From Soil to Sack 



boiling kills the germs which are 

 present, the evaporation concen- 

 trates the sugar solution and pre- 

 vents further invasion, and the heat 

 coagulates the albuminous constitu 

 ents of the syrup, forming a froth, 

 which, when removed, has accom- 

 plished much in the process of clar- 

 ification. 



Besides heat, which coagulates 

 the albumen, another agent which 

 has been used for clarification from 

 the earliest times is lime. This pre- 

 cipitates the gummy matters which 

 form into a muddy sediment at the 

 bottom and into a top layer of froth 

 between which the bulk of the juice 

 is clear and limpid. 



Thus we see that the first step 

 after the juice leaves the mill is to 

 boil it and to add a measured quan- 

 tity of milk of lime, or in plainer 

 English, whitewash. This white- 

 wash, much as we should dislike to 

 [27] 



