CUBA— THE SUGAR MILL OF THE ANTILLES 



29 



Photograph by American Photograph Company 



SEWING WRAPPER LEAVES TOGETHER PREPARATORY TO HANGING THEM UP TO CURE 



IN A CUBAN TOBACCO BARN 



Before the leaves to be used as wrappers can be cured, the stems of two of them are 

 sewed together, and they are then hung across a lath or string, saddlebag fashion, and placed 

 in the curing barn (see text, page 31). 



hold all the sugar dissolved, and as evap- 

 oration proceeds, the sugar, deprived of 

 its water, is compelled to pass out of solu- 

 tion into crystal form. 



A ton of sugar-cane yields 4j4 gallons 

 of blackstrap molasses, and one gets a 

 good impression of the immensity of the 

 industry when, on a single day's rail 

 journey, he meets a dozen solid trains of 

 some forty big tank cars each, and every 

 car full to the dome with blackstrap. 



Over every operation in the manufac- 

 ture of sugar one little instrument pre- 

 sides — the polariscope. It is the court of 

 last resort, the final judge, in the making 



of sugar. Does this field produce cane 

 rich in sugar? Is that mill extracting its 

 proper percentage of juice out of the 

 crushed cane? Is that juice yielding up 

 its proper share of first-grade sugar? 

 Does any available sugar remain unex- 

 tracted in the blackstrap? Is this sugar 

 pure enough to meet the importer's tests? 



All these questions are put to the 

 polariscope by the mill manager, through 

 the chemist, and it never fails to re- 

 turn a full and convincing answer (see 

 page 22). 



What manner of mechanism is this 

 that can thus render these dependable 



