104 



MANUFACTURE OF SUGAR. 



strainers, with meshes of different degrees of fineness, 

 should be placed in such a position, that the liquor would 

 pass through them immediately after leaving the rollers, 

 and so constructed that they could be readily and speedily 

 removed for the purpose of cleansing. They should also 

 be so arranged, that a clean set could be inserted above or 

 below those which were becoming choked, before their 

 removal. These strainers ought to be made entirely of 

 metal, and no wood used in the frames, as it absorbs a por- 

 tion of the juice, and cannot be kept free from acidity. By 

 this means all the coarser impurities from the juice will be 

 removed before it passes into the clarifiers. The number 

 of clarifiers should be regulated by the power of the mill, 

 or the amount of work required from it, and they should 

 be placed as close to it as possible, to prevent the injury 

 which results from the passage of the juice through long 

 pipes or gutters, often coated with glutinous ferment, 

 Each clarifier or defecator should be capable of containing 

 from 300 to 600 gallons, according to the scale of the 

 works, and should have a second vessel of similar capacity, 

 and with the same appliances for heating the juice, placed 

 upon such a level, that the liquor can be filtered from the 

 first into it. On the liquor flowing from the mill into the 

 first clarifier, it should, as quickly as possible, be heated to 

 ebullition, which will cause the coagulation of the albumen 

 in the meshes of which, the particles of chlorophylle, and 

 the smaller insoluble impurities which have escaped the 

 strainers, will be entangled and enveloped. After being 



