g the tap at the bottom of the boiler was turned,
and the syrup came out bright and clear,--about the colour of sherry
wine. The scum descended unbroken on the surface of the liquor; and when
the copper was nearly empty the tap was closed, and the scum and what
little liquor remained was taken out. The bright syrup was now again
poured into the boiler, the fire re-lighted, and the syrup was kept
boiling, to evaporate the water and condense the syrup down to the point
at which it would crystallize. It required many hours' boiling to effect
this, any scum which rose to the surface being carefully taken off with
a skimmer. At last it was found that the syrup on the skimmer began to
crystallize, and Mr. Hardy pronounced it to be fit to draw off into the
large washing tubs to crystallize. A fresh batch of canes was now
crushed, and so the process was repeated until all the canes were cut.
It took a fortnight altogether, but only five days of this were
actually occupied in cutting and crushing the canes. As the sugar
crystallized it was taken out,--a dark, pulpy-looking mass, at which the
young Hardys looked very doubtfully,--and was placed in a large sugar
hogshead, which had been procured for the purpose. In the bottom of this
eight large holes were bored, and these were stopped up with pieces of
plantain stalk. Through the porous substance of these stalks the
molasses or treacle slowly drained off. As the wet sugar was placed in
the cask, layers of slices of plantain stems were laid upon it, as the
spongy substance draws the dark colouring matter out from the sugar. The
plantain grows freely in South America, and Mr. Hardy had planted a
number of this graceful tree near his house; but these had not been
advanced enough to cut, and he had therefore procured a sufficient
quantity from a friend at Rosario. It was three months before the
drainage of the molasses quite ceased; and the Hardys were greatly
pleased, on emptying the hogshead and removing the plantain stems, to
find that their sugar was dry, and of a very fairly light colour. The
sugar-canes did not require planting again, as they will grow for many
years from the same roots; and although the canes from old stools, as
they are called, produce less sugar than those of the first year's
planting, the juice is clearer, and requires far less trouble to prepare
and refine. Before another year came round, the boys made a pair of
wooden rollers of eighteen inches in diameter.