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109 chapter viii y Various Types of Sugar Crated Separately, the Marks on the Crates, and Their Transport to the Warehouse Before marking the crates, it is necessary to discuss the various types of sugar that are crated separately, since with this substance also there is a nobility, a base caste, and a mixture. First there are white and mascavado sugars. White sugar takes its name from the color it possesses , and it is much admired and esteemed above others. It is remarkable that it absorbs so little color from the clay. Mascavado is brown and comes from the bottom of the molds, called the feet or cabucho. White sugar can be fine, rounded, or low, and all these are macho10 sugar. Fine sugar is the purest, hardest, and heaviest. Normally it is from the top of the mold. Rounded sugar is a bit less pure, less hard, and ordinarily comes from the second part of the mold. I say “ordinarily” because this is not an infallible rule. Sometimes the top of some molds can turn out less pure and hard than the second part of another mold. Low sugar is even less pure and almost the color of wheat. Although it can be hard and strong, because it is less pure, it is called “low” or inferior. In addition to these three varieties of white sugar, there is another called white batido. It is made from the mel from the molds of macho sugar in the refinery, cooked, and whisked once more. Sometimes it emerges as pure and strong as the macho. There is also mascavado macho, which is made from the dregs of the white macho, and there is masca­ vado batido, which is the dregs of the white batido. That which drips from the molds of macho sugar when it is being refined is called mel. Drippings from white batido are called remel.11 From mel, some people make rum by distilling it. Others cook it to make batido sugar, and others sell it in pots to those who distill or cook it. It is the same as remel. As we have discussed the various types of sugars, we can now turn to the required marks making the same distinctions on the crates. Crates 110 The Cultivation of Sugar are marked with hot branding irons or with ink. Each crate needs three marks: the number of arrobas, the name of mill, and the planter or merchant sending it. The brand indicating the number of arrobas is put at the top of the crate next to the lid. It is made in such a way that the numbers cross the top of the crate and the lid. It is done this way so that, if the crate is opened, it will be obvious, since the markings on the top of the crate will not align with those on the lid. The sign of the mill is also branded in the same area of the crate, on the right-hand side. This allows for an inquiry if there is a discrepancy in the crating of the sugar. The casks of tar that come from Portugal sometimes have stones in them. The chests of fine cloth sometimes have lengths of burlap inserted in the middle, or the lengths of the bolts are not as long as indicated. Just as these things have happened, they could send fewer arrobas of sugar than what was indicated on the crate and substitute mascavado sugar in the middle of a crate marked as white. Unscrupulous craters have done this. The sign of the planter or the merchant sending the sugar, if branded, is placed in the middle of the top of the crate. If it is not branded by fire, it is placed in the same spot in ink. This can be removed with an adze12 when the crate is sold to another merchant, and the new owner’s name can replace it. If the crate contains white macho, it has the mark “B,” and if white batido, “BB.” Mascavado macho is “M,” and mascavado batido is “MB.” Each mill has its own mark, such as “S” for the Sergipe do Conde Mill, “P” for Pitanga Mill, and “O” with a cross in the middle for the Jesuit College. The mills at the shore transport their crates to the port in the following manner: one crate after another is moved with rollers and levers from the crating house to a cart. This cart is...

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