176 
FINDING NATURE’S TREASURES 
“How do they get the sap out of the stems to make 
sugar?” asked Buddy. 
“They cut off the stems close to the ground with big 
knives,” answered Uncle Jack. “Then they carry the 
stems to a machine which squeezes out the juice. The 
machine is much like Mother’s clothes-wringer, but much 
larger. It squeezes out the juice of the cane stalks just 
like a wringer squeezes the water out of clothes. The 
sap looks like water at first, and much of it is water. 
Then it is put into great kettles and boiled slowly. The 
water goes off in steam and leaves the sugar in the bot¬ 
tom of the kettle.” 
“That is just what happens when you boil salt water,” 
said Marylee. “We did that. The salt was left in the 
bottom of the pan when the water was all gone.” 
“The sugar is not pretty and white when it first comes 
from the mill,” continued Uncle Jack. “It is brown like 
the sugar that Mother sometimes gets to use in her 
cooking. The brown sugar is sent to a refinery, which is 
a place where it is made clean and white as you see it 
now.” 
“Does all sugar come from sugar cane?” asked Buddy. 
“No, a large part of our sugar is made from the sap 
of sugar beets,” replied Uncle Jack. 
“Do you mean from beets like those we have for din¬ 
ner?” asked Marylee. 
“Yes, it is made from beets that are very much like 
