DRIPPING AND STRAINING. 121 



It becomes very evident that one cannot consider these figures 

 as being possessed of absolute value. They evidently vary with 

 the original composition of the beets and their physiological con- 

 dition, which has previously allowed diffusion to take place 

 more or less rapidly, thereby permitting the dissolved substances 

 contained in the cellular tissues to pass through the outer walls 

 at a more or less rapid rate. 



The composition furthermore depends upon the method of s 9 ar left jn 

 manufacture, the process of diffusion and the degree of exhaust- 

 ion to which the beets have been submitted in the diffusion 

 battery. Suffice it to say that there are many sugar factories 

 which allow 0.8 per cent, of sugar to remain in the residuum, 

 whilst at other factories the percentage is 0.15 per cent. 

 Degner urges that there be left a few hundredths per cent, of 

 sugar. 



What strikes one especially in these data is the enormous Excess of water, 

 quantity of water that remains in the residuum, and every 

 effort should be made to reduce this to a minimum in all cases. 

 It stands to reason that such an excess would be deleterious 

 to the general health of the animals to which it might be fed. 

 The methods proposed to reduce this water percentage are very 

 different and depend essentially upon the various factories 

 where they have been introduced, so that we cannot at present 

 enumerate them in detail. It is customary to resort to a me- 

 chanical method which reduces this water at least 50 per cent. 



The desirability of eliminating the water of diffusion pulps is 

 an open question. When it is to be consumed near the beet- 

 sugar factory, the product may be thrown into silos upon leav- 

 ing the battery; the water runs off by natural pressure of the 

 mass. This plan would not be practicable, however, when 

 pulps are to be carried to distant farms; hence, upon general 

 principles, we may admit that a reasonable pressure is desirable. 



Some authorities urge that such a reduction is unnecessary; Dripping and 

 we, however, are in favor of resorting to considerable pressure, straining. 

 The ordinary method of straining the cossettes and allowing the 

 water to drip off, so to speak, gives only fairly satisfactory re- 

 sults. Some allow the water to drain off upon inclined planes; 

 the semi-strained mass is then laid on wagons, where the drip- 



