Something about sugar

by George M. Rolph

When the slaves were freed, the planters cast about them to find laborers, and India was one of the first sources of supply. Over ten thousand Hindus were brought to Martinique between 1852 and 1862, and with very few exceptions they remained in the island after their five-year contract expired. During the twenty-two years that followed 1862, 25,500 laborers came to Martinique from Pondicherry, Yanaon, Karikal and Calcutta with the permission of the Indian authorities, but emigration from that country under government auspices was discontinued in 1885. In addition to Hindus, free African negroes, Chinese and Annamese were brought in.

The sugar plantations of Guadeloupe and Martinique are situated on the low, alluvial lands around the coast, although some are found in the interior. The hilly character of the latter, however, is not favorable to cane culture, as the heavy rains wash the arable soil down the slopes, thus interfering with the growth of the cane.

The ground to be planted in cane is first cleared and then ploughed. Furrows about two feet deep and four and one-half feet apart are then made and the seed cane is planted in holes five inches deep. Three weeks afterward the cane is banked and fertilizer applied. The soil between the canes is loosened from time to time and the crop is cut after a year’s growth. As a rule, ratooning is limited to two years, one crop being produced each year. The land is then allowed to rest for a time, after which planting is begun anew.

Bourbon cane is the variety principally grown, although seedling canes have been brought in from Barbados and British Guiana of late years. The average yield per acre of plant cane is twenty-four tons; first ratoons give sixteen tons and second ratoons about eight tons. After the cane is cut it is loaded on large carts and taken to the factories. Some estates are equipped with field railways, the cars being drawn by mules or locomotives.

As mentioned in the chapter on Jamaica, the early sugar producers of Saint Dominique, Guadeloupe and Martinique excelled the manufacturers of the other West Indian islands in the preparation of the commodity. The result was that their lead was gradually followed by the others, and a brief description of the methods they employed will be of interest.

The cane juice was boiled in a series of five or six copper kettles placed over a furnace fed by bagasse and wood. These kettles were of different sizes, the largest being farthest from the fire and the size of each decreased as the furnace door was approached, the smallest being directly above the fire. The kettle next to the largest was set a little higher than the largest one, the third higher than the second and so on until the last and smallest, which was the highest of the series. Clarification was done with lime and wood ashes, and sometimes a little crude antimony. As soon as the raw juice reached the first and largest kettle the clarifying material was thrown in and the boiling began. The scum was removed as soon as it formed, and when the juice became sufficiently clear it was quickly transferred to the second kettle; a small amount of alkali was mixed with it and further boiling and skimming was done. The liquor was then ladled into kettle number three, potash lye and an extract of herbs were added, and after being boiled for a time it was passed to kettle number four, and finally concentrated in the last and smallest kettle immediately above the fire. When the required consistency was reached, the massecuite was put into vessels to cool, at the same time being kept in motion by stirring until the grains began to form. It was then placed in moulds, and after having become thoroughly cool it was dumped into hogsheads that had perforated bottoms. These hogsheads stood on racks, beneath which there was a receptacle to catch the molasses as it drained on through the holes in the bottom. The draining was allowed to continue until about one-half the weight of the contents of the hogshead was crystallized sugar. The holes were then plugged up and the sugar was ready for shipment. The molasses was manufactured into rum.

A superior grade, called sucre terré, or clayed sugar, was also made. In its preparation, juice from the best and ripest cane was taken and as little lime as possible was used in clarification. Antimony was excluded entirely, on account of its tendency to darken the color of the juice. As the juice was transferred from kettle to kettle during the various boilings, it was strained through a cloth each time, instead of being ladled direct from one kettle to the next. When the syrup was concentrated it was put into earthenware sugar-loaf moulds that held between thirty and thirty-five pounds of massecuite apiece. These moulds had perforations in the bottom that were stopped up before the mass was put in. In filling a mould, one quarter of its capacity was put in at one time, making four operations. Fifteen minutes after the last lot of massecuite was put in the mould, a layer of crystals formed on the surface, and this was thoroughly stirred into the mass, which was then left to cool. A couple of days later the plugs were removed so that the molasses might drain from the mould. In case it did not run off properly, the massecuite was remelted, but if the drainage was satisfactory, the next step was the claying of the sugar. If the top of the loaves was uneven or dark-colored, it was scraped smooth and covered with a layer of crushed sugar. The surface was then hammered level and even. A special kind of clay brought from Rouen was mixed with water and the mould was filled to the top with this mixture. Windows and doors were shut to prevent evaporation of the moisture, and the water draining from the clay gradually passed down through the sugar crystals, washing the syrup from them. After ten days had elapsed, the clay, then thoroughly dried, was removed, the surface of the sugar-loaf was cleaned, another layer of wet clay was applied and allowed to remain as long as the first. When this second layer was taken off, the loaves were removed from the moulds and allowed to dry in the air for a time. Further drying was done in a drying room, heated for the purpose, and the sugar, when all the moisture had been driven from it, was crushed by wooden pestles. Refined sugar was packed for shipment in casks containing between 600 and 700 pounds. The first molasses was made into rum or boiled into second sugar, and the syrup washed from the loaves was made into a sugar called cassonade.

This primitive method of manufacture has been entirely supplanted by newer processes and appliances. As a rule, today cane is crushed twice and maceration is often employed. The juice is treated with sulphur while still cold, and it is then pumped into defecation tanks, where powdered lime is added; after this is done heat is applied. As soon as the scum cracks, the steam is turned off and the clear juice is separated from the sediment by a siphon and run to the evaporators, while the muddy precipitate goes to the filter presses.

Concentration of the juice takes place in double, triple or quadruple effects of rather an old type, which means lack of economy in steam and consequent large fuel consumption. As the quantity of bagasse available does not afford sufficient fuel to generate all the steam that is required, a considerable amount of wood and coal is used in addition for the purpose. The unwise and short-sighted policy of denuding the hillsides of their timber has had the effect of lessening the rainfall, a condition that has brought great injury to the planter.

The vacuum pans are small and of old style; the centrifugal machines, too, are of obsolete design and slow to operate. After the liquor has been boiled to grain in the pans and the sugar crystals have been separated from the mother liquor in the centrifugals, the sugar is dried and packed for the market in barrels or bags. The first molasses is reboiled and the resulting massecuite sent through the centrifugals. After this operation has been repeated three or four times, the final molasses is made into rum.