Vol.. XVI]. No. U:i. 



THi; AGRICULTrKAL NEWS. 



li: 



therefore, that there has been no specific deterioration in the 

 quality of the canes ordinarily grovra, that is to say, there has 

 been no .specific deterioration in the varieties " cultivated, 

 ■while there has been deterioration in tiie (juality of the canes 

 delivered to the factories. 



It is suggested tliat ihh deterioration of the factory canes 

 may be due to two or three causes. It -s not im[ obable 

 that the canes have not been cut in the manner that was 

 customary when the crops were reaped for the purpose of 

 making muscovado sugar; in that case, care was taken to 

 exclude the unripe, upper portions of the cane, irnder factory 

 conditions, where the principal con.sideration of the cutter and 

 seller is that of weisht. it is not unlikely that these uaripe 

 portions are not excluded; they weigh well, and therefore 

 there may be a strong tendency to include them. 



Again, in the efforts to get as much cane as possible for 

 the factories, it may be that fields of inferior, stunted canes 

 have been reaped, thus lowering the average sucrose content. 



It is also suggested that some deterioration may take 

 place from canes being kept for some considerable time after 

 cutting, before they are cruslied, a condition which has been 

 accentuated by diiiicult labour conditions. 



There may be other causes at work: but with this analysis 

 of the situation, it would seem that these causes must be 

 sought by the managers of the factories and by the planters 

 themselves; the material passes through their hands, and they 

 alone have the means of accumulating the da^a noce-ssary for 

 further discussion. The matter is hardly one concerning 

 which oflScial records or investigations are calculated to throw 

 much further light unaided by those concerned with the 

 factories and estates. 



The first named cause of deterioration in quality, namely 

 the cutting of the cane in a manner different from what was 

 formerly the case, but which would persist in the cutting f the 

 experimental canes, most probably accounts for the difference. 

 If this is so, the sellers of cane have been able to increase the 

 weight of the cane deli -ered, at the expense cf the quality. 

 This tendency to a modification of the manner of cutting the 

 canes, when transferring from a muscovado to a factory basis, 

 ia one which must be looked for ami taken account of when 

 such changes are contemplated, for it would seem that there 

 is a possibility of a depreciation iu quality setting in to an 

 extent of 1 in about 14 of sucrose, that is about 7 per cent, 

 of the total value of the cane. It may be a matter for 

 argument whether it is economically sound to cut the canes 

 with the less ripe portion attached so as to avoid wasting 

 such sugar as it may contain; but it is quite clear that it 

 alters the basis of valuation of canes so dealt with. 



Mr. G. Moody Stuart, the Managing Director of 

 Gunthorpes Factory, Antigua, Basseterre Factory, St.Kitts, 

 and Ste. Madeleine Factory, Trinidad, aommenting on these 

 notes, says: 'I had been feeling anxious myself for some 

 years, but I thought the cause was probably that we had got 

 into a cycle of poor seasons, and that we might hope to get 

 out of it again. In my opinion one ought to eliminate the 

 year 191-") entirely from any review of this matter, for, as you 

 would see from our Ste. Madeleine Annual Report of that 

 season, the unusually low yield of sugar was a common 

 feature throughout the West Indies in that year; that the 

 Cuban and Porto Kico factories had taken one or two tons 

 more eane to make a ton of sugar than in any season since the 

 introduction of modern machinery, and this was apparently 

 due to the absence of cool nights, which are required during 

 crop time for tha ripening of the cane. 15ut when 191-5 has 

 been eliminated, there still remains a great deal to be 

 accounted for and cured. 



'We have been watching the point of the better trimming^ 

 of canes for several years, and in the last two year;? at least it 

 is^stated that the canes m Antigua have been delivered much 

 freer from top.s than before, and in the St. Kitt.-; report for crop 

 1916, you will .see that we remarked there 'that the canes- 

 were better cleaned and trimmed than previously.' 



A later com.munication from Mr. Stuart states that 

 Mr. LaSille, the Chemist of Gunthorpes Factory, Antigua, 

 feels fairly sure that the detarioration in the sucrose and parity 

 of ^ the canes as ■ 'und in that factory, which has been 

 going on from ■ year, arises mainly, and very likely 



entirely, from ti. ipss of the cane, except in two seasons 



when there was au ausual amount of stand over cane which 

 would account for part of the deterioration. 



THE PRODUOTION OP ALCOHOL 

 IN CUBA. 



An article in the Weekly Bulletin of tlm Dcparbneiil of 

 Trade and Commenr, Canada, February 10, 1919, draws 

 attention to the great development in the production of al- 

 cohol in Cuba. Most of this article is reproduced below, as 

 the subject is of importance in all sugar-cane growing coun- 

 tries. 



Although Cuba up to the present time is not a very 

 large producer of alcohol, yet there is a great opportunity for 

 the country to attain a leading position in the manufacture 

 of alcohol, because of the large production of sugar. From 

 the manufactur of a ton of sugar 40 gallons of molasses (or- 

 'miel' as it is called) result, and from this 40 gallons of 

 molasses 16 ga^ans of alcohol of the first quality can be pro- 

 duced. The estimated production of suyar on the island for 

 the pre.sent season is 4,000,000 tons. The amount of molas- 

 ses that would result from the taanufacture of this quantity 

 of sugar would be 160,000,000 gallons, which would pro- 

 duce 64,000,000 gallons of alcohol. It ia claimed that in 

 the process of manufacturing this 160,000,000 gallons of 

 molasses into alcohol, 18,800 ton« of potash and 4,800 tons 

 of nitrogen can be extr^icted. Efforts are now being made to 

 establish ten phnts, situated at convenient locations on the 

 island, fitted with the latest improved machinery for the manu- 

 facture of alcohol. It is estimiitcd that these ten factories 

 can be built with sufiio; _ ' ",e all the molas- 



ses produced in the i. ' ,f §2,-500,000 or 



12-50,000 for each facto. .titles of this molasses 



are shipped to the Unitc.I ; ^ther countries in tank 



steamers and tank cars, and, before the war, sold as low as 2c. 

 a gallon, but during the war has been sold as high as 10c. 

 a gallon. 



If the total estiujated production for the season of 

 160,000,000 gallons of molasses was sold at prices prevailing 

 at the beginning of the war, say, 4c. a gallon, it would 

 bring .■?6,400,O0O. [f this 160,000,000 gallons of molasses 

 were made into alcohol, and the chemicals extracted and sold 

 at prices that prevailed before the war, the result would bo 

 as follows, showing a gain of over §10,000,000 over the 

 present system of selling the molasses as it comes from the 

 sugar mills: — 



64,000,000 gallon.s oi alcohol at 20c. §12,800,000 



18,800 tons of potash 2,068,000 



4,800 tons of nitrogen 1,920,000 



$816,788,000- 



There are aever:il establishments now ou the island 

 manufacturing alcohol from molaase.s, and after supplying, 

 the local demand a considerable quantity is exported. 



