SUGAE. 137 



charine juice, and jointed at very short intervals ; the pa- 

 nicle, or flower-head, is large, often more than two feet long, 

 elegant and feathery, from the flowers being surrounded 

 with fine long reddish-coloured hairs, whilst the scales of 

 the flower are of a pale rose-colour. The art of the culti- 

 vator has originated numerous varieties. 



The sugar-cane is a perennial plant, and when ripe is 

 cut down ; the canes are then taken to the mills, where they 

 are subjected to great pressure between iron rollers, by which 

 the cane-juice is separated ; it is then mixed with lime and 

 boiled; by this process it is clarified; thence it is passed 

 through a succession of boilers, and the water is removed 

 by evaporation. >Yhen the sugar begins to assume its ordi- 

 nary granular appearance, it is placed in a large shallow 

 vessel, called a cooler, to crystallize. Here the peculiar pro- 

 cess called claying takes place : a stratum of clay, moistened 

 with water, is laid on the top, and as the water gradually 

 filters through the mass of sugar, it carries with it much of 

 the molasses which discolours it. The process of claying 

 is said to have been discovered by accident : a hen, with 

 muddy feet, having walked over a cooler full of sugar, 

 it was noticed that where the clay from her feet had re- 

 mained, the sugar beneath it was much lighter-coloured. If 



