^2 



THE AOKICULTl-KAL NEWS. 



Jl'ly 5, l'J02. 



town and its inhabitants, fiirthei- int'oriiiatinn is anxious- 

 ly awaited. On May 8, when Polee burst an opening 

 on its fianks, it is stated ' that a whirlwind of fire or 

 a sheet of flame followed by red-hot ashes, stones and 

 boiling mud, swept over St. Pierre and its haibour to 

 scar and scald and fire all that it pa.ssed.' As to the 

 nature of the flame it has been suggested tliat it was 

 caused by the ignition of ' water gas' : others that the 

 <leath-dealing vapour consisted of sulphuretted hydro- 

 gen or of hydrochloric acid. 



It is admitted that, s<j fin-, there has been mi How 

 of lava either at Martinique or St. Vincent and veiy 

 little pumice has been found. 



At St. Viiiceiit, tlu; phenomena that accoiiijianied 

 the eru])tion weiv apjian^ntl^" on simpler lines than at 

 Martinique but they were equally violent and caused 

 great destruction of life and }in>jicrty. ( )ii the Leeward 

 coast the loss of life was slight, as, fortunately, 

 the inhabitants had licen v.arned in time b)- the 

 Government. On the Windward Coast, owing- t<i the 

 scattered character of the settlements it was impossible 

 to reach them at the last moment and communication 

 by teleph.one was cut off. 



]Mr. Alexander Porter describes the effects of the 

 eruption at St. ^'incent as fbllcjws: ' Most of the destruc- 

 tion has taken ])lace in the Cai'ib Country, or Windwai'd 

 .side of the island, who'e over l,(iOO lives have been lost, 

 but. in all )irobability the total loss of lite will 

 never be known, but it c:in;iot be far short of 2.000. 

 The Carib Country has been nearly de.-^troved. The 

 Estates of Touraiua, Orange Hill, Waterloo, Rebecca 

 and Lot 14 lia\-e been almost obliterated witli iieai-lv 

 <'\ei-y soul :iiid animal living thereon, while .Mount 

 Bentinck and Langley Pai-k Estates, liavi' also suflered 

 considerably. The loss of jiroperty and live stock in 

 lliis part of' the island unfortunately falls, almost 

 I'litirely, on one iM(li\ i.lual. In the Leeward district the 

 damage has also been .serious, although the loss of life 

 has not been more than eight or twelve. Tiie Estates 

 <if Hichiiiond a'ld Wallibou have been destrove<l and 

 <-iin>.ideiable damage h;iH also been done to Fancv 

 Estate, otherwise the other parts of the Island and 

 Estates have suffered but little.' 



^SUGAR INDUSTRYT 



Cane-Farming in British Guiana. 



The Hoard ol Agiieulture of British (luiana has 

 recently pursued incpiiries as to the area under canc- 

 fitrming in the Colony, and in the Official. Gazctlc for 

 dune 14 last, the following return, showing the 

 tstimateil area occitpii'd in cane-farming in liiitish 

 Guiana, wa.s published : — 



County. 

 ])eiiieriua .. 

 I'.erliice 

 EssequebD \ 



'J'lilal i-sliiiKiffil iici 

 t41 



;vs.-? 



7G0 



-rtyc. 



1,284 



T.s aiul 

 lei'.sed 



Clf.ssitied as follow.s : — 



1. Tlie jiroperty of Vilhigi 



small Cultivators ... 



2. Land oil Sugar Jvstatcs, 



or rented to Fariiiois 



3. E.statos on wliicli tlie iiiaiiu- 



facture of Sugar lias been 

 stopiied, and which are now 

 occuiiied in growing canes 

 for sale to neigldiouring 

 E^tiites 



110 



.003 



fill 



.-'.St 



The Sugar Beet. 



\n Fiirnvr-^ Bullcti II No. !io of the L'.S. Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture occurs the following interesting 

 summary of the jirogress of the sugar beet industry: — 



The sugar coiisiiiiie<l in the world uj) to IcSoO was ne;irly 

 all derived from the sugar-cane, Imt at the iirc-^ent time two- 

 thirds of the sugar crop is from the sug-ar licet. Between 

 1S63 and 1889 (iernianj-, one of the leading beet sugjir 

 producing countrie.s, increased its outqiut 338 jier cent. Jt 

 would once liave s.jeined incredililc tluit the kitchen garden 

 should furiii.sh a rival for the 'noljle plant' that had iiuule the 

 fortunes of Spani.sh and Engli.sh colonists, lint the cultivation 

 of the beet has in one generation shifted the centre of the 

 sugar industry from the tropic to the temiierate zone. This 

 growth has been fostered liy strange vicissitudes in the 

 fortunes of nation.s, as the coiuniercial einliargoes and sugar 

 bounties of the Napoleonic war.s, an<l \ty the eiiiancipation of 

 slavery in the IJritish Colonics, giving, as it did, a temporary 

 cjieck to tlie growth of the cane ; but the re;il crciitois of the 

 new industry were men of .scientitic training who .solved 

 certain botanical and chemical problems. The manufacture 

 of sugar is now a cjiomical industry as much as is tanning 

 and dyeing. 



^bxrggraf, a clieiiiist of liciliii, fust tii.scoverd in 1717 

 that beet.s, with other fle.sliy root.s, contiuned crystallizalile 

 sugar identical with that of the sugar-cane. In 1 77(5 

 Maiggiaf's pupil, Achiird, erected thi first factory for beet 

 sugar, and in 1799 lie brought the subject before the French 

 Academy. He luaiiufactuivd beet sugar on his farm in 

 SiJi'sia, and iireseiitud loaves of refined beet sugar to Fretlerick 

 William III, of Prussia, in 1797 ; but the 2 to 3 )ier cent, of 

 sugar that could be extracted by the methods then in u.se 

 was too small for commercial success. .\ new stimulus wa.s 

 given by the sugar bounties of Xapolcon in ISOfi, and 

 methods were rajiidly iniiiroved, esjiccially in France. Two 

 great dilliculties wore still to be met : the percentage of 

 sugar present in the hcet was small (G jier cent.), and it Wius 

 sep.uated with groat difficulty from the many noii sugiu- 

 constituents, some of them acrid aiuI of veiy uuplwi.saut 

 taste. Science now came to the rescue, and beet Wius 

 gradually develoiied having a larger )ier.x'nt;ige of sugar and 

 a smaller percentage of the undesirable iniimritics. barber 

 .says that, in lS3(i, 18 tons of beet root were neces.sary to 

 liroduce one ton of sugar ; in 18.")0 this (piantity was reduced 

 to 13-8 ; in 18fi0, to 12-7, and in 1889, to 9-2r) ton.s. From 

 () Jier cent, of svigar as found by Marggraf the sugar beet of 

 gooil (piality now contains \'i per cent, and more, 12 per 

 cent, being considered neces.sary for profitable manufacture. 



