(From the Auckland "Star.") An Interesting Descripton of the Process of Manufacture.

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 338, 30 January 1889, Page 3

(From the Auckland "Star.") An Interesting Descripton of the Process of Manufacture.

Wiiisn' the beets, are.dinnped into "the bins they* pass from the farmer and are.ready ; to start on their way to sugardoni. Beneath oach bin is a concrete ditch, and 1 into jbhis J ditch'the beets fall through, adjustable traps. ' A stream, of water- is constantly flowing through the.ditches in the direction of the •factory, and it takes tho beets to the'southj end of the main building and empties them into a cistern, -in which ■is ' working a large screw , that extends to .the second floor, from which they > pass into a 'large drum * shaped t iron cylinder, called the "wash barrel," whore the beets are thoroughly cleaned. When cleaned they' are thrown from the ' wash\barrel' into a hopper from which they pass into an endless elevator, which runs, to the top floor/ where the beets are discharged into a .large hopper. Then tney pass into a • cage,' which will hold 1,000 pounds of beets, and whon this weight is indicated the cage empties its load into the cutter. The cage and its indicator enable the factory people to closely estimate the amount*, oi rjxw material used each day in the manufacture •of sugar. It is also 'a check on every department. It will show any error that, may arise in the receiving or shipping department. ' ' The slicer or cutter, is a round irqn shaft with steel knivos, capable of slicing 400 tons of beet every* twenty- four hours, which runs .down* to thp,.flopr,belo\y.'i The" 4ower end of the slicer opens into a wooden trov\gh- about' two feet squ&re, on the bottom of which' is an endless 4 belt. As tho slaced beets fall from the cutterinto this trough the belt takes them along as fast as they descend. Placed on 'this floor and ranged alongside the trough is a battery of twelve 'diffusion tanks, into which the sliced beets are next passed and diluted under a water • pressure of eighty pounds. By this' preseurc v 'the sugar and, salts, amounting to 90 per cent, are realised in liquid form, leaving ing only 10 per cent, cf pulp to represent all the solid matter contained in the sugar beet of oommevce From the diffusion tanks the liquid sugar is then passed into the heater. Each tank is emptied every five minutes. 'In the heater the liquid is subjected to 75deg. F. tor some, time; when it is again sent onward to the carbonisation tank, where it is put through a clarifying process by lime and lime gas. From tho carbonisation tank it is pumped into the presses, through which it ia run three rimes under tremendous pressure, every particle of lime being retained in the presses, while the liquid sugar is conveyed to the quadruple evaporateiy probably the heaviest pieces of machinery used in the the whole process of sugar-making. After going through the evaporation process it is delivered to the vacum pans at the top of the building where it is crystallized. Underneath the vacum pans are placed very large square receivers, into which it is allowed to fall when crystallization has taken placo : these receivers have revolving screws which form the bottom, and are kept constantly in motion to keep the sugar from caking. F.rom the receivers it again descends to the centrifugal machine, where it is purged, of the molasses and finally emptied into sacks' on the lower floor and loaded on the railroad cars for shipment to the refinery.