Vol XVIII. No, 452. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS, 



261 



•It is quite impossible to send reliable sugar figures, 

 and I piefer to believe that the indifterence to contribute data 

 by the several managers is from a natural conservative 

 reserve, and not from their being ashamed of their 

 returns, as was suggested by one of the local planters 

 lecently. 



'The Frouje Factory in Westmoreland has broken its 

 previous record in sugar output The proprietor, Mr. 

 Charley, and his attorney, Mr. Hudson, belong to the new 

 school of ideas, and rumour has it that extensive improvements 

 are to be made in their distillery for the coming crop ; also 

 that anew vacuum pan will be installed, and many other 

 adjustments are spoken of, which will bring up the factory 

 to the needs of the 19 "20 crop. 



With a guarantee of the necessary labour required, Mr. 

 Charley's estates would go under many more hundred acres 

 in cane, but the management have to hold their hands, in 

 view of the present shortage of labour, and the ill-prospect 

 «f this problem in the future.' 



TRAINING IN SUGAR TECHNOLOGY 

 IN HAWAII. 



la view of the activity which is now being shown 

 in regard to the establishment of an Agricultural 

 College in the West Indies, the following article, which 

 appeared in Science for June 20, will be read with 

 interest. The writer is Mr. Vaughan Urac Caughey, 

 of the College of Hawaii. 



Tliwaii leads the world in her applications of science to 

 the production of cane sugar. In no other country is the 

 cultivation of cane so highly developed, the extraction so 

 high, the chemical control so thorough, the mill processes 

 so accuritely co-ordinated. The entire organization of 

 Hawaii's sugar industry is unparalleled for business efficiency 

 and scientific control. 



The experiment station of the Hawaiian Sugar Planters' 

 Association is recognized throughout the world for the high 

 ■quality of its investigational work. Its resources are large, 

 varied, and unique. It has a large staff of trained research 

 men working in the various branches of sugar production. 



The College of Hawaii has a standard four-year course 

 in sugar technology. The College of Hawaii is the territo- 

 rial college of agriculture and the mechanic arts. It 

 ■corresponds in general status and organization to the state 

 colleges atd universities of the mainland. A number of its 

 graduates are now actively engaged in the sugar industry. 



The courses in sugar technology are designed primarily 

 ■for the student who, on leaving college, intends to enter into 

 active service in some branch of the sugar industry. 

 Although these courses, since they prepare for one particular 

 industry, might be termed highly specialized, the importance 

 of a sound training in general science has not been over- 

 looked, the first two years being devoted largely to English, 

 .mathematics, physics, and chemistry. 



In the third and fourth years enough special instruc- 

 tion in subjects pertaining directly to the sugar industry is 

 .given, so that the man who cnuipletes this course should have 

 sufficient technical understanding to prove of some immediate 

 value in a sulwrdmate position on a plantation, and yet not 

 have his future progress hampered by an inadequate 

 =theoreticil training. 



The cane sugar industry, as carried on in the tropics, 

 comprises in itself two quite distinct branches ; the growing 



of cane, and its manufacture into sugar. Inasmuch as it 

 would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to give 

 thorough instruciion in both theie branches in four years, 

 the courses in sugar technology are offered in two divisions. 



AGRicuLTUK.vL Divi.sioN. The first two years are 

 identical with the course in agriculture. In the third year 

 quantitative analysis and organic chemistry are taken up in 

 addition to strictly agricultural topics, for the reason that sugar 

 production is probably more dependent on chemistry than is 

 any other branch of agriculture. Sugar analysis is also 

 required, as familiarity with this work is often required of 

 a field chemist. The fourth year allows a liberal amount of 

 electives to those students who wish to specialize on 

 some one subject. Tho lectures on cane sugar manufacture 

 are required in this year, as it is desirable that the 

 agriculturist should have some knowledge of what happens to 

 the cane after he has grown it. 



ENiiiNKERiNG DIVISION. The first year i.s identical 

 with the course in engineering, while the second year 

 differs only in the substitution of qualitative analysis for 

 advansed mechanical drawing. Chemistry is continued in 

 the third year, together with the most essential of the 

 engineering subjects. Students in this division take sugar 

 analysis and sugar manufacture, together with those of the 

 agricultural division. 



During the summer vacation, between the third and 

 fourth years, a minimum of eight week's work on one of the 

 plantations, or in connexion with the work of the experiment 

 station of the Hawaiian Sugar Planters' Association, is 

 required of students in both divisions. To obtain credit for 

 this a written repert of work performed is required. 



The second semester of the fourth year is devote 1 almost 

 entirely to practical work. Arrangements a- e made whereby 

 students either serve a special apprenticeship on a plantation, 

 where under direction they actually perform the manual lab- 

 our required at the various stations of the mill and boiling 

 house, or else they work as assistants to men carrying on the 

 experimental field work of the experiment stiti n. 



Students are required during this apprenticeship to take 

 careful notes of the equipment necessary, time required, and 

 labour involved in each operation, and will meet at stated 

 times for discussion and comparison of notes, with a view 

 toward fixing the relationship between the theoretical prin- 

 ciples previously stuified and their practical application. 



CO. OPERATION BETWEEN COLLEGE AND STATION. An 



important agreement has been effected recently between 

 the college and the sugar planters' station, the essential 

 points of which are as follows : 



1. The station accepts College of Hawaii students in 

 sugar technology for a 2-3-month period during the summer, 

 nr a 4-raonth period during the winter and spring. These 

 students serve in the capacity of assistants to the field 

 research men of the station. 



2. These student as'^istants are appointed by the 

 college. The college receives reports from the students, but 

 publication rests with the station director. 



3. The station pays each student assistant -SlSOO per 

 month, and pays ac;ual transportation expenses while 

 travelling on station work 



i. The programme of work for the student assistants' 

 is of a practical nature, but with due regaid to the educa- 

 tional features involved. The president of the joUege co- 

 operates in arranging the programme 



Under the provisions of this agreement. College of 

 Hawaii students in sugar technology have remarkable oppor- 

 tunities and facilities for first hand familiarity with Hawaii's 

 sugar industry. 



