AND GAR DENE lis JOURNAL. 



PUBLISUCI) nV GEOKGK C. HARRETT, no. 52 NOIITH market street, (AcRicui.Turi*L Warehouse.) — T. G. FESSENDKN, EDITOR. 



VOL. XV. 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, AUGUST ?, 1836- 



NO. 4. 



(From Chaptal's .^griciitltirat Chemistry.) 

 ON THE CUI.TIVATIOX OP THE BEET ROOT, 

 [AND 1 HE EXTRACTION OF SKGAR FROltl IT. 



(Cuntinued.) 



On Ihe Concentration or Evaporation of the Purijied 

 Juice. 



As soon as the bottom of the evaporating ves- 

 sel i.s covered with jtiive, the fire is l<indled, and 

 ebullition is |)roduced as speedily as possible, — 

 the jnii e which continues to flow from Ihe clarify- 

 ing boiler supplying the loss occasioned by evap- 

 oration. 



When Ihe boiling juice marks 5° or 6° ( = 1.036 

 to 1.044) of concentration, a portion of animal 

 charcoal is thrown in, and this is continued, the 

 quantity being gradu.illy increased, till the juice 

 is concentrated to 20° ( = 1.161.) Sixty pounds 

 of charcoal are used in this manner, for a quan- 

 tity of juice equal to from 422 to 475 gallons. 



After having brought the liquor to the twenti- 

 eth degree of concentration, the boiling is con- 

 tinued till the sirup marks 27 or 28" of the hy- 

 drometer, (=specific gravity of 1.231 to 1.242.) 

 The sirup being mixed with animal charcoal, re- 

 quires to be filtrated. This operation, as it is 

 usually performed, is very tedious, and sometimes 

 becomes impracticable ; the consistency of the 

 sirup is increased two or three degrees by cooling, 

 and the pores of the filter becoming in a short 

 time, obstructed by the finely divided charcoal, 

 the thickened liquor can no longer pass through 

 them. 



To obviate these inconveniences I place a large 

 willow basket over a boiler: into the basket I put 

 a coarse bag of the same diameter, but about two 

 feet deeper. I pour the thickened sirup into the 

 bag ; for some minutes filtration goes on very well, 

 but as the liqi'f^'- ^r-^'^^E thick in c^^'^S'^r-iipace of 

 its cooling, filtialidu slackens and at length stop?; 

 aa- soon as i perceive this, 1 turn the borders ol 

 the sack into the basket, and upon them place a 

 wooden trencher, which I gradually load with 

 cast iron weights till the necessary pressure is 

 produced ; filtration is by this means completed in 

 two or three hours. 



The charcoal contained in the sack is leached 

 with warm water, and afterwards submitted to the 

 lever press to force from it all the sirup contained 

 in it. The waters used for these leachings dur- 

 ing one day, are the next day mixed in the clari- 

 fying boiler with the juices that are then prepar- 

 ed. 



The conversion of the juice intd sirup should be 

 done as speedily as possible ; for when evapora- 

 tion is slow the liquid becomes pasty, as part of 

 the sugar is decomposed and passes to the state of 

 molasses, and the difficulty of boiling is increased. 

 It is necessary then that evaporation should be 

 carried on with violent boiling, and for this reason 

 the boilurs made use of should be broac! and shal- 

 low, 80 as to heat only layers of the liquor, and in 



order that ebullition may take place at once through 

 the whole mass of rhe li(piid ; the furnaces like- 

 wise should be so built as to heat the boilers 

 equally. The evaporation of 422 gallons should 

 be completed in four hours. 



The operation is known to bo good and the 

 juice to have bi^en well prepared, when ebullition 

 takes place without causing the liquor to swell and 

 blister; when there appears on the surface only a 

 brownish foam, the bubbles of which di.^appcar 

 immediately upon being pressed with a spoon, and 

 when a dry sound is produced by striking upon 

 the liquor. 



If, on the contrary, there formsa whitish, gluey 

 foam, which does not subside, the operation is 

 bad ; evaporation requires a long time and the 

 boiling is difficult. In this case a little butter is, 

 from time to time, thrown upon the surface to 

 quiet the effervescence; the quantity of animal 

 charcoal is increased, and the fire is checked. All 

 these ])aHiatives, however, do not correct the radi- 

 cal fault, and such appearances always presage 

 bad results. 



ON BOILING THE SIUOP. 



The sirups prepared over night are the ne.xt day 

 dried to extract the sugar from them. 



The products of two operations upon 5000 beets 

 ar^ mixed together iu a boiler, whence they are 

 taken to form four successive dryings or boilings. 

 One fourth part ofthese sirups is thrown into a 

 round boiler, forty inches in diameter and twenty 

 in de|ith ; under this a fire is kindled; the liquor 

 is made to boil, and the boiling continued till the 

 operation is ended. 



The process is judged to be going on well if the 

 liquor exhibits the following symptoms. 



1. When the sirup breaks short, and the bub- 

 bles upon returning into it produce a sensible 

 sound. 



2. When a dry sound, like that produced by 

 sinking si!k, is returned from the siafnco of the 

 sirup, when it is struck with a skimmer. 



2. When the bubbles of foam disappear im- 

 mediately upon being pressed with a spoon. The 

 boiling is always perfect when the interior surface 

 of the boiler is found, after the operation is ended, 

 to retain no trace of blackness. 



The sirup is known to be bad by the following 

 signs : 



1. When a thick, whitish, gluey foam appears 

 upon the surface of the liquor. 



2. When the liquor swells and foams, and does 

 not subside. 



3. When the escape of puffs of acid steam an- 

 nounces that the boiling substance is burnt. 



The evils are palliated anil the boiling termi- 

 nated, 



1. By removing the foam as fast as it forms. 



2. By throwing into the substance small pie- 

 ces of butter. 



3. By stirring the liquor with a large spatula. 



4. By mixing with it a little animal charcoal. 



5. By moderating the heat. 



To avoid a portion ofthese evils, I throw a flood 

 of sirup into tie boiler, and remove the whitish 

 foam that arises ; I stir the sirup strongly three 

 or four times before boiling comii.ences, and skim 

 it eai-h time. The scum that is removed is thrown 

 into a bucket with that which is [)ro(lurcd during 

 all the time that the liquor is boiling ; these skim- 

 mings are afterwards subjected to the lever pres», 

 and the remainder washed, to obtain from it all 

 the juice contained in it. The sirup obtained by 

 pressing upon one day is added to the liquor that 

 is boiled the next, and the water of the leaching is 

 thrown into the evaporating boiler. 



When the syrup in the drying vessel shows it- 

 self to be bad, especially when it gives out puffs 

 of sharp steam, which declare the substance to be 

 burnt, it is necessary to arrest the process and to 

 treat the sirup with an additional portion of ani- 

 mal charcoal. In this case the liquor is diluted 

 with water till it falls to 18 or 20* of concentration, 

 (^specific gravity of 1.143 to 1.161,) and then the 

 charcoal is added ; after which ebullition is re- 

 newed till the sirup rises to 28", ( = 1.242,) when 

 it is filtered and dried. I have found this to be 

 tho only way ih which I could restore a sirup 

 which had been injured in the process. 



I have myself made particular observations up- 

 on the thick, whitish, unctuous and paste-like sub- 

 stance, which is almost always found upon the 

 sirup, and which, when it is abimdant, prevents the 

 drying from being well terminated. This sub- 

 stance renders the sirup ropy, adheres to the 

 sides of the boiler, which are blackened by it, sep- 

 arates itself from the sirup, in proportion to its 

 concentration, and prevents the object praposed 

 frotn being attained. 



I have noticed that the quantity of this substance 

 was in proportion to the germination of the roots, 

 and that it was increased by tin; incomplete puii- 

 fication of the siruj), and also by a slow evapora- 

 tion Animal ch.Ticoal nioducos rn ; "to: ' hicjj 

 cfTict in lessening the quantity of it; sometimes, 

 if well employed, the formation of it is j)revinted, 

 or that which is produced is made to disappear. 

 This substance, which during the first years of 

 my establishment, I often collected' in large quan-' 

 titles, is thickened and hardened by cold ; it is in- 

 soluble iu water or alcohol : it burns with a white 

 and inodorous flame ; and possesses all the char- 

 acteristics of vegetable wax, from which it is in no 

 wise different. 



The drying is ended when the boiling sirup 

 marks 44 or 45°, ('= specific gravity of 1.440 to 

 1.454.) The time for removing the sirup from 

 the boiler may be known by the following signs. 



1. Plunge a skimmer into the boiling sirup, 

 and upon withdrawing it pass the thumb of the 

 right hand over its surface ; inoidd the sirup which 

 adheres to the thumb between that and the fore 

 finger, till the temperature be the same as that of 

 the skin ; then separate the thumb and finger sud- 

 denly ; if the boiling be not completed, no thread 

 will be formed between the two ; if there be a fil- 

 ament, the boiling is well advanced ; and the 



