SUGAR CAXE. 



New-Orleans the usual quantity ob- 

 tained i-3 said to be 50, and in Cay- 

 enne only 36 per cent. At Havana, 

 according to M. Casaseca, the riband 

 cane yields 45, tlie crystalline 35, and 

 the Otaheitan 5(5 per cent, of juice. 



" The Otaheite cane was examin- 

 ed by M. Peligot, under a variety of 

 circumstances of age, growth, part 

 of plant, &c. The following table 

 contains the condensed results of his 

 experiments : 



" It would therefore appear, ma- 

 king exception always of the knots 

 which occur in the course of a cane, 

 that the composition of the plant, in 

 its various states and conditions, is 

 ahnost identical. M. Peligot's im- 

 portant paper, while it informs us of 

 the average composition of the Ota- 

 heite cane, satisfies us that the gum- 

 my and mucilaginous substances and 

 the uncrystallizable sugar, the exist- 

 ence of which was held as demon- 

 strated, are, in fact, nowise constitu- 

 ents of the sugar cane. Whence we 

 may conclude, with M. Peligot, that 

 every drop of molasses which drains 

 from the sugar is the produce of the 

 manufacture ; an opinion to which I 

 assent the more readily from having 

 myself seen, oftener than once, the 

 juice of the cane yield nothing but 

 crystallizable sugar. These analyses 

 farther demonstrate, more powerful- 

 ly than could any discussion, the im- 

 perfection of the processes usually 

 followed in manufacturing sugar. 

 They prove, in fact, that in the mill 

 rather more than a third of the whole 

 juice contained in the cane is left in 

 the trash. This loss might be con- 

 siderably diminished were more per- 

 fect pressure employed in extracting 

 the juice. But it appears that the 

 planters are indisposed to crush the 

 trash too much, as by this it is ren- 

 dered less fit for fuel, a considerable 

 quantity of which, by the present 

 mode of manufacture, is indispensa- 

 ble. M. Dupree, however, says that by 



insisting on obtaining from 65 to 66 



per cent, of juice in all cases, the trash 

 is still left with all its value as a com- 

 bustible. The trash, on coming from 

 the mill, appears quite dry. I have 

 seen some which, after having been 

 pressed twice consecutively, looked 

 as if it were impossible, by any far- 

 ther amount of pressure, to express 

 more liquid. Nevertheless, it was 

 enough to taste this pressed cane, to 

 be satisfied that it still contained a 

 considerable quantity of sugar. To 

 procure this without using more pow- 

 erful machinery, M. Peligot proposed 

 to steep the trash in water, and to 

 press it a second time. By this 

 means a weak juice is obtained, 

 which, added to the first pressings, 

 raises the produce of sugar from sev- 

 en to ten per cent, upon the whole 

 amount of cane employed. By fol- 

 lowing this process, suggested by the- 

 ory, upon the great scale, M. Dupree 

 has succeeded in obtaining one fifth 

 more than the usual quantity of su- 

 gar without making any change in his 

 apparatus, and without finding the 

 trash too much shaken to be burned 

 under his coppers. In some circum- 

 stances the increase in the quantity 

 of juice which this procedure implies 

 might be found an objection on ac- 

 count of the larger quantity of fuel 

 required for its evaporation ; but 

 wherever a supply of wood is to be 

 had, M. Peligot's method ought un- 

 doubtedly to be applied. 

 " The very dissimilar quantities of 



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