200 
MAGAZINE' OF SCIENCE AND ART. 
keep the two pieces from spreading when the ( 
strain comes, either clamp them together with | 
wooden clamps or wedges, or iioid them together 
with a dovetail tie. The mill is now complete; 
pnt in the lever, and you are ready to crush the | 
canes. Cut a small gutter round the roller fit the . 
wood of the bed-plate, leading to a spout, to pre- 1 
vent the juice from running all round and being 
lost. The above need not cost a farmer ten dollars 
where wood is plenty', is sufficiently strong, and 
will crush a hundred gallons of juice per day, il 
required. 
Of course it will be understood that a mill like 
this described above is merely a make-shift for ex¬ 
perimenting with, for you could only get one-half 
the juice by it that an iron one of the same con¬ 
struction would yield. 
down as rapidly' as possible. As the quantity re¬ 
duces by boiling, keep adding fresh juice from the 
first clarification, so as not to let the syrup get too 
low in the pot, or it will get burnt. If any scum 
rises, remove it with your scirmncr. And by fol¬ 
lowing these directions ymu cannot fail to mak§ 
good syrup. • 
The preceding remarks suppose . that you have 
only' one pot to operate with ; but it is very much 
better to have two, as it will save twenty nmiuics’ 
time and fuel with each kei ile ol syrup you make ; 
because, as I have endeavoured to show, you have 
to wait twenty minutes after taking the pot from 
the fire to allow the scum to rise and settle ; so, if 
you have not another pot-full of fresh juice to put 
on, it is so much time and fire wasted. IV ith two 
pots in use, you replace the first ou the fire as soon 
as y-ou take the other off, and proceed to boil down. 
CRUSHING OUT T1IE gUICE. 
SYRUP OF EXTRA QUALITY. 
Having brought your canes to the mill, and ad¬ 
justed your lever, cither let a man walk round 
about it, or attach a horse and pony. Pass the 
canes through two at a time, till y T ou have sufficient 
juice for crushing,say ten or fifteen gallons, which 
should be crushed out in half an hour. Now build 
another place with stones, or set up two forked 
poles, and put another across, on which sling your 
pot. which may be of sheet tin, hut had better he 
of cast iron. Lei it hold say ten gallons. Get a 
small tin skimmer at a tinsmith’s shop, and you 
are prepared to commence boiling. 
BOILING AND CLARIFYING. 
Everything being ready, slack a tea-cup full of 
lime, mix it to the consistency of cream, and set 
it by for us.e. Light your fire, with charcoal if 
you have it, for it makes no smoke, but if you 
have none, use dry' kindling wood. If possible, 
so arrange your rude fire-place as to let the fire 
reach no more than half way up the sides of the 
pot. Put five or six gallons of juice into the pot, 
set it on the fire, and when it becomes milk warm, 
add one large teaspoouful of the cream of lime, 
and mix it thoroughly through the juice. Non- 
take the whites of two fresh eggs, beat them up 
with a teacupful of the juice from the pot, and 
when thoroughly mixed, pour back, and stir them 
well through the mass, bring it to the boil as soon 
as possible, but the moment you see the first signs 
of boiling, lift the pot off the fire ; set it on the 
ground, and let it remain quiet for fifteen or twenty 
minutes. You will have perceived that after add¬ 
ing the cream of lime and eggs, as the simmering 
went on, a thick scum began to rise, tins you must 
not disturb, but allow to gather on tile top, till you 
take the pot from the fire as directed, and allow it 
to settle fifteen or twenty minutes. At the end of 
this time carefully remove the scum, and you w-ill 
find, if you have carefully followed" these directions, 
that the juice has become clear and bright, ready 
to boil down to the consistence you require, whe¬ 
ther of syrup or sugar. Having removed the scum, 
empty the contents of your pot into some clean 
vessel, which have convenient. Fill up your pot 
again with the raw juice, and proceed as before. 
This is the process of clarifying or defecating, and 
is absolutely necessary', if you do not wish to have 
a dark, dirty syrup, tasting of cane-stalks, and 
ahnefst unfit for use. 
After clarifying and skimming the second pot- 
full as directed, set it back on the fire, and boil 
Should you wish to make a very extra syrup for 
table use, get a flannel hag, of almost any shape, 
sufficient to hold two or three gallons, and filter 
the juice through it after you have skimmed it, 
then boil down as before. 
HOW TO KNOW WHEN THE SYRUP IS DONE. 
It is a matter of importance with those who have' 
never boiled syrup to know when the juice is boiled 
enough. There being nothing like experiments, 
I would advise such to procure a eupfull of molasses, 
heat it, and, taking a small quantity on a spoon, to 
watch how it runs down, and when the drops come, 
how they elongate and break in the middle, the 
upper half springing back with a jerk, and the 
lower forming a hall, and falling into the cup again. 
Three cents in money, and the expenditure of five 
minutes time in this way, will go farther in educat¬ 
ing the eye to a good judgement than an elaborate 
series of directions. 
I will give you one other method, however, of 
knowing when syrup is cooked enough. Hip your 
skimmer into the boiling liquid, take it out and 
allow the syrup to run off it; a few drops will 
remain on the edge, falling at intervals. If these 
break with a long string between, which at the 
break jerks hack to the dipper again, and which, 
when taken between the finger and thumb, feels 
like molasses, it is fair to suppose your syrup is 
sufficiently boiled, and you may take it from the 
fire. 
UEDUCING TO SUGAR. 
For making sugar, it will be necessary to boil 
this same syrup down till the steam escapes from it 
in little puffs, and when the skimmer is dipped into 
it, the falling drops break short and tall solid. 
These simple tests, and perhaps a few failures, will 
enable one to make sugar. When enough has 
been boiled, pour it into a wooden box or tab to 
cool slowly, standing it in a warm place. Let tils 
box be large cnougli to allow of the sugar standing, 
only, 1 !, inches deep; boil another lot, and pour it 
over the top of the first, and a third over the top of 
the second'; mix them altogether, and allow the 
contents to cool. If by the next morning there 
should he no signs of crystals, take a handfull of 
raw sugar and stir it in ; in all probability, it will 
start crystilisation ; but if it should not do so im¬ 
mediately do not despair, for it may stand for an 
entire fortnight and then suddenly strike into sugar. 
