Sugar Changed the World Sugar Production Then and Now

Then

Edward King, and James Wells Champney, , illustrated by The Great South; A Record of Journeys in Louisiana, Texas, the Indian Territory, Missouri, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and Maryland. Hartford, Conn.: American Publishing Co., king/ill60.html

Slaves working in the sugar cane fields. entorgs/thso/Symposia/2 008symposium_files/ima ge003.jpg

Slaves in the West Indies feeding sugar cane into a vertical mill and working a boiler, which was among the most arduous and dangerous jobs a Caribbean slave could be burdened with. Sugar was classed as a drug/drogue/droga by early modern European medical authorities, and played a key role in a number of medical concoctions. ot.com/2010/11/comple at-history-of-druggs.html

Title: A representation of the sugar-cane and the art of making sugar Creator(s): Hinton, John, -1781, publisher Date Created/Published: Medium: 1 print : engraving, hand- colored. Summary: Print shows sugarcane processing, probably in the West Indies, with a white overseer directing Natives at a press(?) and boiling operation. Reproduction Number: LC-USZ (b&w film copy neg.) Rights Advisory: No known restrictions on publication. Call Number: PGA - Hinton-- Representation of the sugar-cane... (A size) [P&P] Repository: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C USA / /

Sugar. An engraving from Theodore de Bry's Grand Voyages, 1590–1597, shows a colonial sugar processing operation using native labor. THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS ALE%7CCX &v=2.1&u=vol_ c67s&it=r&p=GVRL&sw=w&asid=3d7c 1c5b52543d8296ecfcf77783c665

Now

Planting Sugarcane is grown by replanting part of a mature cane stalk. Farmers cut some of the fully grown cane stalks into 40 cm lengths called “setts”. These setts are planted by special machines, which drop them into furrows, add fertilizer and cover them with soil. This process can also still be done by hand.

Harvesting Heavy-duty machines called cane harvesters cut the cane stalks off the plant at the base. As they move down each row, the cane is collected and cut into shorter 30 cm length pieces known as “billets”. A second machine called a cane haulout drives along side the harvester to collect the billets.

Milling Sugar mills crush cane to extract and separate the sucrose (sugar) from the water, impurities and plant fiber contained in the billets. Using a computerized scheduling system, the sugarcane is monitored as it moves through a four-step milling process. 1.Weigh and Record Sugarcane is weighed and processed at automatic cane-receiving stations as soon as it arrives a the mill. 2.Chop and Shred The billets are then tipped into a cane carrier and transported to the shredder where they are chopped and shredded into fibrous material. This process ruptures the juice cells. 3.Crush The cane material is then crushed as it is fed through a series of mills. Three large rollers arranged in a triangle formation, separate the juice from the fibrous material. This process separates the juice from the bagasse, which is fibrous material used as fuel to run the mill’s boiler furnaces. 4.Heat and Cool The juice is pumped away for processing into raw sugar. It is cleaned to remove impurities and thickened into a syrup by boiling off excess water. It is then seeded with tiny sugar crystals in a vacuum pan and boiled until sugar crystals have formed and grown. These crystals are separated from the molasses around them in centrifuges that are like giant spin dryers. The crystals are then tumble-dried and stored in large bins until ready for export.

Refining The raw sugar is stored in large warehouses and then transported into the sugar refinery by means of transport belts. In the traditional refining process, the raw sugar is first mixed with heavy syrup and centrifuged to wash away the outer coating of the raw sugar crystals, which is less pure than the crystal interior.