41 



of soils, has resulted in very serious losses to several large establishments 

 who had adopted the method of purchasing cane delivered at the mill at a 

 stipulated, and generally a uniform price, per ton, or by the acre, irrespective 

 of the purity of the juice contained in such canes. 



. There seems to be but one practical business method for a manufacturer to 

 adopt for his own protection, and a greater satisfaction to the growers, and 

 that is to purchase the cane by the ton. The manufdCturer then has control 

 of all the syrup and sugar, and is not brought into competition in the local 

 or geiieral market, with his own patrons who grow the cane, many of whom 

 have more than sufficient to supply their own and neighbors' wants, and 

 desire to dispose of the balance they have on hand as soon as possible; and 

 not being (as a general rule) familiar with the ruling prices of same class of 

 gooJs in the wholesale and retail market, are imposed upon by dealers wha 

 are perfectly aware of the fact that toe grower has not a sufficient amount 

 to ship to jobbing points, and rather than hold it, will sell it at a price to 

 the local dealer generally below the actual market vy.lue, and that makes the 

 price for manufacturers to the local trade, as long as the grower's syrup 

 syrup holds out. 



We have determined in the future to purchase our cane by the ton, deliv- 

 ered at the mill, and when so delivered will test the juice in the presence of 

 the grower, and purchase it from him, same as grain and other farm products 

 are purchased, according to quality. The actual value of the cane will be 

 determined by the quality of the juice,- and will bo worth to the manufac- 

 turer from $1.50 to .|4.50 per ton, and even $5.00 per ton for extra cane, and 

 according to the state of the syrup and sugar market, and the different de- 

 grees of purity of the juice, and the amount of sucrose contained in the raw 

 juice at the time of delivery of the cane at the mill. 



Our custom has been to charge the growers 25 cents per gallon, or one-half 

 of the syrup. 



Our works consist of a storage room 20 by 40 feet, one story, shingle roof 

 building, attached to our defecating, evaporating and finishing building, 

 which is 20 by 20, two stories high, and a shed attached for cane mill, boiler 

 and engine. 



Our machinery consists of boiler, engine, mill, juice tank, juice pumpy 

 defecators, evaporators, finishing-pan, cooler and storage tanks. 



The juice runs directly from the mill to the juice tank, and is pumped up 

 to the top floor into the defecator, and after tbe defecation is made, it is dis- 

 charged directly into the evaporator and rapidly reduced to a thin semi- 

 syrup, and is then discharged into the finishing pan and concentrated rap- 

 idly, if for syrup, to a commercial density, and drawn oft' into the cooler, and 

 almost immediately discharged into storage tanks sufficiently large to hold, 

 each one of them, a little over a car load. 



When enough h^s been made for a car load, the barrels, three of them at a 

 time, are rolled under faucets and filled. In that way it does not take us long 

 to fill enough barrels for a car load. We then ship generally to a wholesale 



