1. Sugar is obtained from many vegetable substances, such as the maple tree, the beet root, and the sugar cane, but chiefly from the last.

2. The sugar cane is a native of the tropical parts of the world. It was first introduced into Europe by the Saracens, and cultivated in the islands of the Mediterranean Sea. It seems, however, to have been carefully cultivated in India and China from the earliest times.

3. The cane was introduced into the West India Islands shortly after their discovery by Columbus, and the manufacture of sugar has now become one of the chief employments of the people.

4. In preparing a field for planting with the cuttings of the cane, the ground is marked out in rows three or four feet apart, and in these, holes are dug from eight to twelve inches deep, with a space of two feet between them. The cuttings are carefully planted, and for some time the soil has to be hoed

to keep them clear of weeds. The hoeing of a field of sugar canes is a most laborious operation, performed as it must be under the rays of a tropical sun.

5. The planting of the canes does not require to be renewed annually, as the crops are obtained for

some years from the shoots that spring up from the old roots.

6. The nature of the soil and the mode of culture have a considerable effect on the size of the plant.

In a favourable soil, and in new moist lands, it reaches to the height of twenty feet, while in dry and light soils its height does not exceed six or ten feet.

7. The sugar harvest is a very busy time. When the canes are fully ripe they are cut off close to the ground, and divided into convenient lengths. They are then tied up in bundles, and conveyed in carts to the sugar mill. Here they are passed between iron rollers until the whole of the juice is squeezed

out.

8. The juice must be immediately boiled to prevent it becoming acid. A certain amount of lime, or of lime water, is now added to promote the separation of the crystals of sugar. During the boiling, the impurities in the syrup collect at the top, and are carefully skimmed off.

9. More fuel is added to the fire, and the watery particles of the syrup are evaporated as fast as possible. The syrup now thickens, and is brought by boiling to such a consistency that it granulates on cooling.

10. When the sugar is sufficiently cooled in shallow pans it is put into hogsheads. These hogsheads are pierced with small holes at the bottom, and placed upright over a large cistern so as to allow the molasses or treacle (which is a portion of the syrup that will not crystallize) to drain away. The sugar left is the raw or brown sugar, which is often seen in large casks at the grocer's shop.

11. The quantity of sugar obtained from a given measure of sugar cane varies, according to the season,

the period of the year, the soil, and the quality of the canes. It may be calculated that, taking one state of circumstances with another in these respects, every five gallons of cane juice will yield six pounds of sugar.

12. Sugar is refined or cleared of its colour and impurities in this country. The raw or brown sugar is transferred from the casks into large circular vessels, in which it is mixed with water, and with a small quantity of lime dissolved in water, so as to make a milky fluid. The mass is then heated by steam, which is forced through small holes in copper pipes laid at the bottom of the vessel. When all is dissolved, the liquor is allowed to run into the filters. These filters are tall vessels six or eight feet high, made of either wood or cast-iron. Inside these vessels are placed about sixty cloth or canvas tubes, and in each of these tubes is placed a bag of cotton cloth. The object of these tubes and bags is to get a large filtering surface; the liquor in passing through them is cleared of most of its impurities, and drops into the cistern below.

13. This liquid has a reddish tinge which is got rid of by passing it through a charcoal filter. The liquor is now ready for the process of evaporation. When this has been sufficiently performed, the syrup is run into moulds made of pottery or iron, and of the conical shape that is seen in the large loaves of sugar in grocers' windows. The sugar is left in these moulds for some hours until it becomes solid, and after a few finishing processes is ready to be wrapped up in paper for sale.

Name some vegetable substances that sugar is obtained from. Where is the sugar cane found? What people first introduced it into Europe? In what parts is it cultivated? In what countries was it cultivated in very early times? When was it introduced into the West Indies? Describe the mode of planting the cane in the West Indies. On what lands does the cane grow to the greatest perfection? When are the canes cut down? Into what lengths are they divided? Where are they taken to? How is the juice squeezed out? first done to the juice? What is put into it? Why? When it is sufficiently boiled, what happens to it? What part of the syrup will not crystallize? Into what is it put when it is cooled? How is sugar refined?

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