THE WASH. 



161 



clay being daubed round the edges, after the 

 wash has been put into the still and the fire has 

 been lighted underneath. These caps have on 

 one side a pipe of six inches in length attached 

 to each of them, and into this is inserted the end 

 of a brass tube of four feet in length. This tube 

 is placed in a broad and deep earthen pot or jar 

 containing cold water, and the opposite end of 

 it reaches beyond the pot. The tube is fixed 

 with a sufficient slant to allow of the liquor run- 

 ning freely through it. The liquor which is ob- 

 tained from the first distillation is usually sold, 

 without undergoing any further process. A 

 second distillation is only practised in preparing 

 a small quantity for the use of the planter's 

 house. 



The wash ripens for distillation in earthen jars 

 similar to those which are used for claying sugar, 

 but they are closed at the bottom instead of be- 

 ing perforated, as must necessarily occur with 

 the latter. No exact rules are followed in the 

 quantities of each ingredient for making the 

 wash, because the distillers, who are usually 

 freemen, differ much in the proportions of each 

 ingredient. Until lately, only a small number of 

 the planters had any apparatus for distilling, for 

 it was their practice to sell all the melasses which 

 were produced to the small distillers. Many of 

 the persons in the lower ranks of life possess 

 one or two of these rude stills, by which they 



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