The first stage of processing is the extraction of the cane juice. In many factories the cane is crushed in a series of large roller mills: similar to a mangle which was used to squeeze the water out of clean washing a century ago. The sweet juice comes gushing out and the cane fiber is carried away for use in the boilers. In other factories a diffuse is used as is described for beet sugar manufacture. Either way the juice is pretty dirty: the soil from the fields, some small fibers and the green extracts from the plant are all mixed in with the sugar.