SACCHARUM OFPICrNARUM. 



59 



sugar than that of canes cut in January and February, and. it is probable that it is due 

 more to the slowness of the sugar crushing process than to any other consideration that 

 cane cutting commences so early as it does. The instrument used for cane crushing is 

 known as the Icolhu, and consists essentially of a large wooden or stone mortar in which a 

 huge wooden pestle is made to revolve by the traction of a pair of bullocks. The pestle 

 is in a slanting position so as to roll round the sides of the mortar as it is turned, and it 

 is kept in its place by being connected by a long upright with one end of a flat hori- 

 zontal beam, the other end of which abuts upon and slides round the base of the mortar. 

 The cane is cut up into short strips, which are placed in the mortar and are crushed by the 

 pestle as it rolls over them, the juice running down into an earthen jar. Working night 

 and day a kolliu will not press more than 1 1 acres of cane in a month, and it is dangerous 

 as well as inefficient, since a sudden breakage of the pestle often results in the injury, 

 if not death, of the bullock driver below, and the fingers of the man who fills in the 

 cane are often crushed beneath the pestle. A portable iron roller mill (patented by 

 some English Zemindars in Bahar) is rapidly attaining such popularity as to encourage 

 the belief that in a few years it will altogether supplant the holUu in some parts of the 

 Provinces. It can be worked by a single bullock, and saves the labour of at least one 

 man, since the canes have not to be cut up into pieces but are pressed whole. When 

 to this it is added that the juice which it delivers is far purer and cleaner and yields 

 sugar worth almost 25 per cent, more than that made from juice expressed by the kolhu, 

 it is no matter for surprise that within the last few years over 15,000 have been sold in 

 these Provinces and Behar, and that the supply is not equal to the demand. 



The boiling of the juice follows on the pressing with as little delay as possible, 

 since fermentation rapidly sets in from exposure to the air. The process of boiling and 

 concentration varies according as its result is to be rjurh, sJtalcar or rdb. Gurli is a compost 

 of sugar crystals and uncrystallized syrup boiled till of a sufficient consistency to be made 

 up into soft balls or cakes {hheli or clialchi). Shakar is formed when the boiling is a 

 little more prolonged and the mixture of crystals and syrup is violently stirred while 

 cooling, when its colour becomes lighter and it crumbles into small pieces. In rdb making 

 the boiling is not so prolonged, and the result is syrup containing masses of crystallized 

 sugar embedded in it. Gurh and shuJcar are for human consumption as they are, but rdb 

 only represents the first stage in the manufacture of crystallized sugar. With (/urh and 

 shakar the object is more to obtain a good colour than good crystallization, while the 

 value of rdb entirely depends on the proportion of crystals which it contains. Hence 

 the boiling process for gurli and shakar is, as a rule, much rougher than when rdb is 

 manufactured. 



The boiling apparatus consists of a furnace excavated in the ground, over which 

 one or more iron pans are set. If the boiler is supplied from only a single kolhu, as a 

 rule one pan is used, while if two or more kolhus are used the number of pans is often 

 increased to four or five, which are of different sizes and are placed in order, the largest one 

 furthest from the feed end of the furnace, and the smallest one immediately over it. 

 In this form the boiling apparatus is very similar to that formerly used in the West 

 Indies. The use of a row of pans on this principle effects a great saving of time, and 

 also perhaps enables the manufacture of better sugar, though this is by no means proved. 



