When sufficiently softened the steam escape cock in the upper part of the steamer (see Fig. 2) is regulated to allow a partial flow of steam through it and a greater flow of steam is admitted through the lower inlet. This keeps the grain in constant ebullition under a pressure of 30 lbs. or so. After another period of an hour the pressure in the steamer is raised to 60 lbs. at which point it is kept for half an hour, when the maximum steam pressure is applied, and the greater portion of the disintegrated mass blown out into a preparatory mass tub, into which malt has been placed mixed with water. The blowing out should be so performed that the temperature in the mass in the tubs shall not exceed 130∞ F. The mass is stirred and cooled and then the remainder of the mass in the steamer admitted to the tub which should bring the temperature of the mass up to 145∞ F. It is kept at this temperature for a period varying from half an hour to one and one-half hours and is then cooled to the proper fermenting temperature. Another method of softening corn so that its starch is easily acted upon by the diastase of the malt is to steep it in a sulphurous acid solution at a temperature of about 120∞ F. for from fifteen to twenty hours. The mass is then diluted to form a semi-liquid pulp and heated to about 190∞ F. for an hour or two during which the mass is constantly stirred. The malt is then added, the mass is saccharified, cooled and then fermented. Another method is to place mixed grain and hot water in a cooker of the Bohn variety (Fig. 45). After half an hour of stirring and cooking under ordinary pressure, the steam pressure is raised to 45 lbs. This is kept up for from two to three hours when the grain is reduced to a paste. Concentrated muriatic acid equal to 2-1/2 per cent of the weight of grain is then forced in, under steam pressure. In half an hour the grain will be entirely saccharified and ready for fermenting. CHAPTER IX. ALCOHOL FROM BEETS. =Cultivation.= The beetroot (_Beta vulgaris_), indigenous to Europe, is cultivated in France, Germany, Belgium, Holland, Scandinavia, Austria, Russia, and to a very small extent in England and New Zealand, and to a very large extent in the United States and Canada. There are many varieties. The most important to the sugar-maker is the white Silesian, sometimes regarded as a distinct species (_B. alba_); it shows very little above ground, and penetrates about 12 in.; it has a white flesh, the two chief forms being distinguished by one having a rose-colored skin and purple-ribbed leaves, the other a white skin and green leaves. Both are frequently grown together, and exhibit no marked difference in sugar-yielding qualities.