Felix
Horne (Metcalfe, Georgia)
Mr. Horne is one of the largest
syrup makers in the Tallahassee/ Thomasville area. He
sells under his own label and he markets his product
wholesale, providing labeled containers for retailers. An
affable man, Mr. Horne was generous with his time and
shared information freely.
Mr. Horne grows two varieties of
cane (CP36-111 and CP67-500, which has a waxy coat). He
fertilizes according to the recommendations of Water's Lab
in Camilla. He aims for 600 gallons of syrup per acre, and
the fertilizer recommendation is in the range of 2000
pounds of 3-9-9 per acre. He avoids Cl- in fertilizer as
he said it causes the syrup to foam.
Slides 1
and 2,
show Mr. Horne discussing the syrup business with Beth and
Tommy Clayton (blue shirt). The syrup house and the mill
are in the background. As you will note, Tommy's attention
is most devotedly focused on the business at hand. For
more on Tommy's interest in syrup and cane mills, go to Southern
Cross Farm.
Slide
3,
is a Golden No. 36. Power is transmitted to the mill via a
pneumatic tire (as for the Alton Rowan
mill.) Other modern
ways to power the No. 36 are found at the Mule
Day's page and
the Raymond Roland page.
Slides 4
and 5, show
Mr. Horne's evaporator, which is made of copper and
cypress. As there has been discussion on evaporators
lately, I took the dimensions. The overall outside
dimensions are 12 feet (long) by 39 ½ inches (wide) by 5
½ inches (height). The syrup end of the evaporator is set
½ inch higher than the juice end. The larger baffles (3
½ inches tall) are set 18 inches apart. A pair of equally
spaced smaller baffles (1 3/8 inches tall) are set between
the larger baffles. The flow spaces around the ends of the
baffles are 2 5/8 inches and alternate from side to side.
The diesel burner provides the
bulk of the heat about 3 feet from the juice end of the
evaporator and is set on a sloping earthen bank under the
evaporator, as illustrated in extension bulletins.
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