42 



NORTHERN SflGAR INDUSTRY. 



The striking iDferiority of the canes of this season is at once apparent. 

 It appears to be due to the cold season, especially in August and Sep- 

 tember, and to the fact that the whole field was prostrated by the storm 

 of September 11 and 12. 



To make crystallized sugar out of such an unpromising juice was an 

 almost hopeless undertaking. 



While I am sorry that the meager yield of sugar has been adisai)point- 

 ment, not only to you and the friends of the industry throughout the 

 country, but also to this divisign, yet I do not see how, with the char- 

 acter of the cane, and the method employed, it could well have been 

 greater. 



MANUFACTURE. 



The method of manufacture was an extremely simple one. As the 

 juice flowed from the mill bisulphite of lime solution* was allowed to 

 drop into it, about 1 quart to each 100 gallons of juice. ^ 



The object of adding the bisulphite of lime is to prevent fermenta- 

 tion. Eaw sorghum juice, in a very short time after it is expressed, 

 will begin to change unless some measures are taken to prevent it. In- 

 stead of the lime bisulphite the juice may be brought at once, on com- 

 ing from the mill, into contact with sulphurous dioxide (sulphur fumes). 



The bisulphite method has this advantage, viz., the quantity of sul- 

 phur introduced is under complete control, and can be varied to suit 

 the quality of the juice at hand. 



Arriving at the defecating tank,t the juice was heated to about 60^ 

 to 70O C. (1250 to 140O F.). The steam was then turned off and milk of 

 lime (specific gravity, 15° B.) added, with constant stirring until litmus 

 paper showed exact neutrality. The temperature was then rapidly 

 raised to the boiling point, but the liquid was not allowed to boil. After 

 five minutes the scum was removed and the liquid allowed to flow 

 through bag filters into a receiving tank below. Thence it was pumped 

 into a large concentrator, and the steam turned on gently, so that the 

 foam would come nearly to the top of the pan. This foam was now 

 swept off (into a gutter running around the pan) until it became per- 

 fectly white and clean. 



The steam was now turned off until the foam settled, and then turned 



*^ Analyses of lime bisulphite employed. 





1. 



2. 



3. 



4. 





1. 0718 

 2. 11 

 5. 85 



1. 0788 



2. 28 

 6.40 





1. 0755 

 0. 82 

 6.47 





40. 32 

 23. 04 







No. 3 was a solid lime compound ; the others were liquid. 



^Dimensions of tank : length, 59. .5 inches; width, 42 inches; average depth of 

 juice, 83 inches ; heating surface, 79 square feet, 2 inches copper pipe. 



