STJGAE-CANE JUICE CLAEIFICATION. 13 



By employing the method of clarification with infusorial earth 

 as described above the practicability of vacuum evaporation for 

 sirup manufacture is increased largely. This condition is just a 

 little different from any at present existing. In the regions where 

 sirup is made without the use of sulphur or lime, owing to the neces- 

 sity of almost continuous skimming, all factories employ open vats 

 or pans for evaporation. In Louisiana and parts of Texas, where 

 large amounts of sirup are made in vacuum pans, the juice is clari- 

 fied with lime and sulphur dioxid. Using this infusorial earth clari- 

 fication method, the juice is ready to go to the evaporators after 

 coming from the filter presses without further treatment. The juice 

 is clean and clear, no further scums appear during evaporation, and 

 no coagulation or sedimentation takes place as the juice becomes 

 more and more concentrated. 



In connection with this work on clarification a small vacuum pan 

 was installed. The filter-pressed juice was taken directly into the 

 pan and evaporated to sirup, the pan being charged continuously 

 until its capacity was reached. The sirup thus produced was 

 of a light color, comparing very favorably in this respect with 

 the highest grade of Louisiana sirups. The flavor, which, after all, 

 is the principal quality to be considered, was excellent. It was 

 quite mild, yet possessed the pleasant aroma and flavor characteristic 

 of good cane sirup and was free from the peculiar after-effect that the 

 highly sulphured sirup of Louisiana often leaves in the throat. In 

 the author's opinion the flavor had lost nothing by the vacuum evapo- 

 ration, though it may have been somewhat milder than that of the 

 ordinary run of sirups, a characteristic that is decidedly desirable 

 if a large market is to be developed for cane sirup in our Northern 

 and Eastern States. 



It is claimed by many that sirups made by the ordinary method 

 of clarification with lime and sulphur are darkened by evaporation 

 in the multiple effects and pans and that vigorous open evaporation 

 makes a lighter sirup. This was not found to be the case with 

 sirups clarified by infusorial earth filtration, but rather a lighter 

 sirup was produced in the vacuum pan than in the open evaporators. 

 No darkening of the sirup in the vacuum pan in excess of that pro- 

 duced by open evaporation was observed. In fact, the sirup made 

 by vacuum evaporation was in general much lighter in color than 

 that made entirely in open evaporators. 



