62 



NORTHERN SUGAR INDUSTRY. 



Again it must be remembered tliat to burn the bagasse from the mill 

 successfnllj^, costly furuaces and apparatus have to be constructed. 



This will add a considerable item to the bill expenses. 



Even with such appliances the amount of other fuel required is not 

 greatly less than in ordinary furnaces. 



I am not quite prepared to believe that sorghum will furnish the fuel 

 to boil its juices unless the bagasse is first carefully dried. 



I therefore await with interest the results of several years experience 

 with bagasse burners. Like all other problems in sorghum culture and 

 manufacture, it would be decidedly unwise to determine them from a 

 single season's work. 



METHOD OF MANUFACTURE AT CHAMPAION, ILL. 



The Champaign Comx)auy uses the Weber and Scovell patent. The 

 essential features of this method are as follows : 



1. The additiOD of lime to the expressed juice until the free acids are 

 completely neutralized. 



2. The further defecation of the juice by heat and its concentration, 

 after removal of scums and sediments, to a semi-sirup of 200-25^ B. 



3. The filtration of this sirup through bone-black to remove imimri- 

 ties and whiten the sugar. 



The operations in the vacuum pan, the crystallizing room, and at the 

 centrifugals are the same as at other factories. 



This process makes a beautiful and pure sugar, which is fit for the 

 table without any further refining. In fact, the refining takes place 

 during the process of manufacture. 



The radical difference between this and the Hughes process is at once 

 apparent, and proves that there is more than one way to make sor- 

 ghum sugar. 



Prof. H. A. Weber, the manager of the Champaign works kindly 

 furnished me with the following information i/i answer to questions the 

 nature of which appears from his replies : 



Champaign, III., December 15, 18b3. 

 Dear Sir : In comi)liance with your letter of November 15, I have the honor to 

 suhniit the following answers to the qnestious asked : 



1. The whole amount of cane worked this season was 4,660 tons, about half of 

 which was stripped ; the rest was crushed with the leaves. 



2. About 60 per cent, of the juice was expressed. 

 Double milling; was employed. 



3. Nuiiil)(!r of pounds of sugar made, 160,000. 



4. Nniiiber of gallons of molasses made, 35,000. 



5. TIh' averjige com})osition of the juice worked this year,' was as follows: Specilic 

 gravity 8-^ B. ^ 1.0591 ; cane sugar, 7.78 per cent. ; grape sugar, 4.76 per cent. 



It mtiy be well to state that the inferiority of the juice was due to a heavy frost on 

 September 8 and 9, which killed the leaves of the greater part of our cane. This had 

 the same effect upon the cane that stripping and allowing to stand would have had. 

 The quality of the cane deteriorated from that date until it was w<»rked up. 



