17, 4 Carsten: Utilization of Waste Molasses 401 
dropping the strike and refilling. This then means that three strikes 
can be obtained in twenty-four hours, resulting in an effective pan capacity 
of about 65 per cent. 
With a good installation no expensive supervision is required. Several 
factories have changed from Chinese to Javanese sugar boilers at about 
£15.00° per month. 
One of the best grades of solidified molasses was seen at the Krian 
Sugar Factory where one of the head sugar boilers supervised the molasses 
station. The vacuum maintained in this place was 71 centimeters (mer- 
cury vacuum meter). 
When a manufacturer starts to make solidified molasses with his poor, 
outworn apparatus, he usually meets with disastrous results, especially 
when the market is low. Then he will resort to various methods for 
the purpose of marketing the product, anyway; such methods, however, 
do not prove profitable. The principal tricks tried are: 
1. Adding milk of lime during boiling. This never improves the product; 
on the contrary, it makes the solidified molasses even more hygro- 
scopical than it would be without lime. 
2. Water cooling. Some benefit results from this expedient. A more 
intensive cooling is obtained in the pan and, therefore, there will 
be less foaming in the containers later. 
3. Dropping the strike on a cement floor and, therefore, not discharging 
directly into containers. The molasses is allowed to spread over 
the floor to a thickness of about 6 to 7 centimeters. After cooling 
it is cut with a sharp shovel into strips, which are afterward 
rolled up and put into the containers. 
4. Filling the containers about half full and filling them up later 
from a following boiling. 
As already stated, these tricks only lead to disappointment, the chief 
object being to prevent foaming in the containers. This causes a red colora- 
tion of the product, and also causes the contents of the full containers to be 
under weight. 
Containers.—As is well known, the solidified molasses is shipped in 
sacks (made of buri or other light material) containing a maximum net 
weight of 1.5 piculs while 1 picul is the minimum weight allowable. 
With the containers used at present no fear need be entertained that 
the net weight would not be at least 1 picul if the product is of good 
quality; more than the maximum weight is usual. It is important that the 
containers be well filled, since if they are not trouble is often experienced 
with the buyers. Good quality product sinks well into the sacks, and 
filling up is never necessary. 
The “glangsiemat,” which is a special variety of sack made of a 
material like rough straw, has a special bottom, and at the top is a loose 
piece of the same material to cover the solidified molasses. 
If rattan is to be used it will be better to buy round rattan and 
split it, as the commercial split rattan is often of a bad quality and 
breaks easily. The rattan should be soaked in water the night before 
using, 
*In the Philippines the wages would be about 40 pesos per month—H. 
J.C. 
