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Henry, W. A. (William Arnon), 1850-1932 / Amber cane in Wisconsin : a circular from the Agricultural Department of the state university
(1881)
Sugar from amber cane, pp. 5-7
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Page 6
6 year. I hear of amounts of a ton or two being produced in several places, but such results are expermental and not commercial. Yet we know that the sugar is in the cane, and can rest assured that the method of obtaining it will not much longer remain a mystery. Professor Scoville, of the Illinois Industrial University, conducted a series of experi- ments last season which are most interesting. I give here- with a short extract from his lecture before the Mississippi Valley Cane Growers' Association at its St. Louis meet- ing. In a summary he givcs the following general conclu- sions: "First. From the results above given, it appears that crystallizable sugar can be obtained from the early Amber and Orange cane, of as good quality as that of the ordinary brown sugars found in the market. And from trials made, good white sugar can be made from the raw sugar by re- fining. " Second. To insure the production of and best yield of cane sugar, the juice must be treated with lime. If after skimming, the lime be neutralized with sulphurous acid, or sulphate of alumina, the syrups obtained will be of a light color, otherwise the excess of lime will cause the syrup to be dark. " Third. From the proximate analysis of the canes, it appears that one acre of the Orange produces' 2,559 pounds of cane sugar. Of this amount we obtained 7IO pounds in the form of good brown sugar, and 265 pounds were left in the 727 pounds of molasses drained from the sugar. Hence 62 per cent. of the total amount of sugar was lost during A the process of manufacture. This shows that the method of manufacture in genereal use is very imperfect. "Fourth. The 710 pounds of sugar at 8c per pound, would be worth $56. The molasses, at 25C per gallon, $18.75, or the product of an acre would bring $75.55, leav- ing out of tne question of the value of the 30 bushels of seed, which some claim to be worth the cost of manufac- ture. The cost of manufacture would of course, vary with the amount manufactured and the distance of the cane from the mill, etc., so that no definite figures can be given. There is no question but with more perfect machinery, the above vield could be increased one-third."
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