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Before the sugar cane can be crushed in the mill, the canes have to be deprived of their leaves, and this is now done by hand. The invention we are about to describe is intended to supersede the old process, by providing an attachment for sugar cane crushers, which cuts off all the leaves as the canes are passed in between the rollers. The stripper or cutter is very simple, and is shown in Fig. 2, H being a steel tube having inclined cutting edges, i, coming to a point at h. A series of these are placed on a board, F, in the position shown in Fig. 1, which is a side elevation of the rollers and frame of a sugar cane mill. They are arranged at such an angle as to present the cane, after it has been passed through them, in the proper position for the rollers to grasp it, and so draw the cane through the stripper, leaving the leaves outside, as it passes between the rollers and is crushed. In Fig. 1, A is the bed on which two of the rollers, D, rotate by axles, d, and they are kept in their proper place by boxes, a. From A rise two standards, B, connected by a cross-piece, C, from which the upper roller, D, is supported on its axle, d, by the box, c. This cross-piece, C, can be raised and lowered, so as to bring the rollers closer together or farther apart by the screws, e, in the uprights, B. Stripping or blading cane by hand is a slow, tedious, and disagreeable business, and as the blades have sharp edges, they often cut and lacerate the hand of the operator; all this is prevented by the use of this simple contrivance. The inventor—Calvin Dickey, of Mercersburg, Pa.—has found that they strip the sorghum cane beautifully; and as the growth of this plant seems to be extending, they will, no doubt, be in great demand, for that as well as for the ordinary cane. Any further information can be had by addressing the inventor as above. Patented March 23, 1858.
