MANUFACTURE OF BEET SUGAR 455 



decay. The roots should be stored over winter in sand in a 

 dry cellar or pit, tested the next spring for sugar content, 

 and then planted in rows in the field to produce seed. From 

 three to five roots are required to produce a pound of seed. 

 597. The Manufacture of Sugar. After the beets reach 

 the factory, they are washed and trimmed, and are then cut 

 into long strips called "cossettes." The juice is then 

 extracted from these cossettes by means of hot water, 

 leaving the by-product known as beet pulp. A small 

 quantity of lime is then added to the juice ;;the impurities 



Fig. 140. A mill for the manufacture of beet sugar. This factory has a 

 capacity of 15,000,000 pounds of sugar a year. 



combine with it and solidify, and are removed by filtering. 

 The purified juice is then boiled down; when it thickens 

 sufficiently, it is placed in pans within a vacuum and boiled 

 until the sugar crystallizes. The grains of sugar are now 

 separated from the molasses by placing the "mass-cuite," 

 as the product is called as it comes from the vacuum pans, 

 in a centrifugal machine lined with fine sieves. The whirling 

 action of the machine drives the molasses through the sieves 

 and the sugar is retained. The wet sugar is heated to drive 



