200 
VERTICAL THREE ROLLER SUGAR MILL, FOR PRESSING 
CHINESE CANE. 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
SUGAR CANE AND SUGAR MAKING. 
A majority of our readers have small plots of 
l he Chinese Sugar Cane, which they planted for 
the purpose of “ seeing how it looked,” or how 
it would grow with them, and also to secure seed 
of their own raising for another year, should it 
he wanted. Owing to a wet, late Spring, some 
did not plant at all, while with others, the seed 
lotted in the ground Up to August 1, reports 
from many parts of the country were discourag¬ 
ing, but since then, we have had very different 
accounts. Numerous letters, recently received 
from subscribers in almost every direction, say 
1 hat the plants are now pushing forward very 
■apidly, much of the earliest planted being al- 
teady from eight to twelve or more feet high. This 
is the case with our own crop. We planted it at 
different times, on a variety of soil, with various 
fertilizers, notes of which will be published when 
the full result is known. 
HINTS ON SUGAR OR SYRUP MAKING. 
Some of our readers will experiment with this 
plant on a small scale, with .reference to its sugar 
capacity, while a few have gone into it some¬ 
what largely. For those intending to make sugar 
or syrup in quantity, we present above, an illus¬ 
tration of an upright, three-cylinder mill for 
crushing the Cane, which we referred to on page 
166 (July number). The working of the mill will 
be readily understood by an examination of the 
cut. The feeder deposits the canes, previously 
stripped of leaves, in a series of troughs or 
shelves, from which they are drawn in and 
crushed twice between the three rollers; the 
juice falls into a vat underneath, from which it 
is carried in buckets, or through a pipe, to the 
boilers. The price and capacity of these mills 
vary with the length of the roller ; thus, one with 
rollers twelve inches in length costs $100, and 
will suffice for grinding the cane on five or six 
acres or less. One of this size, worked by two 
iiorses, will press out about a gallon of juice per 
minute. In other sizes, the lengths of the rollers 
range from 17 to 30 inches, and the prices from 
$125 to $225. Particular information may be ob¬ 
tained by addressing Hedges, Free & Co., Cin¬ 
cinnati, O. These parties also manufacture cast 
iron sugar pans for boiling, which hold from 30 
to 9b gallons, and cost from $)0 to $30, accord¬ 
ing lO size. A single pair of the smallest pans 
will be sufficient for boiling the juice of five or 
six acres, ft is belter, however, to have one pan, 
holding say 50 gallons, for the first boiling, and a 
smaller one for the final condensation of the 
syrup. Full directions for setting the mills and 
pans are furnished with them, and also direc¬ 
tions for making syrup or sugar. See also page 
187 (August number). In the advertising columns 
of our August number, a new work on Sugar 
Making was announced by C. M. Saxton & Co. 
as in press. This is now promised by the 1 Oth of 
September, and will probably contain valuable in¬ 
formation from/those more largely engaged in 
sugar making. We cannot, of course, speak in 
advance as to its merits. So much for manufac¬ 
turing on a large scale. 
SMALLER EXPERIMENTS. 
A variety of methods may be adopted for trying 
a few hills of the cane. The simplest we have 
heard of is, to crush the canes by heating and 
rolling on a table or board with a common rolling 
pin, catching the juice in a pan, and boiling it 
down in a kettle. 
Another : Cut up the canes very short in a 
straw cutter, and put them into a kettle of water 
and boil out the sweetness. After boiling for a 
time, the pieces are put into a strong bag, the 
juice pressed out, and the whole liquid boiled down. 
Both the above were tried last year. 
Others will, this year, use the common sugar¬ 
crushing mill, one of which may he found in most 
stores where sugar is sold. Where these are 
used, it will be necessary to crusii the joints first 
by heavy blows with a hammer, and then run 
them through two or three times, moving the 
rollers nearer together each time. 
A wooden crusher may be made by turning out 
two wooden rollers, say 8 or 10 inches long, and 
6 or 8 inches in diameter. These may be placed 
together in two pieces of plank, and a heavy 
long crank be fitted upon the end of one of them. 
To keep them close together, a hole may he made 
edgewise through the planks, and a tapering 
wedge driven in over the two ends of the upper 
roller. Driving this in will bring the rollers 
down. It will be necessary to have a long crank, 
made strong, in order to get power enough to 
press out any considerable portion of the juice. 
It will also be necessary to break the joints first 
with a hammer. As a matter of course, none of 
these simple contrivances will extract all the 
juice, but they may be adopted where only a 
small trial is contemplated. Iron rollers and con¬ 
siderable power is requisite for economical ex¬ 
traction of the juice in any but limited experi¬ 
ments. The smallest rolling mill we have seen 
is described at page 166. Any ingenious me¬ 
chanic may get up an extempore contrivance, of 
wood or iron, for crushing in a small way. 
. BOILING THE SYRUP. 
For an extensive business, large cast or sheet- 
iron pans will be required. A good sheet-iron pan 
may be made of Russia sheet-iron by almost any 
stove trimmer, or tin worker. A hard wood frame, 
with a sheet-iron bottom, bent around the edge, 
and nailed on water-tight, makes a very good 
boiler. This must of course be set in brick-work, 
.o prevent the fire from rising around the sides 
and burning the wood. For the smaller experi¬ 
ments alluded to, the juice may be boiled down 
in a common brass, or even iron kettle. It is im¬ 
portant to put the juice to boiling as soon as 
extracted, as it soon commences souring on ex¬ 
posure to the air. In all cases, a little milk of 
lime, or lime water freshly made by slaking lime 
in water, should be added to the juice, using about 
a teaspoonful of slaked lime mixed with half a 
pint of water, to four or live gallons of the juice. 
The first heating should be slow until most ol 
the scum is removed, when it may be somewhat 
rapid, hut as the juice thickens, the fire must he 
lessened, to avoid burning. When a new portion 
of liquid is to be added to that already boiling, it 
should first be boiled, and skimmed in a separate 
kettle, and be added hot. The liquor should be 
skimmed as long as any scum rises. It will per¬ 
haps be advisable to add half of the lime after 
the main scum is removed, and the remainder 
when the liquid has become entirely clear. 
The degree of concentration requisite can 
be judged of by trial. A little of the syrup can 
from time to time he taken out and cooled. The 
boiling should be continued until the syrup be¬ 
comes quite thick and ropy. It is yet a mooted 
point whether the syrup will crystallize by simply 
boiling down. Any one can readily try the effect 
of condensing a little of the syrup over a slow 
fire until it becomes a thick mass, and then set it 
aside to crystallize, if it will do so. A specimen 
of thick syrup, made at Hempstead, L. I., and 
sent to us last Fall, was left in a tin box with the 
cover fitting loosely, and after drying during seve¬ 
ral months, distinct crystals of sugar collected 
upon the bottom and sides of the box. 
TIME OF CUTTING THE PLANTS. 
The point of maturity at which the canes will 
yield the greatest amount of saccharine (sweet) 
material has yet to be ascertained. The experi¬ 
ments thus far made, indicate that this period is 
just when the seeds are ripening, which is indi¬ 
cated by their assuming a black glossy color, but 
before they become hard and fully ripe. If cut at 
this stage, the seed can be saved without injuring 
the yield of juice. The heads or seed panicles 
inay be taken off with a foot or more of the 
upper stalks, as this part contains very little 
sweet juice. As soon as the stalks are cut, strip 
off all leaves, which may be saved for fodder, and 
crush the canes, and boil the juice at once. 
The seed may be stripped off and cleaned at 
leisure. This can be done with a scraper or 
hatchel, similarly to broom corn. On a large scale, 
it can be taken off by running through a common 
threshing machine, or with a flail. The seeds 
are tender, however, and liable to be injured Im¬ 
planting, by too rough usage. 
As to the future value of the Chinese Sugar 
Cane, there will be abundant experiments on a 
large scale this year, to settle the point conclu¬ 
sively. These we shall study carefully, and give 
the result. It is therefore useless to discuss that 
matter at this early date. On this subject any 
information of practical import will be gladly re¬ 
ceived, whether favorable of not. The favor¬ 
able side will be most likely to be set forth. A 
few parties are specially interested in the “ Afri¬ 
can Imphee.” We regret that there was not an 
opportunity given to test it in a greater variety 
of soils and local inns. 
