Vo: 



:vji. No. a 



TH£ A'jRICLrLTCr.xAL NEWb 



that it is probable that only a sinaii percentage attaiii* 

 maturity. If however they were reared under control 

 for a period of probably not moie than two or three 

 months, they could then be set free, and from their 

 rate of growth it is supposed that they would be large 

 enous'h for market purposes in two or three years. 



With regard to .some other harvtsts of the stas. 

 such as sea-eggs, brehe-de-nier, lobsters and crabs, and 

 many species of molusca, much might be said as to the 

 extension of interest in exploiting them. On some 

 other occasion we hope to deal more in detail with one 

 or more of these subjects. 



THE BRAZILIAN SUGAR INDUSTRY. 



According to a British Coniular Report, there are 

 thirty-three sugar factories operating in Campos State, 

 Brazil, and the estimated area devoted to cane cultivation 

 is about 9S,000 acres, while the production of cane is about 

 l,0-!)5. 000 metric tons (nearly 10 8 tons to the acre). This 

 however is not the true ratio, since the land belonging to 

 the usine is not all devoted to cane cultivation, a portion 

 being set apart for cattle raising and agricultural produce 



The production of sugar at the.<e thirty-three factories 

 in 1915 amounted to -54,000 metric tons, plus 2,1 12,000 litres 

 of alcohol, and 1 l,G8b,000 litres of aguardiente (a cheap type 

 of brandy), as compared with 72,120 metric tons in l'.tl4. 

 The production, however, is tending to increase, especially as 

 the recent high prices prevailing tor sugar have helped 

 Campo- greatly. The factory owners are usually heavily 

 pledged to the big buyers in Kio de Janeiro who 

 make them large advances: they also receive loans 

 from local banks. One reason for this indebtedness is 

 the fact that there is no usine which has been built 

 as n. whole. All I he factories have been constructed 

 piecemeal, and improvements made, and machinery added 

 from year to year in each usine. Capital has constantly been 

 required for this, and the factory owner has rarely seen 

 himself free from liabilities on account of these advances. 



The supply of fuel for the factories is a problem of some 

 importance: all the fuel used is wood derived from the 

 surrciiading forests. 



SUGAR AND ITS VALUE AS A FOOD 



III a previous number of this Journal (123) reference 

 was made to an article published in a recent issue of the 

 Louisiana. Fla/itcr (May 15, 1916) ou the value of sugar as 

 a food for human beings, {farmers' Bulli'tiii 535, of the 

 United States Department of Agriculture, publishes an 

 interesting paper which deals very fully with the same 

 subject, the matter being treated under suitable sub-heads. 



Regarding sugar in the dietaries of children, it is 

 remarked that the amount of sugar to be given children, and 

 in what foHii, is a question of much importance. Sugar 

 would seem to be a food especially adapted to children, 

 because of their great activity. Those, however, who have 

 studied the food habits of children seem to agree that sugar 

 should from the very first be withheld from the dish that 

 form.* the staple food of the chi'd— that is, the mu.sh ov 



pi.rridgi of oatmeal or other cereal. The sugar given the 

 child is better furnished in the occasional simple pudding, 

 in the lump of sugar, or homemade candy, not that its food 

 value IS better utilized, but that the whole diet of the child 

 is ihus made more wholesome- In sweet fruits, fully ripened, 

 the child finds sugar in a healthful form, and these should be 

 freely furnished. 



lu the general conclusions reached by the aiihor, 

 it i.; pointed out that persons who do hard work in the 

 open .lir can consume great amounts of food containing 

 considerable quantities of sugar, apparently with impunity: 

 but it is equally true that people living an indoor life 

 find that undue amounts of pie, cake, and pudding, with 

 highly sweetened preserved fruit, and sugar in large amounts" 

 on cooked cereals, almost always bring on indigestion sooner 

 or later. 



In the diet of the undernourished, larger amounts tf 

 sugar would doubtless help to supply adequate nutrition. 

 This point is often urged by European h3gieniats. In the 

 food of the well-to-do it is often the case, however, that starch 

 is not diminished in proportion as sugar is added. That 

 sugar, on account of its agreeable flavour, furnishes a tempta- 

 tion to take more carbohydrate food than the system needs,, 

 cannot be denied. The vigour of digestion and muscular 

 activity in each particular case would seem to suggest the 

 limit- A teaspoonful of sugar represents about as much nutri- 

 ment as an ounce of potato, but, while the potato will be eaten 

 only because hunger prompts, the sugar, because of its taste. 

 may be taken when the appetite has been fully satisfied. 



Sugar is a useful and valuable food. It must, however, 

 be remembered that it is a concentrated food, and therefore 

 should be eaten in moderaie quantities- Further, like other 

 concentrated foods, sugar seems best fitted for assimilatioo 

 by the body when supplemented with other materials which 

 dilute it or give it the necessary bulk. 



Persons of active habits and good digestion will add 

 sugar to their food almost at pleasure without inconvenience, 

 while those of .sedentary life, of delicate digestion, or with a 

 tendency to corpulency would do better to use sugar very 

 moderately. It is generally assumed that 4 or 5 oz. of sugar 

 per day is as much as it is well for the average adult to eat 

 under ordinary conditions. 



Power Alcohol.— In Science Progress, July 191b, there- 

 is a short review of a small book by Mr. Robert N. Tweedy, 

 entitled 'Industrial Alcohol'. It is pointed out that the 

 subject is of great importance for two reasons. First, because- 

 the world is using the existing limited supply of mineral oils 

 faster than the rate of supply; and secondly, because the 

 production of denatured alcohol is an important and profitable 

 industry which has almost been entirely neglected in Great 

 Britain. In France the regulations governing denaturation, 

 which made the spirit expensive, have been withdrawn since 

 the war began, and the French Government intends to make 

 alcohol a cheap national motor fuel. The production of 

 power alcohol as an industry hardly exists in the United 

 Kingdom, and of what is manufactured there is no record 

 that any was used previous to 1914 for light, heat, or power. 

 In I91."i the United Kingdom imported 120,000,000 gallons 

 of petrol, though the equivalent q'lantity of alcohol might 

 have been easily produced at home. Only 5,000,000 t' 'ns ot 

 potatoes would be necessary, and 600,000 acres, properly 

 cultivated to yield 12 tons of potatoes per acre, would have 

 provided enough of the crop for food, and for the manufacture 

 of the alcohol. 



