The syrup that was thrown off from the crystals in the centrifugal
machines is taken back to the vacuum pan, evaporated in the same
manner as previously described, and from the vacuum pan goes into the
crystallizers to carry the process of crystallization as far as it will
go. These contain from 1000 to 1600 cubic feet of the crystallized
mass which remains in them from 36 to 72 hours, during which time it
is kept in constant motion by a set of slowly revolving paddles, or
arms, to facilitate further crystallization. From the crystallizers it
goes to the centrifugal machines, where the syrup is separated from the
crystals as before. The crystals are remelted and go in with the thick
juice for white sugar. The syrup, still containing a large amount of
sugar, goes out to be sold as cattle feed or to an Osmose or Steffens
process, where a portion of the remaining sugar may be recovered. This
lost syrup constitutes the largest loss in the entire process. It
contains all the impurities of the beet juice not removed by the lime.
These impurities prevent more than one and one-half times their weight
of sugar from crystalizing, and make what is called molasses.]
[Illustration: A SEA OF BEET PULP.
For a century the high feeding value of sugar-beet pulp has been
recognized in Europe, but until a few years ago millions of tons of
this valuable by-product rotted about American beet-sugar factories, as
shown above, because American farmers could not be made to believe it
possessed sufficient value to pay for hauling it back to the farm.]
[Illustration: MACHINE THAT FILLS, WEIGHS AND SEWS THE BAGS OF SUGAR