Now, cane juice is no more the sap of the cane, than apple juice is that of the apple tree; it is the natural product of the cane, and, in all probability, would contain but a small proportion of these foreign matters if it could be expressed without being accompanied by the sap, they being the natural constituents of the last-named fluid.  A patent has, I believe, been lately taken out for separating the cane juice without the sap.  However, in the absence of such an improvement, much may be done by care and attention at the mill; the green bands and trash which usually accompany the canes from the field, should, therefore, be carefully removed before they are passed through, as they contain no saccharine matter, abound in the deleterious substances already mentioned, and communicate a bad color to the juice; therefore, the ripe cane only should pass through the mill.  There are but few planters who have not had to contend with sour juice, and they attribute the difficulty they experience in making sugar therefrom, to the presence of acetic acid, or vinegar; but this is quite an erroneous idea, as the acetic acid is very volatile, and evaporates quickly on the application of heat, which may be proved by throwing a gallon of strong vinegar into a pan of liquor; it will do no harm, provided it be boiled before tempering; on the contrary, the effect, if it be properly done, will be beneficial, as it will promote the coagulation of the albumen; it is the gum which is always formed during the acetous fermentation of sugar that prevents granulation; hence, then, acidity is strictly to be guarded against, as fermentation once commenced, it will be impossible to make good sugar, it will continue throughout the process, and even in the hogshead; so that canes should be ground as soon as possible after they are cut, and all rat-eaten and broken ones carefully excluded.  Canes may, however, be kept some days without fermenting, provided they be not broken or damaged, it being, as we said before, the mixture of the sap and the cane juice that makes the liquid so prone to fermentation; and the mill, gutters, and everything with which the juice is likely to come in contact, should be kept carefully clean, and whitewashed immediately after, and the whitewash removed before use, as acetate of lime being an exceedingly soluble and deliquescent salt, will not improve the quality of the sugar; whilst the gutter should be short, and sheltered from the sun’s rays, they having the effect of greatly expediting chemical action.

I shall say no more on this subject, but will proceed to consider the mode of tempering and clarifying cane juice, and the action of lime on the various substances contained therein.  The expression “tempering” has, I presume, been, adopted in consequence of the use of tempered lime for the purpose of precipitating the feculencies, held in solution in the cane juice, into a state of suspension; and clarification is the process by which we afterwards clear the liquor of