The American Cane Mill: A History of the Machines, the Manufacturers, Sugar Cane and Sorghum

by Don Howard Dean

Overview

The southern agricultural landscape is enriched by the occasional old cane mill, once the center of family activity each fall as juice was squeezed from the cane, evaporated in a kettle or evaporator pan, and converted into syrup for home use or cash income. Now these grand old machines sit rusting behind weather-beaten barns, abandoned in pastures, entangled in vines, or stored in decrepit sheds, their history all but forgotten.

This work gives a full history of the American cane mill, including the people who designed them and the foundries that manufactured them. The agricultural origins of sugar cane and sorghum, a manufacturing history of the roller cane mill, and earlier syrup extraction devices are discussed. The majority of the book is devoted to the histories of more than 150 American foundries that manufactured cane mills, with hundreds of photographs and other illustrations.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780786459797
Publisher:	McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Publication date:	04/28/2010
Pages:	351
Product dimensions:	6.90(w) x 9.90(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

The late Don Howard Dean was an experienced syrup-maker and a United Methodist minister, and lived in Dothan, Alabama.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Foreword by Bill Outlaw     
Preface and Acknowledgments     

PART I
1. The Syrup Canes     
2. History of the Roller Cane Mill     

PART II
3. Manufacturers of American Cane Mills     

Bibliography     
Index     

Editorial Reviews

the definitive work on the American cane mill...valuable...highly recommended”—Choice.

From the Publisher

...the definitive work on the American cane mill...valuable...highly recommended

Choice

"this work provides important information that would be nearly impossible to find so conveniently in any other single source"

Georgia Historical Quarterly