THE CHINESE SUGAR-CANE. 59 



added, stir up well, and strain the milk through 

 a cloth ; let it settle for half a day, pour off the 

 water, and dry the powder. Of the latter you 

 may use from a half a tea-spoonful to two tea- 

 spoonsful for every five gallons of juice, after the 

 scum has been removed. 



'' The scum is used in the West Indies for the 

 manufacture of rum, the details of which are 

 entirely too elaborate to be introduced here. It 

 may^be also advantageously disposed of as food 

 for hogs. The quantity of saccharine matter left 

 in the begass renders it a nutritious food for stock. 

 This refuse, by leaching water through it, yields a 

 saccharine solution which may be fermented into 

 beer or vinegar, and may be distilled into whis- 

 key and alcohol. It may be also advantageously 

 used to cover the cut canes in hot weather, when 

 it may be desired to have a large quantity kept 

 at the mill for days and weeks before being all 

 used. The constant evaporation of the juice 

 in the begass keeps the cane beneath at a tem- 

 perature so low as to prevent fermentation, as 

 well as the drying of the cane ; it will also serve 

 to shield it from the frost. A suggestion has 

 been made to convert the ligneous fibre into 

 paper. It certainly is a better material for this 

 purpose than much that is now employed. It is, 

 6 



