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Processing Sugar Cane in Hawaii circa 1860
by Melody Lassalle
Many books tells us of the difficulties of starting sugar cane plantations in Hawaii. Many dreamers set their hopes on easy riches only to find the growing and milling sugar cane in the islands was incredibly difficult. Many went bankrupt trying to get their businesses off the ground. The land in a specific area may be bad for sugar cane, laborers may be problematic, or bills kept mounting.
Just how difficult was it to process those sugar cane stalks to make the sweet and tasty sugar crystals? In a word--VERY! Producing sugar was a science based on the expertise of those doing the work. One miscalculation and a batch could be ruined. Not only that but conditions inside the mill were oppressive. It was hot and noisy, and some machinery dangerous to work with. When mill accidents occurred they could be deadly.
This look at sugar cane production is based Mr. Rice's plantation of Kauai as given in the book "Grove Farm Plantation". This is how the process was done in 1860 and should exemplify typical sugar production throughout the islands.
Time to Harvest
When the sugar cane was ripe, it was time for harvesting. At this point, the cane stalks were 12 feet tall.
Laborers swung machetes as they walked. The cane was cut close to the ground. Dust filled the air and laborers were battered by the sharp edges of the cut stalk. On top of that, it was hot.
The laborers then returned to the beginning of the row. They put the cane into bundles. The were loaded on cane carts (later narrow gauge railway cars) and sent to the mill. The cane carts were taken to the mill. The mill was run by water power (steam) and outside the mill was a dam for this purpose.
Getting the Sugar Cane into the Mill
Before the cane entered the mill, it was removed from the cane carts. Rollers run by water were set into motion. A laborer feed the sugar cane stalks one by one onto these rollers. A dirty mixture of cane juice, dirt, and cane stalk was produced. This flowed into a basin and then ran out a spout.
Clarifying the Sugar Cane Juice
The dirty mixture produce outside the mill would contain many impurities. The sugar cane juice was clarified to remove the impurities. Huge vats set over ovens were used for this process.
These were the steps involved:
1. Milk of Lime (powdered lime and water) was mixed with the sugar mixture. The amount of lime was important. Too much lime and the grains came out too dark. Too little and the grains wouldn't form. Every batch of sugar was different making this part all the more difficult.
2. The Milk of Lime was stirred in gently. The entire mixture was brought to a near boil. This was allowed to settle and then the scum was removed.
3. The mixture was boiled again for ten minutes and allowed to settle once more.
4. About 30 minutes later, clear juice was drawn from the top of the vats.
The Boiling House
Once the sugar mixture was clarified, the mixture was sent to the boiling house. This included five shallow pots approximately 6 feet in diameter and each smaller than the previous pot. They were bolted together in a row. Wood and cane trash were used for the fires under the pots.
The purpose of using 5 consecutively smaller pots was because so much steam was produced in the process. This made it difficult for workers to remove scum that rose to the top. Pouring the boiling mixture into a smaller pot allowed for the juice level to remain at the top of the pot and make their work easier.
Then this is what was done:
1. The liquid in the pots was boiled. At this point, it's a syrupy mixture.
2. "Sweeps" shaped like oars were used to skim off the froth.
3. Each mixture is worked into a pot until it works its way down to the last pot.
4. The "Sugar Boiler" has an important job. This person dips a poll into the last pot. He then pours the syrup into a water filled jar. The point of this is to determine when the last pot has reached the maximum number of crystals.
5. If the Sugar Boiler is happy, a "strike" is performed. The mixture in the last pot is moved to the cooling vats.
6. Once the last pot is emptied, then all the mixtures are moved down a pot. The first pot is refilled with fresh sugar cane juice. The process is then started all over.
After Cooling
Once the sugar cane juice has cooled, it's really two substances: molasses and sugar. The sugar was the important part. For years, the molasses was seen as undesirable. However, someone invented a machine called the "Centrifugal". This machine was able to separate the molasses and sugar.
How did the Centrifugal work? A wood furnace was fed to keep it's steam engine working. The sugary mass was spaded from the cooling vat to a brass cage. There was a tub inside the brass cage which held the mass. The cage was set into motion. It revolved around slowly at first, then went faster and faster. As the sugary mixture spread throughout the tub, the molasses began to seep out of the screens of the cage. In this way the molasses and sugar crystals were separated.
The molasses might still hold crystals. It would be sent back for more boiling until all the recoverable crystals were produced.
So, there you have it! The sugar that you sprinkle on your cereal and in your coffee has to go through quite a process before it gets that way. In the days of steam power, this was an arduous task. Those who worked in the mills worked in terrible conditions. The temperature was suffocating and their was no air conditioning to relieve them. Among those conditions, those such as the boiler makers worked with scientific precision. If they didn't calculate correctly, a nights work might be lost. It's no wonder that early sugar plantations had so many obstacles to overcome in the Hawaiian islands. It's more of a wonder that those involved in the business kept trying and that eventually they overcame the obstacles to build their dynasty. Our ancestors, the laborers, were there in the beginning. Without them, the sugar industry would have had a difficult time getting off the ground.
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Sources:
1. Krauss, Bob. Grove Farm Plantation: The Biography of a Hawaiian Sugar Plantation. Pacific Book Pub., c1983.
2. Takaki, Ronald. Pau Hana: Plantation Life and Labor in Hawaii, 1835-1920. Hawaii : University of Hawaii Press, c1984.
3. Kuykendall, Ralph. Hawaii: A History from Polynesian Kingdom to American Statehood. Prentice Hall, c1979.
IslandRoutes recommends:
If you're interested in learning more about the sugar plantation era in Hawaii, Grove Farm Plantation (available from Amazon.com)is an excellent start. The book covers the Wilcox family and how George Wilcox became one of the leaders in the sugar plantation industry.
© 2005 Melody Lassalle