204 
SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR. 
SUGAR MAKING — THE NEW PROCESS OF 
Col. Stewart. 
The Planters' Banner^ of Franklin, La., says: — As an 
item of news effecting the sugar interest, we transfer to 
our columns the following letter to the New Orleans Bee, 
from J. B, Avequin, Esq., a chemist of no ordinary merit. 
From its perusal it will be seen that the writer'fully en- 
dorses the new discovery for the manufacture of sugar by 
the means of sulphurous acid gas being applied directly 
to the cold cane juice, and recommeds it to the serious 
consideration of the sugar planters of Louisiana. Col. 
Stewart has already disposed of rights for his process in 
the Island of Cuba amounting to ^55,000. The new dis- 
covery is the prevailing theme of conversation among the 
sugar growers, and Prof. Riddell’s comparative analysis 
has been translated and circulated throughout every por- 
tion of that Island. From the lights now before us we 
have no hesitation in saying that the new discovery is 
destined to supercede all other processes now in use. 
Here is the letter : 
New Orleans, April 18, 1859. 
To the Editors of the Bee — Gentlemen:— As the columns 
of your valuable paper are always open for the publica'^ 
tion of useful discoveries, and especially for such as con- 
cern the interest of Louisiana, permit me to direct the at- 
tention of sugar planters to a new process for manufac- 
turing brown sugar recently practiced by Col. Stewart, of 
Oaklawn, parish of St. Bernard. Having had an oppor- 
tunity of examining sugar thus prepared at the office of 
Col. Stewart’s broker, in New Orleans, I was struck with 
its fine quality. I had never beheld Louisiana sugar with 
so rich a grain, so pure a quality, and so beautiful a color. 
Having for many years been engaged in the examination 
of the sugar cane, the manufacture of sugar, the various 
processes and apparatuses employed moi;e or less success- 
fully in this pursuit, I resolved to institute a chemical 
analysis of the article obtained by Col. Stewart’s process ; 
and for this purpose, at the request of several friends, I re- 
paired to Col. Stewart’s plantation, and selected, in per- 
son, various specimens of sugar and molasses from the 
purgery. 
The process in question— that is the process employed 
by Col. Stewart— is based on the direct introduction of 
sulphurous acid into cold cane juice, immediately after its 
extraction from the cane, and before it is subjected to de- 
fecation. This mode of treatment has proved completely 
successful in the hands of Col. Stewart, as is incontrovert- 
ibly demonstrated by the superior quality of the sugar. 
A splendid, dry, hard, finely tinted grain is what is most 
esteemed in this particular branch of industry, and we 
may assert boldly and unconditionally that a better and 
a more beautiful sugar than that of Col. Stewart has never 
been seen in the New Orleans market. 
Certain persons, instigated by jealousy or malevolence, 
have published statements in the daily journals to the ef- 
fect that by this process free sulphuric acid (oil of vitriol) 
is formed ; that it remains united with the sugar, is in- 
jurious to health, and other frivolous objections which it 
is unnecessary to repeat. We can conscientiously declare 
that these assertions are wholly unfounded, and that one 
must be ignorant of the very elements of chemisty to speak 
and write such absolute stuff. We are aware that by the 
direct introduction of sulphurous acid into cane juice a 
very small quantity of sulphuric acid is formed ; we know, 
too, that the very same result is occasioned by the use of 
the bisulphite of Ume ; but this minute proportion of sul- 
phuric acid is neutralized by the lime-water added dol- 
ing the process of defecation ,• and thus we obtain the 
sulphate of lime which rises to the surface in the thick 
green scum, or contributes to form the crust in the evapor- 
ating pans and the steam tubes. In either case the ac- 
cident is of little consequence, and cannot impair the value 
of Col. Stewart’s process. 
I have examined and analyzed Col. Stewart’s sug^r 
with the most minute attention I was capable of bestow- 
ing on the subject, and I declare openly that it is a most 
superior article — in fact sugar, par excellence. 
We know that Louisiana sugar made by the old system, 
even though the bi sulphite of lime is used in the manu- 
facture, cannot be exported to Europe, in consequence of 
the weakness of the grain. Even the transportation of 
Louisiana sugar to New York and other Northern cities 
is sufficient to cause its deterioration, to the extent of 
partial liquefactian. Such is not the case with the admi- 
rable brown sugar manufactured by Col. Stewart, for it 
may be shipped to all the countries of the globe without 
being exposed to this source of deterioration. We are 
satisfied this sugar might travel round the world and re- 
turn back to New Orleans in good condition. To our 
mind, as brown sugar, it is perfect, and of remarkable 
purity. It contains none of the salts of potass, nor of 
lime, is free from gelatinous silica, and other organic 
matters which generally vitiate Louisiana sugar. Cer- 
tain varieties of this sugar contain more than 20 per cent, 
of foreign substances. Col. Stewart’s sugar has none, 
or next to none. In short, it is pure sugar. 
As the process employed by Col. Stewart enables him 
to add a large quantity of lime in the defecation of his 
cane juice, the molasses yielded by this sngar is conse- 
quently all the purer. It immediately removes the phos- 
phates of lime, magnesia, and the gelatinous silica, and 
the greater part of the organic matters usually contained 
in every variety of cane juice. His molasses is less vis- 
cous and less liable to fermentation than that derived 
from sugar manufactured by the usual method. The 
chemical analysis of this molasses convinces me that it is 
purer, and may be longer preserved than the ordinary 
molasses. The molasses usually obtained from Louisiana 
sugar contains an average of about 5 per cent, of the salts 
of potass, of the acid phosphate of lime, of the phosphate 
of magnesia, of gelatinous silica, and of azotized orga- 
nic matters. That of Col. Stewart has only about^ 3 per 
cent, by weight of foreign substances, and contains only 
a few of the salts of potass which exist naturally in cane 
juice, and which it is impossible to destroy by any known 
chemical process. All other substances existing natural- 
ly in every variety of cane juice are eliminated by Col. 
Stewart’s discovery. 
In one gallon of molasses yielded by sugar made from 
Col. Stewart’s process there were only 188 grammes of 
saline and organic matters. The molasses produced by 
the ordinary processes of sugar-making contains more 
than double the quantity. 
I conclude, therefore, that the process employed by 
Col. Stewart is worthy the serious attention of the plan- 
ters of Louisiana. 
J. B. Aveqdin. 
How TO Make a Mortar Impervious to Wet. — Pro- 
vide a square though, say 8 feet by 4 feet by 1 foot 4 
inches ; put a quantity of fresh lump lime in ; add water 
quickly. When the lime is well heated having assisted 
that operation by frequent stirring, add a quantity of tar 
(the heat of the heated lime melts the tar,) stir it well 
taking care that every part of the lime isintimately mixed 
with the tar ; .then add sharp sand or crushed clinker, and 
stir well as before, after which, in about twenty hours, it 
will be fit for use. 
