56 



SILK MANUAL, AND 



stirred and mixed, and tlien thrown gradnally in- 

 to the moulds, a portion being put into each in 

 turn, so as to fill them all equally : an interval of 

 an inch is left between the surface of the sirup 

 and the top of the mould. 



Crystallization is hastened by carrying the 

 moulds, as soon as they are full, into the coolest 

 apartment of the manufactory. 



The sirup arising from the employment of 

 10,000 pounds of bet-t roots, if the operations are 

 well conducted, will fill nine grandts batardes, 

 each batarde co)it<iining from 85 to 90 i)ounds of 

 evaporated sirup. 



When the different boilings are made slowly, 

 or experience any interruption, the moulds are 

 partially filled from tlie cooler, without waiting 

 for the last product; otherwise crystallization 

 would be completed in the cooler, and all the con- 

 tents of it would form a mass which could not be 

 poured into the moulds to extract Irom it the mo- 

 lasses. 



Cooling causes the formation of crystals upon 

 the sides of the moulds and the surface of the li- 

 quor. As soon as this crust of crystals has ac- 

 quired some degree of consistetcy, it must be 

 broken with a wooden spatula, and the whole con- 

 tents of the mould carefully stirred, so as to col- 

 lect in the centre the crystals that have formed 

 upon the sides. When this has been done the 

 crystallization is allowed to go on undisturbed. 



Three days are more than enough for the for- 

 mation of all the crystals. 



The operation may be known to be good, — 



1. When the surface of the crystallized mass is 

 dry, so that in |iassing the hand over it neither 

 inoisture nor adhesiveness is jjcrceived. 



2. When the crust settles and breaks in the 

 centre: in this case the refiners say the sugar 

 makes a fountain. 



3. The yellow color of the crystal is generally 

 a good indication, but in this case of beet sugar it 

 is unimporlaot, because the color may have been 

 •fi/nckened by thb animal charcoal employed when 

 the tiV^ration of the clarified liquor has not been 

 caren'.dly executed ; and this color is easily made 

 to disappear by clarificati»?n and refinement. 



Tiie plug-.s that close the p^oints of the moulds 



are then taken out, and the mo^dds are placed in 



earthen pots, that the molasses n.-ay flow from 



them. These pots should be large enough to cou- 



• tain five or six galls, of liquor. 



The crystals will be deprived of the molasses 

 which unites them in about eight days ; the moulds 

 are then carried into an apartment which, by 

 means of a stove, is kept constantly heated to 18 

 or 20« of Reaumer, (=72.5'^ and 77" Fahr.) and 

 there placed in fresh pots. 



The next operation is that of leaching the con- 

 tents of the moulda, in order lo obtain from them 



that portion of molasses which refused to flow 

 out. For this purpose the surface of the loaves 

 is carefully broken and scraped, with a blade of a 

 knife, so as to smooth it, and then there is thrown 

 upon each one about half a pound of a white sir- 

 up, marking from 27 to 30° (=specific gravity of 

 1.231 to 1.261.) This sirup is only .n portion of 

 that which is prepared for boiling. 



This sirup penetrates into the loaves, diluting 

 and carrying oft^"the molasses, which is three or 

 four degrees more concentrated than itself. If the 

 concentration of the sirup were less, it would dis- 

 solve the sugar; if it were more, it would render 

 the sugar adhesive. This operation is renewed 

 two or three times at intervals of two days. 



When the loaves have remained a month in 

 the stove-room, they can be taken out of the 

 moulds; they are then found to be dry and en- 

 tirely deprived of molasses, and are piled up in 

 the storehouse, where they are kept to be re- 

 fined. 



OiV BOILING THE MOLASSES AND LEACHING SIKUPS 



I mix the molasses obtained from the brown 

 sugar with the sirups which have been filtrated 

 through the loaves, and proceed to boil the mix- 

 ture. The molasses marks 22 or 24°, (=1.171 to 

 1.180,) and the mixture 22 or 23«, 1.180 to 1.190.) 

 I throw from 32 to 35 gallons of this mixture into 

 the boiler, and when the heat approaches to ebul- 

 lition, I add about one pound of animal charcoal 

 which 1 mix ••arefully with the liquor. 



The boiling of this liquor is more difiicult than 

 that of the sirup which produces the brown sugar, 

 but with care and patience it may be done to very 

 good advantage. This liquor yields at least one 

 sixth of thi; quantity of sugar that has been pro- 

 duced by the first o])eration ; this jiroduct is suf- 

 ficiently important to renifer it advisable to boil 

 down the molasse-s, instead of disposing of it, as is 

 almost everywhere done, for distillation. 



If the molasses procured from beets was of the 

 same quality as that obtained from the sugar cane, 

 it could be sold with advantage, but it has a bitter 

 taste which renders it unsaleable ; it is then best 

 to exhaust it of crystallizable matter, and to sub- 

 ject the remainder to distillation. The difference 

 in the quantity of alcohol obtained from the two 

 kinds of molasses is almost nothng. 



Instead of depositing the product of this last 

 boiling in moulds, I throw it, from day to day, in- 

 to a hogshead open at one end, and thus gradual- 

 ly fill the cask; the sugar crystallizes wonderfully 

 in these vessels, so that they become half full 

 of it. 



When this sugar, which 1 call molasses sugar, 

 to distinguish it from brown sugar of the first boil- 

 ing is to be refined, the molasses which lies on 

 the top is dipped out,and the rest is made to flow 



