82 THE BOOK OF USEFUL PLANTS 



the stalks, to the power mills that get almost all, 

 has done much to create, as well as supply, the 

 increased demand in the world for sugar of the 

 highest quality. In the cane mill and on through 

 the sugar factory we see skilled men controlling 

 the machinery that converts cane sap into sugar. 

 Few processes require human labor, such as is put 

 into the business in countries where more primi- 

 tive methods are still in use. The improvements 

 have been made by men who have gone into warm 

 countries from the North, and taken vigorous 

 hold of the business. Teaching the easy-going 

 inhabitants the use of machinery has been a chore. 



The sap of the cane must be extracted by crush- 

 ing and rolling, then condensed by evaporating 

 the water it contains, then clarified and crystal- 

 lized into the sugar of commerce. 



The best mills get 95 per cent, of the sucrose 

 (sugary content) of the cane. This process begins 

 with the carrier that brings a continuous supply 

 of cane to the shredding knives. The torn fibres 

 go to the crushing rollers, a series of them, that 

 finally leave the dry fibre, called "bagasse" in 

 America. This is burned in the furnaces for fuel, 

 or saturated with the sweet residue of the sugar 

 vats, and sold as a cattle food under the trade 

 name, "molascuit." A recent use for the fibre 



