Naturally, in a process involving so much handling, filtering and boiling, there must be some loss, and the efficiency of a refinery is based upon the percentage of granulated sugar recovered from the raw article delivered to the melt. It may be stated for general guidance that, taking an average of the refineries of the United States, one hundred pounds of refined white sugar is made from each one hundred and seven pounds of ninety-six-degree raw sugar melted. Some of the sugar lost is accounted for in the molasses, in the sediment from the filter presses, and in the wash waters from the char filters. The remainder is the undetermined loss in handling, in sugar destroyed by heating, and in sugar dust escaping during the manufacturing operation. As has been said, the component parts of raw sugars vary more or less, and the recovery in white sugar from two lots of raws, each polarizing ninety-six degrees, might differ considerably according to the refractory matter in the original raw sugar. The following figures give a fairly accurate idea of the disposition of one hundred pounds of ninety-six-degree raw sugar in refining: Water, which is eliminated .70 per cent Non-sugar, which is eliminated 3.30 ” Sucrose loss, undetermined .75 ” Sucrose left in molasses 1.75 ” Sucrose extracted in granulated form 93.50 ” ------ Raw sugar melted 100.00 ” The undetermined loss includes every loss from the time the raw sugar is weighed into the warehouse until the granulated article is sold to the buyer. It is evident, therefore, that one of the principal items of refining cost is the actual loss of weight in converting raw into refined sugar. Assuming that the raw sugar costs four cents per pound, the refiner has lost on each one hundred pounds melted, four cents × 6½ pounds, or twenty-six cents, less the small value of the resulting molasses. If the raw sugar cost six cents, the loss would be thirty-nine cents. At four cents, the loss is equivalent to $5.20 per ton, or, in the case of a refinery melting two million pounds of raw sugar daily, $5,200.00 for each working day. This does not include any of the operating expenses, such as labor, fuel, bone-char, containers, selling expense or administration—just the actual value of the raw sugar lost in the process of refining. [Illustration: REFINERY CENTRIFUGAL MACHINES] [Illustration: EXTERIOR VIEW OF SWEATER] PARTIAL DRYING PURGING CRYSTALS FROM THE SYRUP