Virginia Sugar refinery.
--Operations have been regularly commenced at this establishment, and we trust that the proprietor may meet with that encouragement which his enterprise merits.
The outlay of money in the construction of the buildings and machinery has been very heavy.
Everything about the premises is in the most complete order, and nothing has been introduced of a second-rate character.
The water used in the refinery is brought from
Fulton's spring, half a mile distant, through iron pipes, and is of the purest and clearest kind.
This of itself is a work of magnitude; but should more water be needed than can be supplied from the spring, a steam pump is ready to draw it from another source.
The
steam engines are of the most improved patterns, and work admirably.
They move smoothly and without noise.
The process of refining sugar is more intricate and interesting than we imagined before we had an opportunity of seeing it. The coarse
brown sugar is put through a variety of operations, until it becomes clear and beautiful, and yields its quantity of excellent syrup.
The filtering apparatus is a curious and ingenious piece of mechanism, and in this department
Mr. Morris has some new appliances which add much to its convenience.
The centrifugals, for drying the sugar, acquire a rapidity of motion that is astonishing.
We could not, in a brief description, convey a proper idea of the completeness and extent of the establishment.
The proprietor is now prepared to meet the public demand, and we feel confident that
Richmond will not be slow in the bestowal of patronage.
The improvement furnishes to the
South an important facility in her progress towards commercial independence.
