372 DATE SUGAR INDUSTRY IN BENGAL. 



being dropped from the end of a stick. In all, three to four spoon- 

 fuls of milk are added. 



The concentrated clarified liquor is now poured into a shallow 

 earthenware pan 21" in diameter and 8j" deep and put by in a store- 

 room. The brass pans are again filled and the process repeated until 

 all the contents of the storage pan have been worked off. 



A number of flat earthenware pans are thus obtained, each 

 containing concentrated liquor. In about 6 hours crystallisation 

 begins to take place. The liquor is never seeded with sugar crystals 

 in order to make it crystallise as is done in some of these native pro- 

 cesses. 



By next day the contents of each pan have set to a solid mass 

 with a yellow brown glassy surface. If the surface is sunken in the 

 middle, the refiners say the boiling has been bad and the sugar will 

 not be of the best quality. 



Two days later the glassy surface is scraped to loosen it and 

 then a layer of about 3" thick of water weed (Vallisneria spiralis), 

 locally called pata shyala, is put over the surface. This weed 

 remains moist for a long time. A hole is now driven through the 

 bottom of the pan by means of an iron punch and hammer and 

 the hole made right up through the sugar. 



The pan is next placed on a triangular frame work, over an 

 earthenware pot. Molasses drains away from the sugar. It might 

 be mentioned here that these pans are later repaired by simply 

 sticking thick paper over the hole and are thus able to be used over 

 and over again. 



After 4 days the sliyala weed is removed and the top half of the 

 contents of the pan is a pure white rather large-grained sugar and is 

 broken up and spread in the sun to dry on bamboo mats. This is 

 Dobarrah sugar. 



The nether portion of the sugar is still mixed with some molasses 

 and is brown. The nether portions of two or more pans are mixed 

 until sufficient is obtained to make up another pan, and then shyala 



