January 1898.
FLORIDA
AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT
STATION.
CANE.
SYRUP.
SUGAR.
By H. E. STOCKBRIDGE, Ph. D.
JACKSONVILLE, FLA.
VANCE PRINTING COMPANY.
1898
Bulletin 44
BOARD OF TRUSTEES.
HON. S. STRINGER, President . . ... .Brooksville
HON. F. E. HARRIS, Chairman Executive Committee Ocala
HON. A. B. HAGEN, Secretary . . .. Lake City
HON. WM. FISHER . . . . . Pensacola
HON. H. S.'REES . . . . Live Oak
HON. F. R. OSBORNE. . . . . .DeLand
HON. E. J. VANN. ........ . Madison
STATION COUNCIL.*
DR YocuM. PROF. PERSONS.
PROF. ROLFS. DR. STOCKBRIDGE.
*The Station Council has been constituted by the Board of Control, and
has supervision of Experiments and Expenditures.
STATION STAFF.
W. F. YocuM, A. M., D. D. . . . . Director
P. H. ROLFS, M. S. . .. Horticulturist and Biologist
A A. PERSONS, M. S. . . . . .. Chemist
H. E. STOCKBRIDGE, Ph. D. . . Agriculturist
A. L. QUAINTANCE, M. S. .. . Assistant in Biology
J. P. DAVIES, B. . . . Assistant in Chemistry
W. P. JERNIGAN . . . Auditor and Book-keeper
JOHN F. MITCHELL . . Foreman of Station Farm
JOHN H. JEFFERIES, .. ... .Foreman Hort. Dept.
CONTENTS.
Introduction ......... ................................9-10
THE CROP............. .......................... 11
Soil Conditions .................. ...................... 12
Preparation of the Land ................ ............ 13
Fertilizing the crop..... ................... ....... 13
Planting Cane ....................................... 15
Cultivation ...................................... ..... 16
Harvesting .................................... ...... 19
Preserving Seed Cane...................... ........... 19
Effect of Time of Harvest upon Yield of Sugar.......... 19
SYRUP ........................ ......... ............... 22
Requirements of Good Syrup......................... 22
Obstacles to the Production of Good Syrup............. 22
Variations in Density of Syrup ................. ..... 23
Making a Simple Syrup Tester......................... 25
Effects of Variety ................................. 27
Effects of Soil upon Quality ............................... 28
Making the Syrup ......... ..... .................. 29
Filtering the Juice ...................................... 0
Clarifying the Juice ....... ........ ................. 32
Precipitation by Fuller's Earth ......................... 35
Testing Syrup ....... .... .................. .... 36
Preserving Syrup ......................... ......... 37
Marketing Syrup .............. ... ............. ... 38
SUGAR .................................... .............. 41
Boiling for Sugar .... ........... ................. 42
Graining ................ ........................... 43
Purging ............................................. 43
W hitening Sugar ................. ................. .. 44
Yields and Returns ...................... ...... .. ..... 45
FACTS.
1 The Soil and Climate of Florida are Better Adapted
to the Successful Production of Sugar-cane and its
Products than is any other part of the United States.
2 Nitrogen is the Chief Manurial requirement of the
Cane Crop. Planting on Bottom Lands, Turning
Under of Cow-peas or of Velvet-beans, and Cow-
penning," are the most economical means for secur-
ing this essential. On Florida Soils, Potash stands
next to Nitrogen as a food requirement for Cane.
3 Narrow Rows and two lines of Seed Cane are the
desirable forms for Planting.
4 Thorough Breaking and Shallow Cultivation, with
Cultivator instead of Plow, produce best results.
5 The Longest Possible Period of Growth should be
allowed. Delaying Harvest ten days from Nov. 20
increased the Sugar content 1.2 per cent., and twenty
days delay adds 4.39 per cent. to the amount of
Sugar in the Cane.
6 Great Variations in the Thickness of Syrup injure its
market value. When the Thickness is determined
by Judgment or Experience variations of 5 degrees
are possible by the most Expert Syrup Boilers.
7 A Simple Syrup Tester may be made, by any one
without expense, which Determines the Thickness
with Absolute Accuracy and Prevents the Possibility
of Variation.
8 Red Cane is Hardier than Green and Matures Ear-
lier. For Large Areas and for Sugar the Red
Variety is best. For Small Areas and Syrup the
Green Cane is preferable.
8
9 Uplands Produce the Sweetest Cane. Bottom Lands
Produce the Heaviest Yields and the Largest Total
Product.
10 The Impurities in Cane Juice are chiefly Physical
and may be Removed by thorough Straining or
Filtering.
11 Dry Spanish Moss is the Best Known Filter for Cane
Juice, and its Use results in Superior and Well-
Keeping Syrup, and Light Colored Dry Sugar.
12 Two Evaporators, Pans or Kettles are desirable.
The First for Purifying, the Second for Finishing.
13 Syrup of Superior Appearance and Flavor can be
made to Keep Indefinitely.
14 Good Domestic Sugar may be Made by Simple Home
Means, and is Marketable at a Profit.
INTRODUCTION.
The author of this Bulletin, on entering upon his du-
ties at this Station last October, found two acres of sugar
cane grown as a regular farm crop without apparent ex-
perimental object, but chiefly as a means of utilizing land
well adapted to the requirements of the cane plant. It
was immediately decided to use this crop in the interest
of the public as a means of demonstrating the possibility
of improving the methods heretofore in practice for util-
izing the same. It was too late to secure experimental
data bearing upon the care and cultivation of the grow-
ing crop, and therefore the portion of the Bulletin devo-
ted to a consideration of these conditions is based upon
successful practice elsewhere and the personal experience
of the writer on his own plantation rather than with the
cane grown by the Station.
The growth of cane for the manufacture of sugar and
syrup is no new enterprise in the State of Florida where
soil and climatic conditions have, since the Spanish settle-
ment, been recognized as admirably adapted to this busi-
ness. Before the war there were large and flourishing
sugar plantations in several different portions of the
State, though of recent years the introduction of new in-
dustries and radical changes in social and business con-
ditions have wellnigh exterminated the industry except as
a very general means for supplying home demand
It is believed, after a thorough investigation of
the conditions involved, that climate, soil and economical
advantages should naturally make Florida the great cen-
ter of cane sugar production for our country. This Bulle-
tin, however, is not written and the experiments on which
it is founded were not undertaken in an effort toward
demonstrating these facts. The object in view was the
10
hope of showing that the production of sugar-cane offered
a certain source of remuneration to farmers who would
engage in the same. That the manufacture of syrup,
when properly conducted, resulted in a product for which
there was a ready and constant demand. Further, that ev-
ery farmer in Florida might produce sugar sufficient
for home consumption and of such a quality that the sur-
plus could be readily and profitably marketed, and that
the producer must necessarily become independent and
reasonably free from all possible exactions imposed by
any monopoly controlling this domestic necessity. In other
words, this Bulletin is an effort toward inculcating the
principle and showing the possibilities of the production
of home supplies for home consumption.
I.
THE CROP.
Sugar cane is more restricted in habitat by climatic
conditions than is the case with most farm crops. Of East
Indian origin, it can be made to thrive only in tropical or
semi-tropical latitudes, and the two predominating essen-
tials of its growth are warmth and moisture. Its success
ful cultivation, however widely distributed over the earth,
has never been carried beyond certain well-defined limits
of variation. A mean average temperature of 70 degrees
and a minimum annual rainfall of about 60 inches are es-
sential to the normal development and satisfactory culti-
vation of the crop. Both of these requisites are furnished
by nearly all parts of the Florida peninsula. The mean
annual rainfall for the latitude of Lake City is 55.86
inches, and the mean annual temperature is 68.78.
As Louisiana is recognized as the chief sugar-produc-
ing State of the Union, it is interesting and important
that a comparison of the climatic conditions prevailing
there be made with those belonging to our own State.
This comparison shows that our average annual rainfall
exceeds that of Louisiana, that our mean temperature is
higher, and that the period of immunity from frosts is
longer. It is, moreover, an accepted fact that ideal
weather conditions for cane develop'nent demand that
about 75 per cent of the total rainfall should be
during the growing season. This ideal rainfall is 45
inches. It is interesting to note that the rainfall of
Louisiana for this period averages 54.74 inches, while
that in Florida is 43.58. The adaptation of the climate
of Florida to the normal development, and therefore
successful production of the crop, is established.
SOIL CONDITIONS-As might be inferred from the
origin of the plant, abundance of moisture and of organic
matter are essential conditions in all soils upon which su-
gar-cane is to be successfully grown. Alluvial bottom
lands and muck soils are pre-eminently adapted to the re-
quirements of the crop. It must be particularly specified,
however, that wherever muck soils or bottom lands are
utilized for cane growing, thorough drainage is an abso-
lute and indispensable prerequisite to success, since al-
though large quantities of water are needed by so rank-
Fig 1.
growing and foliaceous a plant, excess of moisture at its
roots is almost certain destruction. Thero are pine
and high hammock lands in our State which, though pro-
ducing lighter yields of cane possess a material advan-
tage for its production. The cane of the pine lands is high-
er in its sugar content, and also possesses greater immu-
nity from frost.
PREPARATION OF THE LAND-The first essen-
tial toward proper preparation of the land for the
growing of cane is thorough breaking or plowing to the
depth of the arable soil, and this is true irrespective of
the character of the soil in question. The manner of
plowing, however, must vary with the nature of the land,
which fact is also true as to the time of plowing. Bottom
lands should be plowed as soon as possible after the crop
has been removed in the fall that the action of the atmos-
phere upon the soil for the longest possible period may be
secured. Lighter upland soils, however, need not neces-
sarily be plowed until the time approaches for actually
putting in the crop. Heavier and moister soils must be
plowed with particular reference to winter drainage,
which is best secured by throwing the soil into beds
about six feet wide, the middles of which should be
broken out with a turn plow and the quarter drains
cleared sufficiently deep to assure drainage for the sur-
plus water. With upland soils this precaution is not nec-
essary, but simple plowing with a turn plow to the depth
of the arable soil is all that is needed. The next consider-
ation previous to actual planting of the cane is that of
supplying the plant food necessary for its growth.
FERTILIZING THE CROP-Cane is a particularly
rank-growing plant, and demands liberal feeding for
the most satisfactory results. Comparisons of the compo-
sition of cane grown upon upland and bottom soils,
however, abundantly demonstrate that the unquestioned
adaptation of the crop to lower lands results as much
from the necessity of abundant water supply for this
foliaceous crop as upon the demands of the same
for any particular form or quantity of nutriment. Indeed,
the very best results in cane growing have been secured
on upland soils where the demands for moisture were ar-
tificially supplied by irrigation. Observation of the condi-
tions under which cane best thrives, supported by practi-
cal experience in all successful cane-growing countries
and by the experiments conducted upon the plant-food re-
quirements of this crop, demonstrate that nitrogen, pref-
erably from organic sources, is the predominating, or
chief, plant-food requirement to be considered in artifi-
cially fertilizing sugar-cane. The success of the common
practice of "cow-penning" for this crop upon the light Flor-
ida soils and of turning under heavy crops of cow-peas up-
on the cane lands of Louisiana give indisputable evidence
of the truth of this assertion. The most satisfactory
results of sugar-cane culture, however, demand atten-
tion to the other two plant-food ingredients, phosphoric
acid and potash, the latter particularly having a material
influence and beneficial effect upon the sugar content of
cane. If artificial fertilizers, therefore, are to be used
they should provide the three essentials-phosphoric
acid, nitrogen and potash-and experience shows that the
relative proportions of supply under average normal con-
ditions should be approximately one part of phosphoric
acid to three parts of nitrogen and two parts of potash.
The quantity of the application must depend upon the fer-
tility or previous crop of the soil, and if leguminous crops
have been grown and turned under on the same, one-half
of the nitrogen may be omitted from older lands,
while newer soils would probably require no other
nitrogen than the turning under of good crops of cow-
peas or velvet beans. The time for applying fertilizers
must necessarily depend upon locality. Much sugar-cane,
particularly in the State of Louisiana, is planted in the
fall, in which event a part of the fertilizer may advant-
ageously be applied at that time. Under prevailing Flor-
ida conditions the bulk of the crop is, and doubtless
should be, planted in the spring.
Acid phosphate, cottonseed meal and muriate of pot-
ash are the most economical and effective forms of supply
of plant-food for cane, and these materials are best ap-
plied immediately preceding actual planting of the cane.
The best method of application is strewing in the furrow
and mixing with the soil with a single trip of a scooter, by
which means the fertilizer will be near enough to the
seed cane to supply the immediate demands of the young
plant, and yet will be sufficiently diluted by incorporation
with the furrow soil to avoid the danger of killing the
buds or tender rootlets.
PLANTING CANE-As a rule, February and March
may be accepted as the cane planting months for our
State. The variety of cane which shall be selected is
also open to little question, experience having abundantly
demonstrated that of the many varieties tested, red
cane, from its sweetness and hardiness, stands incontest-
ably at the front, though for syrup making the softer and
less hardy green cane is not without advocates, while for
the purpose to which all children and many adults natur-
ally prefer to devote the plant, its softness and the ease
of mastication give it first place. The distance of planting
is an all-important consideration which experience and
experiment have proved is of vital significance in control-
ling results. The general principle may be stated that
the nearer the rows the greater the yield. The cost of
seed, however, is a modifying influence which would effec-
tually control practice. Narrowing the rows beyond the
five-feet limit does not compensate in additional yield for
the expense of the increase of seed. It may be accepted,
therefore, that the most profitable distance for cane rows
is five to six feet, the former distance having preference.
The amount of seed cane which shall be used is likewise
of material influence upon the economy of practice, one
row, two rows, and three rows of seed canes in the furrow
each having advocates. Two rows of seed cane, laid par-
allel and without intervals between their ends, may be ac-
cepted as productive of best results upon moderately fer-
tile soils. The canes for planting should not be tipped but
should be used as long as possible without being cut ex-
cept where their crooked character necessitates cutting
to facilitate covering with a plow and continuity of row.
In this connection it is well to recall the fact that the up-
per third of the cane stalk, which is least desirable for
either sugar or syrup, is really the best part of the cane
for seed, and might, with advantage, be saved for this
purpose. A shovel plow, turning a furrow four to five
inches deep, is the best means of preparation for the seed
cane which, when laid in the furrow, is easily covered
with a double trip of the turn plow.
Though stubble cane may be used for seed, the
result is so inferior that the practice should only be a last
resort in event of accident or dearth of supply of seed
cane.
CULTIVATION-The depth and frequency of culti-
vation will largely control results. To effect the desired
end, the plow should be rigorously discarded and be ex-
clusively supplemented by the use of some form of tooth
cultivator. Two advantages are secured by this change
in implement; economy through the increased area which
can be worked by a single implement and conserving
moisture at the time it is indispensable to the proper devel-
opment of the crop. The two-horse cultivator is pref-
erable where large areas are involved, though the one-
horse implement will easily and thoroughly work five
acres of cane per day, which is fully double the amount
possible from the most successful use of plows. When
the marked difference in the amount of available moisture
secured to the crop by the two methods of cultivation is
considered, the experience of Dr. Stubbs, of the Louis-
iana Station, on which he bases the assertion "that it is al-
most impossible to estimate correctly the annual damage
to the cane crop of this State by the use of turn plows in
its cultivation" seems entirely reasonable. The frequency
of cultivation must depend upon the season. The rule,
however, should be to keep the surface soil thoroughly
pulverized and friable and cultivate as often as it be-
comes compacted at the surface.
A"
Fig. 2.
CANE AT TIME OF LAYING BY.
i
In June or July the suckerfngmahould be finished and
the growth so far advanced and the ground so shaded
that further cultivation is unnecessary and the crop may
be laid by.
HARVESTING-On small plantations, or with small
areas, which is the condition which this Bulletin is chief-
ly intended to meet, the actual harvesting of the crop
should be preceded by stripping the stalks some two
weeks before grinding is to begin. This practice has two
advantages. First, ripening of the cane and consequent
storing up of sugar is furthered. Second, as the leaves
must inevitably be removed before the cane can be ground,
by performing the labor at this time economy is effected
by reducing the amount of labor actually required at the
time of harvest. It is even problematical if this practice
would not be best under all circumstances, though on
large plantations stripping of the cane is performed by
means of the cane knife at the time the stalk is actually
cut.
THE PRESERVATION OF SEED CANE.-For
the Spring planting advised seed cane must be kept over
Winter. This may be easily done by throwing two or
more rows together on the ground so that the foliage of
one plant covers the stalk of the other and protects it.
The earth is then turned toward the row on both sides
by a plow and the covering completed by hoe. Care
must be taken to provide for drainage, and on wet soils
the seed cane is best removed to the dryest available
place. The green tips too low in sweetness for other use
make superior seed and should be preserved for the
purpose.
EFFECT OF TIME OF HARVEST UPON
YIELD OF SUGAR.--We come now to the considera-
* (Sugar Cane, vol. I, page 154)
tion of a most important point, indeed one on which the
entire success of cane growing may not infrequently
depend. It is a universally recognized fact that the
longer the period of growth, or time during which the cane
may be allowed to stand in the field, that is, up to
the time of actual freezing weather which shall convert
sucrose. into glucose, the better. In this connection, there-
fore, it is well to suggest that the cane need not.
necessarily be taken to the mill and crushed at the
time of cutting, but that it may be allowed to remain
standing as long as serious danger from frost will permit
and then be cut and wind-rowed in the same way that
seed cane is preserved, in which condition it may be kept
intact and uninjured long after frost occurs and from the
wind-row be removed to the mill and worked up at leisure.
As bearing upon the point of the effect of longer
standing and continued ripening upon the sugar content,
an experiment was made with three varieties of cane at
hand, stalks being cut and polarized for sugar at ten-day
intervals with the following results:
Nov. 20. Nov. 30. Dec. 10.
Red cane ......... 14.22 15.34 15.60
Green cane ........ 10.10 11.41 15.15
Ribbon cane ...... ..... 10.34 12.36
Comparison of these figures shows that an increase of
ten days in the period of growth is followed by
an increase of 1.2 per cent, and an increase of twen-
ty days in the period of growth results in an average in-
crease of 4.39 per cent in sugar content-the difference
between a possible losing crop and an extremely profita-
ble one, so that the inevitable conclusion is that (with the
precautions against frosts suggested, cane should be left..
standing, growing and ripening as long as possible, and
that, for our latitude, December 10 is a reasonably safe
and the most profitable time for beginning the harvest
Not only is this fact of vital importance as control-
ling our own practice, but it sheds great light upon the-
question of the relative adaptation of our State to the
successful and profitable production of sugar-cane as
compared with the prevailing conditions in Louisiana, the
recognized sugar-producing center of the country. In that
State conditions are such that most sugar planters act-
ually begin harvesting their crop in October, while Dr.
Stubbs, in a laudable endeavor to extend the period of
ripening and thus increase the sugar yield, advises that
"Nov.st would seem from experience to be the best time
to begin the harvest."* There would seem, however, to
be no question that a period of growth, five to six weeks
longer than that advised for Louisiana, is available to the
cane grower of Florida, even in the latitude of Lake City
and Jacksonville, which localities, however, are far aorth
of the actual center of probable profitable cane produc-
tion in Florida. In further support of this assertion I re-
fer to the weather statistics covering a period of ten
years of observation at the Louisiana Sugar Experiment
Station, whereby it appears that during five years,of the
ten included,injurious frosts have appeared there during
the month of November, while the records of the United
States Weather Service Station at Jacksonville, covering
a period of twenty years, show no occurrence of killing
frosts during this. month, the average lowest temperature
of which, for this period, is 54.1 degrees. t
When it is further remembered that the data for
Louisiana are from the State Sugar Experiment Station,
the location of which is in the very center and presuma-
bly the most favored portion of the State for cane devel-
opment, while those for Florida are from Jacksonville, a
locality on the very northern confines of the cane-produc-
ing portion of Florida and more than 100 miles north of
the real cane area of the State, south of which there is an
enormous extent of cane lands below the 28th parallel
and recognized as practically below the frost line, there
can be no question that Florida possesses advantages for
cane growing and sugar producing possessed by no other
State in the Union.
* Sugar Cane, page 159.
t The average date of the first frost at Jacksonville is Dec. 4.
II.
SYRUP.
THE REQUIREMENTS OF GOOD SYRUP-Before
proceeding to the particular consideration of the experi-
ments undertaken in the making of syrup, it is essential
that the characteristics of such syrup as is found in the
market be understood and that the properties of the syrup
that is desired or that secures most ready sale be com-
pared with the same, that the necessity for change or
improvement and the objects of the same may be noted.
The first essential in any article to be placed upon
the market is that it possess a stable or fixed character,
composition or quality without which the uncertainty at-
tendant upon its purchase or use is so, great as to mate-
rially diminish the demand for the same, if not to actual-
ly ruin its commercial value.
The highest grade of syrup must have a density or
thickness so regular or constant that variations are not
detected by'superficial or ordinary physical means and
which if tested by a saccharometer shows a density of
approximately 33 degrees Beaum6. In color it must be
entirely devoid of any tinge of green, be distinctly amber,
clear and with a perceptibly reddish tint. It shouldd not
crystallize, and should be so permanent in composition as
to not readily undergo fermentation.
OBSTACLES-That so little syrup possessing the
properties here described is actually on the market is self-
evident proof of the fact that obstacles to the attainment
of the desired results exist to such a degree as to have
been thus far insurmountable in practice. Yet syrup with
the characteristics described does actually exist and when
ever found commands a ready premium, which fact is suf-
ficient incentive toward further striving to an end so
unquestionably desirable. Among the causes conducive
to the: present condition of Florida syrup may be
mentioned as of importance and demanding special con-
sideration, the effects of different soils upon the charac-
ter of the cane produced, the effects of varying conditions
of climate and season and the fact that practical and effi-
cient means for controlling results affecting the stability
have heretofore been inaccessible.
VARIATIONS IN DENSITY OR THICKNESS OF
SYRUP-It is a thoroughly accepted fact that syrup va-
ries so greatly and constantly in density, or thickness, as
to destroy its character as a stable market commodity. It
was not expected that changes or modifications in meth-
od, which might be suggested, would necessarily result in
the production of syrup superior to any heretofore known,
the object being rather to devise such means of control as
would result in constancy of composition whereby all
syrup produced by any individual maker would be the
same. It is true that most syrup boilers claim thor the
product produced by them is always constant. Consum-
ers, however, are well aware of the fact that a barrel of
syrup obtained from any individual grower of cane today
may be wholly unlike that engaged for delivery tomor-
row, and that the product of one farm may be as unlike
that from a neighboring place as molasses is unlike
honey.
To demonstrate the fact that the most skillful sugar
boiler could not judge of the thickness of his product suf-
ficiently accurately to make two consecutive runs of syrup
identical in density when brought to the test of the
saccharometer, the best available sugar boiler, a man
with long experience who had made syrup annually on
the .Station farm for eleven years, was put to the test of
comparing his judgment or opinion of the proper density
of syrup with the actual test of the Beaum6 saccharome-
ter. He was cautioned to make no drawing until to the
very best of his judgment the syrup was ready, and that
each drawing was to be subjected to a scientific test to
determine the degree of his accuracy. He was, therefore,
placed on his guard with every incentive to care, deliber-
ation and the best possible action. Different drawings of
syrup, each of which was, to the best of his judgment,
perfect and in his opinion of the same density as the pre-
ceding drawing, were taken and tested with the follow-
ing results expressed in readings of the Beaum6 scale:
34.8, 33, 33.5, 31.5, 37, 32.5, 33.5, 32, 33.5, 34, 33, 34.2. It
thus appears that, instead of being as he and most other
syrup boilers would affirm, constant in composition, that
no two consecutive drawings of syrup were alike in den-
sity, and that the variations extended, under every possi-
ble precaution, from 32 to 37, a maximum variation of
five degrees. It must be borne in mind in this connection
that 33 degrees Beaume is the accepted proper consisten-
cy, density or thickness for cane syrup, and that, in the
most skillful hands, when personal judgment is depend-
ed on, variations of five degrees are possible, and that, in
the hands of careless or unskilled makers, the variation
must be even greater. The variation in the thickness is
demonstrated and the desirability, indeed indispensabili-
ty, of a feasible means for securing evenness or constancy
of quality is established.
Recognizing that some simple means for ascertaining
the thickness of syrup was the first essential toward se-
curing stability of product, and further, that the means
utilized in the laboratory was wholly impracticable for
common farm use, much time and experimental testing
was given to this phase of the subject in the hope of de-
vising a simple, easily available, cheap and non-destructi-
ble method for determining the density of syrup with
scientific accuracy, so that the maker could be assured
that every drawing would be exactly like every' other
drawing, and that the product should be stable and to be
depended on.
The thickness of a syrup depends upon its density,
and density is controlled by specific gravity or relative
weight. The thicker or more dense a fluid is, the less
deep will a given solid substance sink therein, because
the greater the density of the fluid, the greater its sup-
porting power or buoyancy. The more salt, for instance,
which may be present in water, the greater is the float-
ing power of that water. The same fact is true of solu-
tions of sugar. The more sugar present, and consequent-
ly the less water in a given sugar solution, or syrup, the
greater is the supporting or floating power of that syrup.
This is the principle on which saccharometers and other
specific gravity or density tests are based, and it is this
principle which was utilized as the basis for a simple ap-
paratus devised to meet the requirements of the case and
which is illustrated in Fig. 3. It consists of any com-
mon bottle which will hold a pint or more of syrup, a pint
beer bottle admirably answering the purpose. In the syr-
up with which this bottle is to be filled a stick is made to
float, having first been so weighted at one end with lead
that it stands upright in the liquid instead of lying down
or resting against the sides of the bottle. This is essen-
tially a specific gravity tube or Beaum6 saccharometer,
the only difference being that the latter instrument con-
sists of a hollow glass tube with a graduated scale at the
bottom of which mercury is introduced as a counterpoise
for securing uprightness and equilibrium.
MAKING A SIMPLE SYRUP TESTER-The above-
miitioned apparatus (see Fig. 3) may be constructed
as follows: Take any ordinary glass bottle of a capacity
not less than one pint. Take a straight, dry, thoroughly
seasoned, hard-wood stick about one-quarter of an inch in
diameter and from twelve to fifteen inches long. Fill the
bottle with syrup. Roll a narrow piece of sheet lead
around one end of the stick, or introduce a few shot into
a hollow in the bottom of the same. Drop the stick into
the bottle filled with syrup and increase or decrease the
amount of lead used until the stick floats upright in the
A'.
Fig. 3.
A. A.-Point indicating proper density of Syrup.
syrup with at least two inches of space between
its lower end and the bottom of the bottle. The
apparatus is now complete ecxept for supplying
its scale or gauge. To do this, make a run of syrup
carefully and continue the boiling until by cool-
ing a small quantity you are positive that it has
attained the degree of thickness that is perfectly satisfac-
tory, and which you are willing to accept as a sample or
standard for your entire product. Then fill the bottle
with this syrup while boiling, drop the weighted stick
into the syrup and let it settle carefully until it has
reached equilibrium. Mark the place upon the stick at
the line reached by the surface of the syrup, preferably
by cutting a notch therein or by a black thread tied about
the stick. The apparatus is now completed and is ready
for use. Test every drawing of syrup, ordifferent drawings,
sufficiently often to give a fair sample of the whole, con-
tinuing the boiling until our improvised saccharometer, or
"syrup tester," sinks into the syrup to the mark or notch
made. By this means every sample of syrup drawn or
thus tested will be of the same density or thickness as
the original sample used as a standard, and there will be
no variation in quality so far as density is concerned, but
the entire output will be uniform with scientific exact-
ness.
EFFECTS OF VARIETY-Among the factors or
conditions modifying the composition and quality of the
syrup, the variety of cane used exerts great influence.
Two varieties only are sufficiently well known and com-
mendable to demand consideration in this connection. A
few facts concerning their relative characteristics, how-
ever, seem to be important as furnishing assistance to-
ward governing their selection. These varieties are the
common red cale and the green cane. The former is un-
questionably much the more hardy and is therefore pref-
erable for more northern localities. It, moreover, posses-
ses the advantage of ripening earlier. This latter fact is
well demonstrated by the analyses made of our own crop
this year. Moreover, the red cane contains considerably
more sugar than the green, but, at the same time, be-
cause of the greater amount of coloring matter present in
the stalk, gives a darker colored syrup. The average su-
gar content of the red cane tested at four different periods of
ripening the present season was 14.85 per cent, while the
green cane showed but 11.94 per cent-a difference
of 2.91 per cent in favor of the red cane. The
first test of the red cane during the season, on Nov. 20th,
showed 14.22 per cent of sugar, while the green cane on
the same date contained but 10.10 per cent, a difference
of 4.12 per cent in favor of the red cane. At the end of
the season, however, the last test made, Dec. 10th, showed
the red cane to contain 15.60 per cent and the green cane
15.15 per cent, a difference of but .45 per cent in favor of
the red cane. These facts demonstrate that for small
areas and the manufacture of syrup in moderate quanti-
ties where the full period of ripening can be allowed, the
green cane is preferable, inasmuch as the slightly greater
degree of sweetness attained by the red cane does not
compensate for the darker color of the syrup produced.
On large areas, however, where sugar content, hardiness
and early ripening are essential, the red cane stands pre-
eminent.
THE EFFECTS OF SOIL UPON QUALITY-It is
an accepted fact that quality and texture of soil material-
ly influence the character of the syrup produced, this be-
ing particularly true of the effect of the heavier quality
of soils and also of certain organic constituents some-
times applied as fertilizers, which result in imparting an
undesirable flavor to the product. The only fact in this
connection, however, which seems worthy of considera-
tion here is the influence of soil upon sugar content.
Our analyses show an average of 16.60 per cent of
sugar in upland cane and 14.99 per cent in bottom cane,
a difference of 1.61 per cent in favor of the upland pro-
duct. It should, however, be remembered that this de-
crease in sugar content in the cane grown upon bottom
lands is explained by the greater luxuriance of growth so
that the loss in proportion of sugar is more than compen-
sated for by the increase in yield of cane, a fact wholly in
keeping with the universal preference of cane growers for
bottom lands for their cane fields.
MAKING THE SYRUP-The first step toward mak-
ing syrup from cane is the freeing of the juice from the
stalk, and the means by which this is to be accomplished
is the key to the economy of the process. Although the
crudest appliances, even wooden rollers, are capable of
expressing juice from which syrup or sugar may be made,
still the more juice which can be expressed from a given
amount of cane, the greater is the success of the opera-
tion. For domestic and smaller manufacturing purposes
the simple horse-power mill is commendable. This mill,
however, should consist of three rollers, the two-roller
mill being so imperfect in action and expressing so small
a part of the juice as to be extremely wasteful. A good
three-roller mill, with the rollers screwed tightly togeth-
er, is capable of expressing from seventy to seventy-five
per cent of the actual juice in the cane. This matter of
keeping the rollers screwed tightly together is one of such
importance that it should be regularly looked after and
the screws tightened whenever necessary, till the bag-
asse, or crushed cane, comes through in short pieces.
The juice having been expressed from the cane, the
first process in actual syrup making is at an end, and the
next step is that of freeing the juice as largely as possi-
ble from foreign substances. In common farm practice
this consists simply in straining it through a gunny-sack
as it comes from the mill. This, however, although desir-
able, only suffices to remove from the juice the small par-
ticles of cane that pass from the rollers. There remain
many other foreign substances, the presence of which is
detrimental to the quality of the syrup and the removal
of which is indispensable to securing of the best product.
Chief among these are coloring matters and the so-called
non-sugar carbo-hydrates and albuminoid compounds.
The method which has been universally recommended by
the Experiment Stations for accomplishing this removal
consists of sulphuring and liming the juice. The first pro-
cess being to subject the juice, as it comes from the mill,
to the action of sulphurous acid fumes obtained from the
burning of sulphur in a furnace constructed for the pur-
pose, and then the removal of sulphurous acid by defeca-
tion of the juice with milk of lime in a separate pan or
boiler before the actual process of evaporation
begins. That the method accomplishes the object
sought and results in a superior quality of syrup
there can be no question. That it is comparatively ex-
pensive, inconvenient and impractical for general domes-
tic use is, however, equally true and is abundantly demon-
strated by the fact that, though the method has been re-
commended by every publication issued by an Experi-
ment Station treating of syrup-making during the past
decade, the method has not actually been adopted by one
syrup-maker in a hundred.
In view of these facts, a series of experiments was
undertaken in the hope of devising a simple and practical
means so inexpensive as to be within reach of all and so
easily available that the means for using the same might
be secured without effort on any Florida farm. These ex-
periments were divided into two clases-first, the filter-
ing or freeing of the juice from foreign materials by pure-
ly physical means, and second, the defecation or precipi-
tation of impurities remaining in the juice after filtering.
FILTERING THE JUICE-The experiments in ill-
tering included the use of every material which has ever
been suggested for the purpose by reliable authorities
and a trial of numerous new materials which it was con-
ceived might possibly accomplish the end sought.
It is not deemed necessary to go into particulars
as to the effect of each material used, but to
simply give the list of these materials and the de-
tails recommended to be followed with the article
having shown most satisfactory results. The fil-
tering materials tried included straw, hay, seed-
cotton, cotton-lint, sand, shavings, excelsior, saw-
dust, ground excelsior, charcoal, fuller's earth and Span-
ish moss. The last material was so unquestionably supe-
rior to any other used that it was adopted as
the best and most feasible article for the purpose, and
was used exclusively after its advantages were demon-
strated.
The method of use was as follows: Dry moss,
such as can be obtained anywhere in the State of Florida,
was carefully picked, and freed from leaves, sticks and
foreign matter and thoroughly washed. A tub, or half-
barrel, through the bottom of which a hole for the outlet
pipe was bored, was taken and a piece of perforated tin
was placed over this outlet on the inside of the bottom of
the tub. The tub was then filled with the cleaned moss,
which was packed as solidly as it could be crowded in by
the weight of a man, until it was filled. It was then placed
under the outlet gutter from the mill and the juice was
conducted upon the moss in the center of the tub by a tin
trough. This juice therefore sank by gravity through the
entire thickness of moss till it found outlet through the
pipe-hole in the bottom through which, by means of a
half-inch iron pipe, it was conducted by gravity to the
skimming pan. The passage of the juice through the moss
not only freed it of all coarse and floating foreign parti-
cles but filtered out a very large proportion of the non-
sugar contents and coloring matter so that the juice pass-
ing through the outlet pipe was nearly as clear and col,
orless as water. The only precaution necessary in using
this method is, that the moss naturally occasionally be-
comes clogged and requires renewing once in two or three
days of constant running, but in warm weather it was
found that the juice adhering to the moss in the tub was
liable to ferment over night and be sour in the morning,
under which circumstances it is necessary to replenish
the filter with fresh moss before beginning work in the
morning.
The advantages claimed for this method are its sim-
plicity, cheapness and effectiveness. It accomplishes all
that has been claimed for the sulphuring process, and yet
is so easily available as to be accessible to any farmer in
Florida, practically without either trouble or expense.
CLARIFYING THE JUICE-Satisfactory and effec-
tive as the above described method proved itself, it is not
sufficient for securing such results as we aimed at, furth-
er clarifying of the juice being still desirable. For this
purpose the usually recommended method is the use of
three different pans or vessels, in the first of which after
sulphuring, the juice is treated with milk of lime. The ob-
jections to this method have already been stated in con-
nection with the sulphuring process as a whole. A sim-
pler method was deemed indispensable if the same was to
be recommended for general domestic use. The first re-
commendation in this connection which is offered as that
securing the finest.product, whatever may be the means
by which the juice is finally converted into syrup, wheth-
er the evaporation be conducted in an iron kettle or an
evaporating pan, clarifying or skimming of the juice
should be effected in a different vessel from that in which
the final condensation of the syrup takes place. Our ex-
periments were made with the use of a common shallow
Chattanooga evaporator. The filtered juice as it came
from the filter was conducted into an open pan
of the same size as the evaporator but about eight
inches deep, such as can be made by any tinsmith. This
was placed upon a brick furnace, side by side with the
Fig. 4.
A-Moss Filter. B-Pipe from Filter. C-Clarifying Pan. D-Evaporator. E-Cane.
evaporator, with a space of about six feet between the
two, so that bof pans and fires could be tended by one
man with no material increase in labor. It should be
added, however, that there was very little if any increase
in fuel needed, inasmuch as the heat required for raising
the juice to the boiling point in the first pan was not re-
quireAl in the evaporator, hot juice instead of cold being in-
troduced into the latter, there being a half inch connecting
p)pe extending from the bottom of the first pan to the
evaporator. This introduction of a second pan is deemed
in every way indispensable to the securing of best results,
whatever may be the treatment of the juice or the meth-
od of final evaporation, even in the event a common iron
kettle is used for finishing the syrup. The advantages of
this supplementary pan lie in the fact that where the boil-
ing, skimming, evaporating and condensing all take place
in one kettle or evaporator, it is absolutely impossible,
except where work is conducted on the smallest possible
scale and with constant personal care, to prevent the mix-
ing of unskimmed fresh juice with the partially finished
syrup, or of imperfectly removed scum with the nearly
completed syrup. These contingencies, however, are
wholly avoided when the syrup is raised to its boiling point
in a separate pan in which all of the skimming is to be
done so that only perfectly clear, hot juice is introduced
into the finishing pan, kettle or evaporator. A further
precaution is to be recommended, viz., that the juice from
the mill, instead of being conducted directly into the first
pan, be reservoired or held back in a trough or barrel so
that the contents of the pan may be allowed to flow into
the evaporator as required, in which no skimming what-
ever will be necessary and the syrup produced will be en-
tirely free from all contamination resulting from the pres-
ence of unremoved coloring matter.
PRECIPITATION BY FULLER'S EARTH.-A
modification of the above method was resorted to
experimentally by the introduction of fuller's earth into
the first pan at the rate of one pound of earth to five gal-
lons of juice and bringing the contents to the boiling
point, when all the coloring matter and albuminous impu-
rities, ordinarily forming a scum upon the surface, were
immediately precipitated to the bottom of the pan, leav-
ing a perfectly clear and almost transparent fluid behind,
which is easily drawn off with syphon or through an out-
let pipe placed about one inch above the bottom of the
pan. The cost of this method with fuller's earth worth
$14 per ton is very slight, and the earth exists in large de-
posits in several parts of the State. So far as actual re-
sults are concerned, the syrup produced by this modifica-
tion compares in every way favorably with that obtained
by the simple skimming of the juice, but it does not pos-
sess advantages over the same. The method, therefore,
possesses merit, but is hardly yet to be recommended for
general use except in cases of highly colored juices from
which inferior syrup is produced by the other method.
FINISHING AND TESTING THE SYRUP-How-
ever clear the clarification may have been, the qual-
ity of the syrup will be largely controlled by the final
boiling to which it is subjected. For this purpose, be-
cause of the very much greater control possible, steam
heat is preferred. It is, however, recognized that on most
farms circumstances will prevent the untilization of
steam for evaporation, and that open fires under kettles
and evaporators must continue the chief recourse. Care,
however, must be exercised that the syrup shall be kept
boiling at as near as possible an even temperature and
that the supply of syrup in the evaporator be so constant
that scorching is impossible, slight scorching being detri-
mental both to taste and color of the product. The point
at which the boiling should cease and the finished prod-
uct be removed from the evaporator is the crucial test of
the skill of the operator and the quality of his product.
As has already been shown, however, the best human
judgment will frequently fail on this point, and the only
safeguard lies in subjecting the syrup to the actual test
of the apparatus or tester already described and illustra-
ted, by means of which all variation in density of prod-
uct is rendered absolutely impossible.
It is well to add, however, that the approximate fin-
ishing of the process may be easily recognized by allow-
ing the syrup to drip from the edge of the skimmer or
paddle, and if the drops flow together and stretching out
form a thin film upon the edge of the skimmer as they
fall the time for actual testing with the apparatus men-
tioned has arrived.
PRESERVING THE SYRUP-As already men-
tioned, the heretofore nearly insurmountable obstacle
toward placing the syrup upon the market as a commer-
cial product has resulted from the fact that as ordinarily
made and marketed it was so unstable as to undergo fer-
mentation, deterioration or destruction within a compar-
atively few weeks or months at most. There have been
many methods proposed for overcoming this difficulty, all
of which, however, including the sulphuring and liming
already mentioned, have rested upon the introduction of
a foreign substance into the syrup to counteract its nat-
ural tendency, rather than upon the removal of the actual
cause of this tendency. Our experiments and methods
have been conducted on the supposition that this fermen-
tation or destruction of the syrup was due not so much to
any inherent property of the syrup itself as to the pres-
ence of impurities, the elimination of which would neces-
sarily be followed by a disappearance of the trouble. In
other words, that thorough purification and clarification
of juice and syrup would necessarily result in improved
keeping qualities in the product.
The methods already described as practised by us
have apparently demonstrated the correctness of this sup-
position, indeed at the time of the present writing we
have samples of syrup made by the method described
which have been exposed in open vessels in a warm room
for three months without the slightest fermentation, crys-
talization or deterioration. It is recognized, however,
that the process of decomposition, resulting in the dete-
rioration of the quality of the syrup depends for existence
upon access of air, and that in the absence of air the pro-
cess is materially checked or absolutely prevented. The
natural suggestion, therefore, is that syrup, for preserva-
tion, should be put up in some receptacle in which it may
be hermetically sealed when hot. Bottles, jugs and simi-
lar articles have been more or less used for the purpose,
but a careful consideration of all the facts involved leads
to the conclusion that the ideal syrup receptacle is a tin
can of moderate size which may be sealed air-tight and
afterwards handled easily with no possibility of injury to
contents.
This brings us to a matter worthy of special consid-
eration.
THE MARKETING OF SYRUP.-Unless preservation
of the product is assured it is recognized that there will be
little syrup to market, and therefore preservation and
marketing are most intimately associated. Moreover, ex-
cept for domestic consumption upon the farm where pro-
duced, the marketing returns from the product must con-
trol the success of the process. This phase of the subject,
therefore, is deemed of special importance. The syrup
made by the process described has not only been pro-
nounced by experts to be superior to anything heretofore
available, but it has actually been placed on the market
for the express purpose of determining its actual relative
commercial value, on which the merits of the process
must finally rest.
Preservation, ease of handling and cost of marketing
were the points considered. The different forms of recep-
tacle or package heretofore utilized were tried and, one
by one, discarded as faulty. Barrels are bulky and imper-
fect preservers; in them fermentation is probable. The
Fig. 5.
common cypress barrel, moreover, with all its advantages
should be rigorously discarded as the receiver for
first-class syrup such as is aimed at. If the syrup is
turned in while hot and the barrel, as is usually the case,
is new, the contents almost invariably acquire a foreign
,easily detected taste very materially detrimental to the
value of the article. This is true, also, of old barrels and
cold syrup, it being even then sufficiently perceptible to
detract from the quality of the syrup. Bottles
are expensive, destructible, inconvenient to fill and
difficult of transportation, and though good preservers
when tightly stoppered and sealed are recommended only
for home use. Some form of tin can, therefore, seems to
be the only commendable recourse. After careful consid-
eration of the advantages presented by different forms
and sizes, the one-gallon square can with a wide orifice,
closed air-tightly by a cap surrounded by a rubber ring
and fastened by the so-called lever action, was adopted
by us and is recommended. In this the syrup should be
introduced while hot, first being strained through a thick-
ness of cotton flannel to prevent the possible introduction
of specks or accidental impurities. These cans are ob-
tained in boxes or crates containing six cans each, in
which they should be shipped, and syrup thus put up will
maintain its quality uninjured indefinitely, possessing,
moreover, very great convenience for handling, storing
and shipping. The can and its construction are well rep-
resented in the accompanying illustration. (Fig. 5.)
As to the commercial value of the method followed a
few facts are important. The common syrup of the farm,
for which the county in which the Station is located is
well known, has averaged during the season in the mar-
kets of Lake City 15 cents per gallon in barrel lots. Our
syrup in barrels is sold in any quantity we have been will-
ing to market for 25 cents per gallon, net, barrels being re-
turnable to us. Shipments of syrup in cans have netted
50 cents per gallon, the cost of the cans being 10 cents
each, though larger quantities could have been secured at
much lower rates. Of the profits of the process of mak-
ing and the method of shipping, therefore, there can be
no question. It is onlynecessary to add further that the
process having been put to the test of actual remunerative
returns, can be recommended to others without hesitation
or reservation.
III.
SUGAR.
Although the making of syrup was the chief experi-
mental work undertaken, incidentally some attention was
given to the process of sugar-making with the object of
further developing this domestic industry in the State. It
is not to be expected that the home manufacture of sugar
can take its place as an important commercial undertak-
ing upon many Florida farms, the capital and acreage re-
quired making sugar production essentially a manufac-
turing rather than an agricultural enterprise. It is be-
lieved, however, that conditions of climate and soil, if
properly utilized, would naturally place Florida in the
lead as a commercial sugar-producing State, and that cap-
ital invested in this business in Florida would certainly be
more remunerative than is possible in any other part of
our country. As bearing on this point, a comparison of
the sugar content of Florida cane with the average for
the state of Louisiana is important. Dr. Stubbs, Director
of the Louisiana Experiment Station, places the average
for his state at 12 per cent.* IThis amount is somewhat
above the average of available analyses, but is adopted
as sufficiently high.
Our analyses of Florida cane from eighteen different
localities covering the entire state the present season
show an average of 15.69 per cent of sugar, and an
average coefficient of purity for the juice of 86.30 per
cent. The Louisiana comparison is 12 per cent of sugar
and a coefficient of purity of 80.50 per cent. A difference
of 3.69 per cent of sugar and 5.80 per cent of purity in
*From a very kind personal letter to the Author.
favor of the Florida product. There is no question of
equally heavy crops in our state so the superiority of
Florida for sugar production can hardly be longer
questioned.
This Bulletin, however, is devoted essentially to
the interests of the average farmer of Florida rath-
er than to the consideration of exceptional conditions. So
far, therefore, as it can touch upon the question of sugar
production it will deal solely with the domestic phase of
the industry in the hope of enabling intelligent growers
of sugar cane in our State to utilize a portion of the same
for more economically and satisfactorily supplying their
own home and local requirements. It must be borne in
mind that all that has thus far been recorded pertaining
to the growing of cane and the making of syrup is equal-
ly applicable when the ultimate end in view is sugar
rather than syrup, the essential difference being that the
process is continued farther.
The Spanish moss, double-pan method recommended
for syrup is also equally applicable and commendable for
sugar.
BOILING FOR SUGAR.-After the syrup stage has
been reached, if sugar is desired, great care should be ex-
ercised that all danger from scorching or overheating may
heavoidel. Indeed, the lower the temperature, the less the
actual amount of boiling till the density necessary for sugar
forming is reached, the better. High temperature and
vigorous boiling having a tendency to invert the sugar
and thus prevent crystallization, should be carefully
guarded against. Indeed, so important is this fact that
the crude iron kettle, with all its faults, possesses some
advantage as the finishing receptacle in sugar boiling be-
cause of the less surface exposed to direct heat and con-
sequently the diminished danger from over boiling. After
the syrup stage has been reached, as determined by our
improvised "syrup tester," the process should be contin-
ued according to temperature for twenty or thirty min-
utes, at which time the density should have proceeded
about one-tenth beyond the syrup stage. In other words,
the volume of the syrup should have been diminished by
about one-tenth.
The final test for determining when the proper con-
sistency has arrived does not rest entirely upon density or
thickness, and therefore the saccharometer is useless. The
test must be the actual crystallization of the sugar. If,
however, a sample of syrup is found to grain and it then
be tested with the "syrup tester" and an additional or
lower mark be placed upon the stem of the same, this will
serve as the san-i indii itr of the proper time to stop
boiling for future runs.
When the syrup has been condensed, as mentioned, it
should be removed to a barrel, tub or trough, or where a
kettle is used it may be allowed to remain in the same af-
ter withdrawal of the fire.
GRAINING-The condensed syrup is now ready for
graining or crystallization, which process will inevitably
take place in it, but may be advantageously hastened by
stirring the mass while cooling with a stick or wooden
paddle. Not only is the process of crystallization or su-
gar formation thus hastened, but the quality of the prod-
uct, particularly its degree of whiteness, is very material-
ly improved thereby. The time which will be required for
completing this graining process will depend upon densi-
ty, amount of impurities present and the relative sucrose
or sugar content of the syrup. With reasonable success in
quality, the period, however, should rarely continue over
one hour, and may be completed in a very few minutes.
When the graining or crystalizing has been thus effected
the process is, for the time being, at an end.
PURGING.-The soft sugar thus formed is a mix-
ture of sugar and molasses, and the next step in the pro-
cess is the separation of these two constituents. This is
best and most simply effected by turning the soft mass,
the so-called massecuit, into 11-.ir barrels, through the
bottom of each of which three or four one-inch auger holes
have been bored, into each of which a stalk of cane as
long as the barrel and from which three peelings have
been taken their entire length, should be thrust. The bar-
rels filled with the masse cuit should then be placed on
blocks, benches or tables so that they are raised suffi-
ciently from the floor or ground to allow the placing of a
pan, tub, or crock under each barrel for catching the mo-
lasses as it runs off. Time alone will now complete the
process, the purging going on by gravity without human
assistance. It is complete when the molasses has so
drained off as to leave the sugar reasonably dry and free
from all sticky tendency.
If the process is successful such sugar will be of a
light brown or yellowish color, and thoroughly adapted to
most domestic uses, and will find ready sale for local con-
consumption, or for refining.
WHITENING THE SUGAR.-The demand of the
market and perhaps, unfortunately, of most consumers is
for sugar entirely free from all natural cane flavor or
taste and perfectly white in color-in other words, the
"g'r;IuIi.lli il" form of commerce. This product, however,
is the result of the refining process involving the use of
complicated machinery and great capital. There are, how-
ever, simpler means by which, on a small scale with a
moderate expense, the sugar may be so materially whit-
ened as to approach the character of granulated sugar
and Ifind ;more ready sale. The simplest of these
methods is one devised by us but based on a modification
of an old process used in the days when loaf sugar was a
standard article of commerce. It consists simply in re-
moving the sugar from the purging barrel and placing it
in a tub or half-barrel with an outlet at the bottom. The
sugar is then covered by a single thickness of common
cheese cloth, on top of which is placed a water bucket-
ful of moist clay stirred to a thick paste. The result will
be that the sugar will absorb the moisture from the clay
and become washed thereby; in a few days' time the su-
gar will have become so materially whitened as to better
meet the popular demands, indeed, will approach in char-
acter and appearance the very best product of commer-
cial sugar below the grade of "granulated."
A modification of this method may be advan-
tageously used, based on the practice in many
sugar refineries and in all laundries, viz.: Blue
is optically complementary to yellow and, conse-
quently where blue and yellow are brought together
in opposition, the neutral or white optical effect follows.
Consequently, the laundress uses bluing with yellow
clothing to make it appear white, and the sugar refiner
uses ultra marine upon his yellow sugar whereby it ap-
pears white. Ultra marine is wholly harmless and inex-
pensive, and can be secured of most druggists. If the
water, therefore, that is used for mixing with the
clay is very slightly blued by the introduction of a little
powdered ultramarine the effect is an apparently white
sugar really no purer or whiter than the yellow article,
but which meets the public demand and sells for a better
price.
YIELD AND RETURNS FROM SYRUP AND SUG-
AR.-The final value of any crop must rest upon its
commercial returns, whether the same is actually placed
upon the market or is used for home consumption, since
in the latter case, expenditure is prevented and "a penny
saved is a penny earned." In the particular case of sugar
cane, however, it has been, as already expressed, my de-
sire to show that the growing of cane for the manufac-
ture of sugar offered a remunerative crop thoroughly
adapted to Florida conditions, and therefore a most valu-
able substitute in regular farm practice for other staple
crops which have been unremunerative. The yields and
value of the returns from a crop of cane, therefore, are of
particiilaf interest. My own experience and the various
replies r4Eeived from the letters sent to many
cane growers in the State indicate than 500 gallons of
syrup pdr acre is a reasonable product which may, with
intelligent management, be counted on as almost certain,
while exceptional crops are known to sometimes return
fully twice this quantity of syrup. Such syrup as I have
described and have shown can be easily made with cer-
tainty, finds constant and ready demand in the market at
a ri4t return of 25 cents per gallon, or a gross return of
112a per acre of cane. I believe that this acre of cane can
bB grown, and its product can be manufactured'into syr-
up at an average cost of $75 per acre, leaving a net profit
The same syrup, if marketed in the condition I suggest,
,ill easily double the returns.
If sugar is the product in which the crop is finally
marketed, an estimate made on the same basis and from
the same data leads me to place the reasonable yield at
3,000 pounds of sugar per acre with the simple domestic
methods described. This sugar finds ready sale at 4j cents
per pound net, or a gross return of $135 per acre. In addi-
tion to this the molasses obtained must be taken into con-
sideration, although its quality does not give it a
fixed commercial status. The expense of producing
sugar is nearly one-tenth greater than that of making
syrup, or $82 per acre, leaving a net profit per acre of cane
manufactured into sugar of $42. Although it, therefore,
appears that the crop is more profitable when converted
into syrup than when manufactured into sugar, still the
combination of the two is commendable, at least to the
extent of supplying home demand. It will, therefore, be
seen that the sugar cane crop on a purely commercial
basis can be made one of the most profitable resources of
the Florida farmer, aside from the mere advantage of do-
mestic independence.
In conclusion I desire to express sincere thanks to
the many citizens of the State who have kindly assisted
me in procuring the data used in this Bulletin, and
particularly to Professor Persons and Mr. Davies of the
Chemical Department for the courtesies and assistance
rendered.
H. E. STOCKBRIDGE.
