The American Cane Mill

Presents the history of the American cane mill, including a look at the people who designed these machines and the foundries which manufactured them. This work offers a discussion on the agricultural origins of sugar cane and sorghum, and a manufacturing history of the roller cane mill and earlier syrup extraction devices.

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The southern agricultural landscape is enriched by the occasional sighting of an old cane mill along some winding road in rural America. Now reposing after a lifetime of labor, these mills were once the center of activity for numerous families 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, once so essential to the southern farmers' livelihood, sit rusting behind weather-beaten barns, abandoned in pastures, entangled in vines, or stored unceremoniously in some decrepit shed, their history all but forgotten.This work tells the complete history of the American cane mill, including an in-depth look at the people who designed these machines and the foundries which manufactured them. The text begins with a brief discussion on the agricultural origins of sugar cane and sorghum, followed by a manufacturing history of the roller cane mill and earlier syrup extraction devices. Part Two of the book provides the histories of over 150 American foundries which manufactured cane mills and several current photographs of these mills in their unique settings.