INTRODUCED PLANTS AND AXI.MALS. 275 



refuse and trash l)eiii,u' left on tlic tii-ouud to he ])unic(l Inter on. The li-iiimicd 

 stalks, which average eight or ten feet in length and more than an inch ;ind a 

 half in diameter, are loadi^l npon carts or cars dra^vn ()V(m- |)orta])lc li-acks ])y 

 horses or by small locomotives. Whei-e there is a sui-pliis of watei' the cane 

 is often floated to the mill in the flumes. In this way tiie water flumes are 

 utilized in the i)roduction and harvesting of the croj) in both wet and dry 

 districts. 



The loaded car on arriving at the unloading shed is brought alongside 

 ;i moving floor that, in reality, is a wide endless chain-belt that cai-ries the 

 cane to the elevator. The cane in most cases is unloaded ])y machinery that 

 pulls the load from the car to the moving floor. From the flooi- the cane is 

 elevated on a conveyor which delivers it to a pair of large corrugated rollers 

 that crush the stalks, extracting much of the juice. The crushed mass is then 

 passed through several sets of rollers, each set made up of three close-fitting 

 cylinders. In the final crushing process, hot water is added to aid in extract- 

 ing the last particle of juice that may remain. Tlie dry inass, now called 

 "bagasse," is carried on elevators to the furnace room, where it is used at once 

 for fuel. 



The juice from the I'ollers is collected and conducted to the liming tank, 

 where a chemical change is effected by adding slaked lime. From a receiver 

 near the liming tank the juice is passed to the settling tanks. 



After it has stood a few hours, the juice of the top {xu-tion is drawn off 

 and the muddy lower portion agitated by steam. This hot mixture is then 

 passed to the mud presses, where the clean juice is separated from the mud. 

 The liquid mixed with the clear juice from the settling tank is next conveyed 

 to the evaporating pans. Avhere it is changed by heat from juice into syrup. 



The evaporators are a series of foui' or iiiore Uu'ge iron boilei's coniu'cted 

 one Avith the other. The air is removed from them in order to create a pai'tial 

 vacuum. The juice will then boil with less heat and the syrup is prevented from 

 scorching. The syrup, v.hen sufficiently reduced, is cimveyed to the vacuum 

 pans, where the grain in the thick molasses is produced by anofiiei- boiling-. 



At this stage inventors have made many improviMueiits in the [)rocess by 

 which the thick mass is passed into the crystallizers, where the syrup or sucrose is 

 made into Arm, dry grains. Small amounts of syrup are transferred to the tub- 

 like machines called centrifugals. These tub-shaped cylinders have cenfral cavi- 

 ties made of wire netting. This wii'e cage revolves rapidl\" and by centrifugal 

 force thi'ows the molasses out, i-etaining the ci-ystals of sugar within the cage. 

 The uncrystallized licpiid is cai-ried to the boilers again and is made into 

 second-grade sugai'. The higher grade sugai' di-ops from the eeiit rifuiials into 

 a large retort known as the di-yini: machine. Tlii'ouLih this the sugar works 

 its way among hot coils that dry the crystals before they art' cai-ried to tii(» 

 sugar bin. From this bin the raw sugai- is drawn out. sacketl and weiglu>d. 

 Each burlap sack contains about ^'2^^ pounds of light-brown sugar. 



]\Iost of the sugar is sent as liiilit brown, or I'aw, sugar to the mainland of 



