Vol. III. No. 61. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



259 



Tlic refining of beet sugar is not carried on with as 

 iiuieU care as is that of cane. The be.«t, jmrest, and most 

 delicate sugar is made from the susjar-cane. 



An Ideal Sugar-cane. 



The Queensland A(jri<-iiUii nd Jon rual for April 

 pnblishe.s the following extract from a statement made 

 by Dr. Stubbs in a Xew Orleans paper: — 



Six years ago we received a large number of various 

 canes from Trinidad. We iironii>tly began to experiment. 

 We tried to ascertain which cane was best adapted for tliis 

 climate. We made a score or more e.xperinients and carefully 

 compared the results. We wanted to get a cane that would 

 find ready and congenial growth here in Louisiana, and that 

 vi-ouU at the same time increase the sugar output for the 

 acreage in this State. 



I am delighted to say that our patience has at length 

 been rewarded. We now have two kinds of cane that are 

 highly successful. They are unquestionably a great deal 

 more satisfactory than the best cane known here for many 

 years. In my opinion, they are the most valuable canes that 

 can be grown in Louisiana soil. They make what our 

 agricultural experts call an ideal specimen. We have 

 classified them as ' T. 95" and ' T. 7-1.' * 



To the lay jiublic there is nothing exceedingly significant 

 in these words ' T. 74,' but to the sugar-planter they will be 

 nothing less than startling. This cane produces 38 tons to 

 the acre. The juice yields 16 jier cent, of sugar. Under 

 a nine-roller mill 81 jier cent, is obtained without saturation. 



If you will compare these figures with statistics of cane 

 now gro«n, you will realize that this new cane will re\-olu- 

 tionize the sugar industry of Louisiana. The old cane gives 

 an acreage of 20 to .30 tons, with a 12-per cent, yield in the 

 juice. Under the roller, it gives a jiercentage of 71. 



The new cane is long-jointed, green, perfectly healtliy, 

 and beautiful in appearance. It has an excellent stubble aiid 

 remarkable vigour. It withstood the terrific gale that swept 

 over the city on September 9 and 10. It is deep-rooted and 

 strong, and was the only cane in the field that was not blown 

 , either fiat or partly down to the ground. It was not 

 damaged the least bit by the storm. 



We are ready and willing to furnish this cane to any 

 planter who may apply for it. We expect to send out more 

 than 500 bundles in the next few weeks. Requests for the 

 cane are coming in on every mail. We shall begin to ship 

 , the cane in a few days. Planters throughout the State show- 

 intense interest, and have strong faith in the new specimens. 

 _ We shall send some of the cane to the Experiment Stations in 

 Cuba and the Hawaiian Islands. 



In the following issue of the Queensland Aijri- 

 culfuivl Jounud reference is made to the excellent 

 results obtained by Mr. E. Grimley with West Indian 

 seedling canes (see Af/rUultural i\>K'.s, Vol. Ill, 

 I). 180), and it is stated: — 



It will be seen that the ideal sugar-cane is B.147, giving 

 2:3--l0 per cent, of crystallizable sugar. E.208 is anotheT- 

 splendid sugar-yielding cane, and both are evidently superior 

 to T. 74, notwith.>tanding the weight of cane per acre 

 produced by the latter is 38 tons, and of the West Indian 

 varieties, 30 tons. In Queensland, this weight will doubtless 

 be exceeded. 



* We presume that tliis is a mistake. The canes referred 

 ■ to are undoubtedly D. i<o ,ind D. 74. (See AqricMlturcd iVeics, 

 Vol. II, p. 323.) 



ADULTERATION OF CITRONELLA OIL, 



The report for 1008 of the Director of the Roval 

 Botanic (Jardens, Ceylon, contains the following refer- 

 ence to the decline of the citronella oil industry owing 

 to adulteration and to efforts that are to be made to 

 check this: — • 



The heaviest fall is in citronella oil, amounting to over 

 230,000 lb., or 18 per cent. This, following a fall of 

 140,000 Ih. in the previous year, indicates that the industry 

 IS on the decline, as was predicted in previous years, land 

 going out of cultivation. .Vdulteration is chiefiy responsible 

 for this state of things, though there has also been over- 

 production. The drop in exports has caused a rise in jiricc 

 to 1.?. Id. or Is. 2r/. per Ih. The cultivation continues to 

 extend in Java, and the pure oil thence exported is preferred 

 by consumers. 



Mr. Bamber, the Government Chemist, has been 

 occupied with this question for some years, as mentioned 

 in previous reports, and his investigations have lately been 

 crowned with success. He has devised a test which is easily 

 workable, and which shows in a few minutes the exact 

 percentage of adulterant contained in any given sample of 

 oil. Applications of this test to samples of export oils have 

 shown that very large quantities of adulterant are often 

 used. Schiinniel's test, the only one hitherto employed, is 

 in any case less satisfactory, is more difficult to carry out, 

 and is very often not projierly managed by those using it. 

 Proposals are being formulated to have an official examina- 

 tion of all exported oils made at the ports, no oil being 

 allowed to go out of C'ejlon except under a Governmeiit 

 certificate as to its composition as tested by Bamber's test. 

 In this way we may hope to see this important industry once 

 more set upon its feet, and the decline checked, which would 

 otherwise apparently lead to its almost total extinction, for 

 it seems hopeless to expect the native cultivators and dealers 

 to refrain from adulteration unless compelled, even though 

 it be killing the industry. 



Particulars of this recently devised test are given 

 in the following extract from the Government Chemist's 

 report : — 



A large number of experiments have been made with 

 pure and adulterated citronella oils to devise a method of 

 detecting or estimating adulterants in the citronella oil. 

 The following jirocess has been found very successful, and 

 depends on the greater solubility of the citronella oil than 

 the adulterants in alcohol of known strength, when the oil 

 has been previously mixed with a vegetable fatty oil. The 

 test is carried out as follows : — Two cubic centimetres of 

 pure, fresh cocoa-nut oil, free from acid, are measured into 

 a graduated tube, then 2 cubic centimetres of the citronella 

 oil to bo tested, and both mixed. Twenty cubic centimetres 

 of 83 per cent, alcohol are then added and the tube shaken 

 for one minute. The tube is then placed in a Leffman-Beam 

 or similar centrifugal machine and whirled for about one 

 minute, when the tube is removed and the volume of cocoa- 

 nut oil, plus the adulterant, read off. The graduations of the 

 tubes, pipettes, etc., must be accurate, and the estimation 

 made at a temperature of about 80° F. A pure citronella 

 oil can be kept as a standard and occasionally tested in the 

 above manner, when the reading should be exactly 2 cubic 

 centimetres, or the amount of cocoa-nut oil added. Since 

 this test has been devised for detecting adulteration with 

 mineral and fatty oils, a new adulterant has quite recently 

 been found in the form of siiirit. This form of adulteration 

 can be detected by other means, and the question is now 

 being worked out. 



