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The Commercial Products of the Vegetable Kingdom by P. L. Simmonds

P >> P. L. Simmonds >> The Commercial Products of the Vegetable Kingdom




In Belgium, the production of beet-root sugar is also rapidly
increasing; in 1851 the entire consumption of sugar was estimated at
14,000 tons, of which 7,000 tons were of beet-root, and 7,000 tons of
foreign cane sugar. The number of beet-root factories to supply that
quantity was _twenty-two_, but this number has, already increased in
the present year to _forty_. Many of these will be but imperfectly at
work during this season, but it is estimated that of the entire
consumption of 14,000 tons, at least 10,000 tons will consist of
beet-root, and only 4,000 tons of foreign cane sugar. And from present
appearances the manufacture of beet-root is likely to increase so much
as to constitute nearly the entire consumption. So lately as 1848 and
1849 the production of beet-root sugar was only 4,500 tons.

In Austria, the consumption of sugar in 1841 was 40,000 tons, of which
8,000 tons were of beet-root, and 32,000 tons of foreign cane sugar.
But the production of beet-root has increased so fast that it is
estimated to produce in the present year 15,000 tons; and as no
increase has taken place in the entire consumption, the portion of
foreign cane sugar required in the present year will be reduced from
32,000 tons to 25,000 tons.

The following information, with regard to the state of the manufacture
of beet-root sugar on the Continent last year, has been furnished by
Mr. C.J. Ramsay, of Trinidad.

"My first start was for Paris, where I remained a week, procuring
the necessary letters of introduction, to enable me to see some of
the sugar works in the provinces. Whilst there I called upon Messrs.
Cail and Co., the principal machine makers in France, mentioned the
subject of my visit, and requested their assistance. Nothing could
have been more liberal than the way in which they treated me. I was
at once asked to look over their establishment and requested to call
the next day, when letters of introduction to their branch
establishments at Valenciennes and Brussels would be ready for me.
This I of course did, and received not only these letters but some
others, to sugar manufacturers in the neighbourhood of Valenciennes.
Thus provided, and with letters from Mr. D'Eickthal, a banker in
Paris, to Mr. Dubranfaut, the chemist, to Mr. Grar, a refiner of
Valenciennes, to Mr. Melsens of Brussels, and to another sugar maker
near Valenciennes, whose name I forget, and who was the only man
from whom I did not receive the greatest politeness, I started for
Valenciennes. My first essay was upon the latter personage, who
evidently with a considerable grudge showed me a simple room in his
works where four centrifugal machines were at work--raised the cry
of ruin, if the French improvements were introduced in the West
Indies, and informed me he had nothing else worth seeing. I returned
to Valenciennes, thinking if this is the way I was to be treated, I
might as well have stayed at home. That this was a solitary instance
of illiberality, you will presently see. I next called upon Mr.
Grar, by whom I was received in a very different manner; he at once
offered to show me over his works, and especially that part of them
where a new process, discovered by Mr. Dubranfaut, was carried on,
every part of which was fully explained, Mr. Dubranfaut's laboratory
is connected with these works, and having inspected the working part
of the establishment Mr. G. then took me there, and introduced me to
that gentleman, with whom I passed the remainder of the afternoon,
receiving a full explanation of his new process, which is this:--a
solution of hydrate of barytes is made in boiling water--the
saccharine solution to be treated is heated to the same degree, and
the two mixed together in the proportions of 46 parts of hydrate of
barytes to every 100 parts of sugar contained in the solution, which
has previously been ascertained by polariscopic examination. A
saccharate of barytes is immediately formed in the shape of a
copious precipitate; this, after being thoroughly washed and thus
freed from all soluble impurities, is transferred into large, deep
vats, and a stream of carbonic acid gas forced into it, which
decomposes the saccharate of barytes, forming carbonate of barytes,
and liberating the sugar in the shape of a perfectly pure solution
of sugar in water, of the density of 20 to 23 degrees Baume; the
carbonate of barytes being thoroughly washed is again converted into
caustic barytes by burning, so that there is little loss in the
operation. The whole process is certainly very beautiful, and its
economic working has been tried for a year, on a sufficiently large
scale to leave no doubt as to the economy of the process in refining
molasses, which is the only purpose it has yet been applied to.

The Messrs. Grar were so thoroughly satisfied with it, that when I
was there they had taken down their original apparatus, and were
re-erecting it on such a scale as to work up all the molasses by it,
equal to almost five tons of sugar daily. Owing to this
circumstance, I had not an opportunity of seeing the process on a
working scale, but was shown the whole proceedings in the
laboratory.

The only difficulties I see in applying this process at once to the
cane juice, are the large quantity of barytes required, the expense
of re-burning it and the entire change in works that would be
necessary before it could be introduced. The advantage would be, the
obtaining the whole sugar contained in the juice, free from all
impurities, consequently white, and in the shape of a syrup marking
20 to 23 degrees instead of 8 or 10 degrees, thus saving fully half
the evaporation now required. The sugar made in this way, I was
told, contains no trace of barytes.

To show you the degree of economy practised in such establishments
in France, I may mention that the washings of the saccharate of
barytes are sold to the makers of potash and soda, who make a profit
by boiling them down to obtain what salts they contain.

The carbonic acid is obtained by the combustion of charcoal in a
closed iron furnace into which air is forced by an air pump,
requiring, I believe, about one horse power. From the top of the
furnace a pipe leads into a washing vessel, from which the gas is
led into the bottom of the vats by pipes.

At Valenciennes I met with Mr. Cail, who, beside being an engineer
and machine-maker, is interested in sugar-making, both in France and
in the West Indies, and most thoroughly understands the subject. He
invited me to accompany him to Douai, to see a new set of works
which had been set agoing this month. I was of course too glad to
accept his invitation, and started with him at six next morning,
reached Douai at eight, and then proceeded to the works, which are a
few miles out of town. In this work a new process is also employed;
it is that of Mr. Rouseau, and is said to answer well. The beet root
juice, as soon as possible after expression, is thrown up by a
montjus into copper clarifiers with double bottoms, heated by steam
at a pressure of five atmospheres. To every hundred litres of juice
(=22 gals.) two kilogrammes of lime are added (about four and a half
pounds English weight). The lime is most carefully prepared and
mixed with large quantities of hot water till it forms a milk
perfectly free from lumps. The steam is turned off, and the juice
heated to 90 deg. A complete defecation has taken place, the steam
is shut off, and the juice left a short time, to allow the heavier
impurities to subside. It is then run off in the usual manner,
undergoes a slight filtration through a cotton cloth placed over a
layer of about four inches thick of animal charcoal, and runs into a
second set of copper vessels placed on a lower level than the
clarifiers; these vessels are heated by means of a coil of steam
piping sufficient to make them boil. A second pipe passes into them,
making a single turn at the bottom of the vessel; this is pierced on
the lower side with small holes, through which a stream of carbonic
acid gas is forced.

This decomposes the saccharate of lime, which has been formed in
consequence of the large excess of lime added to the clarifiers.

The lime is precipitated as carbonate. When precipitation has
ceased, steam is turned on, and the whole made to boil; this expels
any excess of carbonic acid; the liquor is then run off, undergoes a
similar partial filtration to that mentioned above, and is then
passed through the charcoal filters to be decomposed. The sugar made
by this process, directly from the beet-root juice, is nearly white.
The molasses is re-boiled as often as six times; each time
undergoing a clarification and filtration through animal charcoal.
And the proceeds of the last re-boiling is certainly in appearance
not worse than a great deal of muscovado I have seen shipped from
Trinidad.

In this work there are about 150 people employed. The work goes on
night and day, one gang replacing the other. The whole evaporation
is done by two vacuum pans, each 61/2 feet in diameter, 80,000
kilogrammes of beet-root are used daily, from which about 6,000
kilogrammes of sugar are obtained, equal to about 6 tons English
weight.

In these and every other works I visited--eight in all--the
centrifugal machines were in use, and had in most cases been so for
two years; those lately made have been much simplified in
construction, and work admirably. Cail & Co., of Paris, are the
makers; their charge is 3,000 francs for each machine (L120 stg.).
They require about one and a half horse power each. As they are
wrought in France, one machine is about equal to work off a ton and
a half of sugar daily, working all the 24 hours. Mr. Cail recommends
a separate engine for those machines; so that they can be used at
any time, independent of the other machinery. The charge put into a
machine is about 80 kilogrammes, from which about 30 to 35
kilogrammes of dry sugar is obtained; the calculation is, I believe,
40 per cent. I weighed some of the baskets of sugar taken out after
drying, and found them 35 kilogrammes. Sugar intended for the
machine is never concentrated beyond 41 degrees Baume; that made
from the juice direct is allowed 18 to 34 hours to crystallize, and
is put into the machine in a semi-liquid state; the motion at first
is comparatively slow; in about three minutes the sugar appears
nearly dry; about three-fourths of a gallon of brown syrup is then
poured into the machine whilst in motion, and the speed brought up
to its highest, about 1200 revolutions a minute; in 3 or 4 minutes
more the machine is stopped, the sugar scooped out and thrown into
baskets, the inside of the revolving part, and especially the wire
cloth, carefully washed with a brush and water, and a fresh charge
put in. The whole time betwixt each charge is about 15 minutes. From
the large proportion of molasses you will see very plainly that
those who do not intend to re-boil, need not think of centrifugal
machines. The sugar dried in this way is not altogether white, but
has a slight greyish yellow tinge.

Of the other sugar works which I visited, the only one of peculiar
interest was that of Mr. Dequesne, near Valenciennes. Here the roots
are first cut into small pieces by an instrument similar to a turnip
slicer, then dried in a species of kiln, and stored up till
required. In this way I was told beet-root could be preserved with
very little deterioration for a full year, and this enables Mr.
Dequesne to go on making sugar all the year round. When the sugar is
to be extracted, the dried cuttings are put into a series of closed
vessels connected by pipes, and by a system of continuous filtration
of warm water through these vessels the solution of sugar is
obtained, of a density equal, I believe, to 25 degrees Baume; it is
a good deal colored, and requires filtration through animal
charcoal. Mr. Dequesne informed me that for five years he had been
unable to make this mode of sugar-making cover its expenses, owing
to the loss occasioned by fermentation taking place in the
beet-root; but that he has now entirely overcome that difficulty; by
what means I was not told.

The number of macerating vessels is fourteen, ten of which are
working at a time, the other four filling and emptying.

A greater number of vessels, Mr. Dequesne thinks, would be
advantageous, as cold instead of hot water could then be employed.
He thinks a similar plan might be introduced in the West Indies with
great advantage, and that by employing the proper means to prevent
fermentation the sun's heat would be quite sufficient to dry the
cane slices.

Mr. Dubranfaut and Mr. Rouseau's processes are patented in England.
The terms for the use of the former would, I was told, be made so
moderate, as to offer no obstruction to its being used in the
colonies. What Mr. Rouseau's terms are I could not learn.

There are now 288 works making beet root sugar in France, and over
30 in Belgium. The same manufacture is rapidly spreading in Germany
and Russia, and is now being introduced in Italy. Whilst at
Valenciennes, I learned that two English gentlemen had just preceded
me in visiting the works in that neighbourhood, mentioning that they
had in view introducing the beet root sugar manufacture in Ireland.

The sugar crop of France was last year over 60,000,000 of
kilogrammes (60,000 tons). For two years _Belgium has been
exporting_ to the Mediterranean. One maker told me that he had last
year exported a considerable part of his crop. It would therefore
appear, that even beet root sugar can compete in _other than the
producing country_ with the sugar of the tropics--a most significant
hint that, unless the cane can be made to yield more and better
sugar than is now generally got from it, there is some risk of its
being ultimately beaten by the beet root, the cultivation of which
is now carried on with so much profit that new works are springing
up every year, in almost every country of the continent.

In going through the French works, I made inquiries as to how far
the procede Melsens had been adopted, and was everywhere told it was
a total failure. I, however, determined to see Mr. Melsens and judge
for myself how far it might be applicable to the cane, even if a
failure with regard to the beet root. I, therefore, went on to
Brussels, enclosed my letters of introduction and card, and received
in return a note, appointing to meet me next morning. I found him
one of the best and most obliging of men. He immediately offered to
go over some experiments on beet root juice with me at his
laboratory, where I accordingly spent the greater part of two days
with him, and went over a variety of experiments; and from what I
saw and assisted in doing, I feel strongly inclined to think that,
notwithstanding the French commission at Martinique report
otherwise, some modification of Mr. Melsens' process may be most
advantageously employed in making cane sugar if not as a defecator,
at least to prevent fermentation, and, probably, also as a
decolorising agent.

Mr. Melsens showed me letters he had received from Java from a
person with whom he had no acquaintance, stating that he had used
the bisulphate of lime with complete success; and whilst I was with
him he again received letters from the same person, stating that by
its use he had not only improved the quality of sugar, but had
raised the return to 9 per cent. of the weight of cane. From the
letters which I saw, the process appears to have been tried on a
very large scale, with the advantage of filters and a vacuum pan.
Where the old mode of leaving half the dirt with the sugar, and
boiling up to a temperature of 340 degrees or thereby, is continued,
I fear there is not much chance of either bisulphate or anything
else making any very great improvement.

The use of bisulphate of lime is patented in England and the
colonies, but I believe I may state the charge for the right of
using it will be made extremely moderate.

The points which appeared to me worthy of remark in visiting the
beet-root sugar works are, the extreme care that nothing shall be
lost--the great attention paid to cleanliness in every part of the
process, besides the particular care given to defecation. No vessel
is ever used twice without being thoroughly washed. Such a thing as
the employment of an open fire in any part of the manufacture is
quite unknown. Everything is done by steam, of a pressure of from 4
to 5 atmospheres. In the more recently started works, the
evaporation is entirely carried on in vacuum. In some of the older
works copper evaporators, heated by coils of steam piping, and
having covers, with chimneys to carry off the vapor, are still used;
but of the eight works I visited I only saw them in use in one of
them, and they are nowhere used excepting to evaporate to the point
when the second filtration takes place.

The coolers I saw were invariably made of iron, and varied in depth
from 2 to over 6 feet. These very deep vessels are used for the
crystallization of sugar, made of the fourth, fifth and sixth
re-boilings of molasses, which requires from three to six months.

One thing struck me forcibly in going over the French and Belgian
works; it was the extreme liberality with which I was allowed to go
over every part of them; to remain in them as long as I pleased; had
all my inquiries answered, and every explanation given; in most
striking contrast to the grudging manner in which I have been
trotted over some of the refineries in England, as if those who
showed them were afraid I should gain any information on the subject
of their trade.

Mr. H. Colman, speaking of the agriculture of the Continent, gives
some information he obtained on the comparative cost of producing beet
and cane sugar. A hectare (two and a half acres) produces, in the Isle
of Bourbon, about 76,000 kilogrammes (a kilogramme is nearly two and
one-fifth pounds) of cane, which will give 2,200 kilogrammes of sugar,
and the cost for labor is 2,500 francs. A hectare of beet root
produces 40,000 kilogrammes of roots, which yield 2,400 kilogrammes of
sugar, and the expense of the culture is 354 francs. The cost of the
cane sugar in this case is 27 centimes, and of the beet sugar 14
centimes only, per kilogramme.

These are extraordinary statements, and will be looked at by the
political economist and the philanthropist with great interest. There
are few of the northern states of Europe, or of the United States,
which might not produce their own sugar; and when we take into account
the value of this product, even in its remains after the sugar is
extracted, for the fattening of cattle and sheep, and of course for
the enrichment of the land for the succeeding crops, its important
bearing upon agricultural improvement cannot be exaggerated.

According to M. Peligot, the average amount of sugar in beets is 12
per cent.; but, by extraction, they obtain only 6 per cent. The cane
contains about 18 per cent. of saccharine matter, but they get only
about 71/2. The expense of cultivating a hectare of beets, according to
Dombasle, is 354 francs. An hectare of cane, which produces 2,200
kilogrammes of sugar, in the Island of Bourbon, and only 2,000 in
French Guiana, demands the labor of twelve negroes, the annual expense
of each of whom is 250 francs, according to M. Labran.--(Commission of
Inquiry in 1840.)

Sugar has become not only an article of luxury, but of utility, to
such a degree, that a supply of it constitutes an important article
of importation, and is of national consequence. For sugar the world
has hitherto relied on the cane, with the exception of some parts of
India, where the sugar palm yields it much more cheaply. The sugar
cane is, however, a tropical plant, and, of course, its cultivation
must of necessity be limited to such hot countries. France, during the
wars of Napoleon, shut out from her Indian possessions or deprived of
them, commenced making sugar from beets, and it proving unexpectedly
successful and profitable, it has as we have just seen, extended not
only over that empire, but nearly the whole of continental Europe,
where it forms an important item in their system of cultivation and
profit. The manufacture has been attempted in the United States; but
though the facts of the ease and certainty with which the beets may be
grown and their great value for stock has been fully ascertained,
still little progress in the production of sugar from them has been
made there.


MAPLE SUGAR.

There are few trees in the American forest of more value than the
maple (_Acer saccharinum_). As an ornamental tree, it is exceeded by
few; its ashes abound in alkali, and from it a large proportion of the
potash of commerce is produced; and its sap furnishes a sugar of the
best quality, and in abundance. It likewise affords molasses and an
excellent vinegar. In the maple the sugar amounts to five per cent. of
the whole sap. There is no tree whose shape and whose foliage is more
beautiful, and whose presence indicates a more generous, fertile, and
permanent soil than the rock maple: in various cabinet-work its timber
vies with black walnut and mahogany for durability and beauty; and as
an article of fuel its wood equals the solid hickory. Its height is
sometimes 100 feet, but it usually grows to a height varying from
forty to eighty feet. It is bushy, therefore an elegant shade tree.
The maple is indigenous to the forests of America, and wherever there
has been opportunity for a second growth, this tree attains to a
considerable size much sooner than might be imagined. In the course of
ten or fifteen years the maple becomes of a size to produce sugar. The
trees which have come up since the first clearing, produce sap that
yields much more saccharine than the original forest maples.

The whole interior of the northern part of the United States have
relied, and still rely, more on their maple woodlands for sugar than
on any other source; and as a branch of domestic manufacture and home
production, the business is of no little consequence. The time
occupied too in the manufacture is very limited, and occurs at a
season when very little other labor can be performed.

Hitherto but comparatively little attention has been bestowed upon
this important branch of industry in Canada. The inhabitants of that
province might doubtless manufacture a sufficient quantity of maple
sugar to supply the demand or consumption in this article for the
whole population of the country. This variety of sugar may be refined,
and made as valuable for table use as the finest qualities of West
India sugar. On the south shore of Lake Huron, and the islands of
that inland sea, there are forests of sugar

maple unsurveyed capable of producing a supply for the whole
population. The Indians upon those islands have lately turned their
attention pretty largely to the manufacture of sugar from the maple;
and many tons have been exported from this source. If the Indians
could obtain a fair value for their sugar, say seven or eight dollars
per 100 lbs., they would extend their operations upon a large scale.
Upon these islands alone, there are upwards of a million of full-grown
maple trees, capable of yielding each from two and a half to three
pounds of excellent sugar per annum; and if proper attention were
given to this branch of production in that quarter, I see no reason
why a most profitable business could not be carried on. Every farmer
who has a grove of sugar maple, should endeavour to manufacture at
least sufficient for the consumption of his own family. In most cases
150 trees of medium growth would yield an amount of sap that would
make 300 lbs. of sugar, twenty-five gallons of molasses, and a barrel
of vinegar. The labor required to manufacture this amount of sugar,
molasses, and vinegar, would scarcely be felt by the well-organised
cultivator, as the season for the business is at the close of the
winter, and opening spring, when no labor can be done upon the land.
In proportion to the amount of labor and money expended in the
production of maple sugar, it is as capable of yielding as large a
return of profits as any other branch of farm business. It is
certainly an object of great national interest to the inhabitants of
our North American Colonies, that they should supply their own market
with such products as their highly-favored country is capable of
producing. Sugar is an article which will ever find a ready sale at
highly-remunerating prices, provided that it be properly manufactured
and brought into market in good condition. It requires a little outlay
at first to purchase buckets, cisterns, and boilers, to stock a sugar
bush; but by carefully using the above necessary apparatus, they will
last for a very long period. A farmer can supply himself with the
suitable materials for performing the sugar business without any cost
further than his own labor. The spring is the season of the year that
everything should be put in readiness,--even the wood should be
chopped and drawn to the spot, so that when the sap commences to run,
there may be no impediments in the way to hinder the complete success
of the business.

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