ger be seen in it particles either of lime or mucil- 

 age, the scum is removed with a skimmer and 

 thrown into the bucket, in order that the juice 

 which it contains may be expressed. The upper 

 stop-cock is then opened, and the li^pior is suffer- 

 ed to flow into the evaporating boiler, 



The juice does not become clear in less than an 

 hour, and evaporation ought not to be commenc- 

 ed till it is perfectly limpid. 



As soon as all the liquor above the level of the 

 upper stop-cock has passed out, the second stop- 

 cock is turned ; and if the liquor flowing through 

 that be found clear, it is mixed with the first por- 

 tion. If on the contrary, it appears cloudy, the 

 stop cock is again closed to give it time to settle, 

 and it is not made use of till towards the termina- 

 tion of the evaporation. 



The deposit which is formed at the bottom of 

 the boiler, renders the last portion of the juice tur- 

 bid. But as soon as this is seen to be the case, that 

 which remains is drawn off into the bucket con- 

 taining the scum, 



Tlie deposit which is formed at the bottom of 

 the boiler, and this scum, are expressed by means 

 of a lever press of very simple and cheap con- 

 struction, and which is very easily worked. 



I place a cylindrical willow basket upon a 

 block of stone three feet square, the upper surface 

 of which is slightly inclined and furrowed with 

 channels an inch deep uniting in a common centre 

 at the lowest angle. The basket is lined with a 

 bag of coarse cloth, the end of which turns back 

 and hangs down. Into this bag I put the deposit 

 and scum ; then flrawing the edges of it together, 

 I tie the mouth closely with a packthread, I place 

 on the top a wooden trencher of the diameter of 

 the inside of the basket. This I load with sever- 

 al square pieces of wood, which project over the 

 upper part and serve as a fulcrum for the lever. 

 When things are thus far arranged, 1 i)roceed to 

 adjust the lever, which is five feet long. This is 

 fixed at one end to a ring-bolt, which passes 

 through a stone. The other end 1 load with 



