A FORTNIGHTLY REVIEW 



OF THB 



IMPERIAL DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE FOR THE WEST INDIES. 



Vol. XVIII. No. 451, 



BARBADOS AUGUST 9, 1919. 



Prick Id. 



Decline in Sugar Oonient of 

 Central Factory Canes. 



I, HE article by Sir Francis Watts* on the 

 sucrose content i)f canes in Antigua and 

 St. Kitts has aroused considerable 

 interest there. In this article, by means of a careful 

 analysis of past records, two facts are demonstrated. It 

 is shown first, that whereas the sucrose content of 

 canes grown on the estate experiment plots has 

 fluctuated about a mean, there has been no steady 

 <leterioration In other words, the vacieiies of sugar- 



'''*Wi-H hviiin n,dlelin. Vol. XVII, No. 3, (April J!tl9). 



cane in general cultivation have not in themselves 

 deteriorated. The second fact demonstrated by the 

 analysis, however, is less satisfactory, for a study of 

 the figures given by Sir Francis Watts shows that} 

 there has been a slow but steady decline in the sucrose 

 content of the same varieties of cane ground at the 

 Antigua and St. Kitts Central Factories. 



Sir Francis Watts attributes this fJxlling otf 

 which is admitted by both Factory authorities, ta 

 several causes. One of the principal reasons is believed I 

 to be connected with inferior cutting of the cane on 

 the estates which supply the Factories. In the oId[ 

 muscovado days, the planter was careful to remova 

 the immature tops and to discard inferior canea 

 because he knew that neglect to do so would spoil hia 

 sugar. But with the advent of the Central Factory 

 system, in which the planter sells his cane by weight, 

 and the Factory bears the entire responsibility of 

 manufacturing sugar, there is not only less inducement! 

 for the planter to be careful, but also som? considerable 

 temptation for him to supply as much cane as he 

 possibly can, irrespective of its quality and its treat- 

 ment. 



Another — perhaps the chief — reason for the de- 

 cline in sucrose content is the delay that occurs 

 between cutting and grinding. In Antigua this is 

 very considerable during the week-ends. 



In discussing the cunclusions of Sir Francis W'atts, 

 the Antigua Sugar F^iritory, Ltd.f expresses similar 

 views, but in ralhci- more detail In Antigua they 



tL. T. Henzcll in tli.' Lew.siana Planter for .June 21, 1919, 



