84 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



March 22, 1919. 



SUGAR INDUSTRY. 



SUGAR INDUSTRY IN GUADELOUPE. 



In May 1918 the Syndical des Fabricants de Sucre of 

 Guadeloupe inaugurated an agricultural experiment station, 

 to the directorship of which .Mr. J. Sydney Dash, formerly 

 Assistant Superintendent of Agriculture, Barbados, was 

 appointed. From an article contributed by him to the 

 Louisiana P/a/iter, February 22, 1919, we take the follow- 

 ing general account of tlie status of the industry in that 

 island. ' 



■Although coffee, cacao, and vanilla form industries of 

 some importance, especially the first named, yet sugar heads 

 the list, and is actually ihe only industry possessing any sort 

 of organization. In early times it was carried on, as in most 

 of the other islands, by means of windmills. The old walls 

 of a few of these are still in existence. It is now, however, 

 upwards of fifty ^ears since sujar factories were erected, these 

 being some of the very oldest in existence to-day. Geerligs 

 in his book. The World's Cane-Sugar Industry, Past and 

 Present, writes: -'It was in these islands that sugar manu. 

 facture was first carried on in a rational scientific way, 

 and the methods invented there have gradually been copied 

 by most of the other sugar-prdducing countries.'' With the 

 advent of factories and the low price of sugar, the tendency 

 was for these to absorb the old windmill estates, until now 

 practically all the sugar lands are in the hands of joint stock 

 companies operated largely by European capital. Th^ sugar 

 crop last year amounted to about 30,300 tons, all in white 

 crystals, the bulk of which went to France. Its value was 

 approximately 22,-500,000 francs. 



'In considering sugar one must not forget the output of 

 rum. which is very considerable. Practically all the molasses 

 is converted into rum, which in 1918 was worth about two 

 and a half francs per litre. The quantity made in 1919 was 

 nearly 10,000,000 litres. The value of rum having increased 

 very considerably, due to the war, the tendency was to produce 

 large quantities at the expense of sugar. This has now been 

 stopped, and it is likely that this year more attention will be 

 paid to sugar. There will still be a large quantity of rum made, 

 as scattered about the island are a large number of distilleries 

 operated by small planters, These take otf the cane ot small 

 growers out of reach of the factories, and the cane reaped during 

 the months the factories are not at work. 



'From a table appearing in Geerligs' book, previously 

 quoted, it is .stated that^in 1881 Guadeloupe exported .55,257 

 metric tons of sugar. I am not in a position at this time to 

 give the exact acreage in cane, but from personal observation 

 it aeema certain that if improved cultural methods are adopted, 

 and the factories modernized in every way, including of 

 course, proper chemical control, the island could be made to 

 yield at least ti0,000 tons — that is. about double the present 

 output. Moreover, there are lands which now support a growth 

 of rough wood employed by the factories for fuel, ar'*-; which 

 would also be available for sugar growing if the factories were 

 so modernized as not to require such large quantities of wood 

 aHthey now consume. The soils are, for the most part, fertile, 

 and It is astonishing in some places to pee what good rrops ot 

 plant cane can be grown in spite of the none too thorough 

 methods of cultivation. 



'As in most BUgar-growing countries, ratoouing is prac- 

 tised to i very gr^at erfpnt In Guadeloupe, owing in a 



measure, to the sciircity of labour, there has been .a 

 tendency to over-ratooning. This holds true particularly in 

 the drier districts, where it is not unusual to find second and 

 even third ratoons. The yields from the last two are often 

 negligible, an.I must involve a pecuniary loss when the cost 

 of fertilizers and reaping expenses are taken into consider- 

 ation. In the wetter districts there is often a temptation to 

 ratoon even more. When the fields cease to give remunera- 

 tive crops they are frequently abandoned or thrown out of 

 cultivation for a couple of years or more, depending on the 

 labour available, before being again ploughed and replanted. 

 'Recently tractors have been introduced with ^jme 

 success, except that the subsoil is not being broken, and the 

 ploughing done is at the same depth or very little more than 

 with the ordinary animal drawn plough. For greater yields 

 subsoiling is absolflftely essential as the surface soil has been 

 subjected to heavy cropping for a number of years. The 

 •Station Agronoraique has introduced subsoil ploughs, and 

 already planters are beginning to employ them in preparing 

 their fields.' 



INDUSTRIAL ALCOHOL FROM MOLASSES. 



It is evident that the utilization of molasses in 

 the proiliiction of industrial alcohol is one ot" the 

 pressing (juestions for large sugar fiictories. A paper 

 on the subject by J. P. Foster of the Hawaiian Chem- 

 isfc Association, October 28, 191f>, is reproduced in the 

 International Suyar Journal, February 19, 1919. 

 Considering the iiinportance of the subject we quote 

 this below: — 



The operation of a distillery for the production of indus- 

 trial alcohol presents few if any difficulties. The manipulation 

 of a still where high-grade cologne .spirits is not desired is 

 much more simple thin the operation of a vacuum pan or 

 of a modern multiple effect. 



Such problems as are presented lie almost exclusively 

 in the process of ferinentation, and there, it is true, they are 

 many and varied, but by no means impossible of .solution. 

 A distillery ojierated on a sugar plantation in conjunction 

 with the factory, will have to contend with an almost incon- 

 ceivable bacterial a^^ivity. 



.\ir and water, as well as the molasses, are contamiT.ited 

 with yeasis, moulds, and fungi from diseased cane in the 

 fields, from the fermenting mud-press cake, and from innum- 

 erable centres of infection in the factory. This condition can 

 only be met by the liiost careful antiseptic methods. There 

 must, of course, be pure yeast culture, and, on account of our 

 climatic conditions, the yeast must be suitable to high tem- 

 peratures. The yeast must also ferment very rapidly, so as 

 to attain a satisfactory attenuation of the mash before the 

 wild yeasts can get hold, and the ditticulty is to obtain this 

 rapidity of lermontation without a temperature which will 

 render the pure culture ana mic and unfit for further feruien- 

 tation. It is not possible to do .so without cooling coils in 

 the fermenting t:ibs, so that the temperature may be kept 

 down to a maximum of 95° F, but 85° (ireferably. The 

 correct procedure in the fermenting house is to have a 

 suitable cooling system, to sterilize the molasses, use 

 only coiideosdtion water from the effects for making the 

 dilution of the molasses, to set up the ferment vtion with 

 pure oultute yeasts, and not to fill the tubs much, if 

 ,iny, more :hin half ^ull. This latter is an important con- 

 dition, for i( it IS observed, the heavy layer of foam on the 

 surface "f the fermenting liody will be undisturbed by air 

 current-, and there will al.so be a thick layer of carbon 

 dioxide over the foam. As a result, wild yeaats will be to 

 n great extent preyeated from gaining access to the tubs 



