By-products  of  the  sugar  made  from  cane  are  brown  sugar  and
molasses.  Corn  sirup  is  made  from  corn  and  is  lighter  in  color
than  molasses.  It  cannot  be  made  to  take  the  hard  ball  stage
as  molasses  will,  hence  is  not  suitable  for  pulled  candies  or
butterscotch,  but  for  softer  creams  or  stirred  candies  it  is  very
acceptable.  Corn  sirup  may  be  used  for  taffy  by  the  addition
of  granulated  sugar.  Maple  sirup  is  made  from  the  sap  of
the  maple  tree  and  is  essentially  an  American  product.  Maple
sugar  is  made  from  the  maple  sirup  and  is  sold  as  commonly
as  the  sirup.  Honey  is  made  from  the  sugar  of  flowers  by  bees,
and  that  obtained  from  clover  is  considered  the  finest.  Honey
made  early  in  the  summer  is  sweeter  than  that  made  later,
when  a  bitter  flavor  (attributed  to  goldenrod)  is  apt  to  be  im-
parted.
(See  Sherman's  Food  Products,  pages  397-444,  for  descrip-
tion of  sugar  industries,  sirups,  and  confectionery.)

The  sole  nutritive  function  of  the  sugars  is  to  serve  as  fuel,
and  the  amount  which  can  wisely  be  eaten  is  limited  because  of
its  tendency  to  irritate  the  stomach  either  directly  or  through
fermentation.
284


SUGAR  AND   CANDY  285

EXPERIMENTS

Sugar

Sirups  —  of  use  in  frozen  desserts  and  candy  making.
Various  degrees  of  densities  of  sirups  are  recognized  with  the  ther-
mometer or  by  testing  in  cold  water  for  the  soft  ball,  hard  ball,  crack,
hard  crack,  and  caramel  stage.
204.  —  Boil  2  c.  sugar  in  \  c.  water.     Note  changes  in  boiling  point
as  the  solution  becomes  more  condensed.     When  the  thermometer
registers  various  degrees,  remove  sirup  from  burner  and  test  in  cold
water  for  the  corresponding  stage.
"softball,"    .     .     .     .  °F.  .  .  °C.
