168 



appearance, or, generally speaking, to produce a certain and equal 

 form of tlie substance which is pressed and passed between them. 

 They compress the atoms of bodies, and for this reason alone are 

 illsuited to ^separate the fibres of the sugar canes, and to express 

 effectively the saccharine matter between them. A practical proof of 

 this demonstration is furnished by every sugar cane which has 

 gone through the mill. Presh megass is at present better suited 

 for fattening animals than for fuel under the sugar pans. 



The loss of material thus sustained, which is, on an average^ 

 equal in every mill, whether driven by steam, water, or animal 

 power, is entirely chargeable to the construction of the mill, and 

 amounts to about ten per cent, of the saccharine matter contained 

 in the sugar canes. 



M. Duprez, an agent of the French Grovernment, havmg ex= 

 perimented on the canes in Guadaloupe, found the quantity of 



juice in every 100 lbs. crushed — 



lbs. 



1 By mills having horizontal rollers ; the motive power not stated . 61*2 



2 By niills, motive power, steam . . . . . 60*9 



3 By mills, motive power, wind and steam . . . . 69"3 

 • 4 By mills, having vertical rollers . . . . , 69"2 



5 By mills, motive power, cattle ..... 58*5 



6 By mills, motive power, wind * . . . . . 58'4 



The average of all these experiments being 56 per cent. only. 

 The result of M. Avequin, on Louisiana cane, was 50 per cent. 

 Mr. Thompson, of Jamaica, states 50 per cent, as the average 

 throughout the island of Martinique. Dr. Evans ventures 47 per 

 cent. the lowest, and 61 per cent, as the highest in the West 

 Indies. A mill in Madeira gave 47'5 and 70*2 of juice — the 

 larger yield being obtained by bracing the horizontal rollers more 

 than usually tight, and introducing only a few canes at a time, 

 the motive power being cattle. 



The three roller mill has the disadvantage of re-absorbing a part 

 of the cane juice in the spongy megass, (or trash as it is termed 

 in the "West Indies), and a loss of power. 



Those vvitli five rollers have been used in Cuba, Bourbon and 

 the Mauritius, which gave 70 per cent., but a great increase of 

 motive power is necessary. Eour roller mills, two below and two 

 above, requiring little more motive power than three rollers, have 

 given 70 to 75 per cent of juice. 



Some years since, the East India Company instituted inquiries 

 relative to the cultivation of the sugar cane in Hindostan, and the 

 information obtained was published in a large folio volume. The 

 E-eports furnished by their oflicers, from almost every district, 

 concur in stating that there were three kinds cultivated: — 1. The 

 purple. 2. The white. 3. A variety of the white, requiring a 

 large supply of water. The epitome of the Eeports afl'ords this 

 information : — 



1, The purple colored cane yields a sweeter, richer juice, than 

 Dr. Evans' Treatise on Sugar," p. 7<5c 



