38 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



Feuiu AKv 9 1918. 



SEA ISLAND COTTON MARKET. 



The report ot' .Messrs. Henry \V. Frost «v Co., on 

 Sea Island cotton in the Southern .States, tor the week 

 ende<l .January -5, 191n, is as follows: — 



iSL.^NDs. We have Lad a dull market throughout the 

 week, and all business his been more or less su.s[x;ndod by 

 unprecedented colli weather 



The Kxchange reports no sales. 



The Factors are still refusing to make any eoncessions 

 ti sell, and are holding lor prices last quoted. However, the 

 ort'ering stock is increasing, and with orders in hand we can 

 buy to advantage, having a good .sock to select from. 



We quote, viz; — 



Fine to Fully Fine "3i;. = 7.5c. c.i.f. 

 Fine to Fully Fine, off in preparation, 70c. to Tli-. = 72c. 

 to 73c. c-i.f. 



i;E0Ui;i.\s AND KL'MMiiAS. The market in iSavannah 

 and the interior towns has been very iiuiet throughout the 

 week, with limited demand resulting in small sales. All 

 the offerings are fiinily held at our ijuotiitions, and there is 

 a general feeling! among all holders of cotton that the limited 

 supply will be required, and that the mills in the near future 

 will resume purchases. 



We quote, viz; — 



Extra Choice to Fancy 73c. = 7.5c. c.i.f. 



Average Kxtra Choice 73c. — 7.jc. ,, 



The 3xports from Savannah for the week were, to 

 Northern Mills 72 bale-, and from .Jacksonville to N'orthern 

 Mills Done. 



WASTE PRODUCTS OF CANE-SUGAR 

 MAKING. 



In an article in the issue of this .lomnal of .January 12, 

 ii was niKgested that although good work was now being 

 done in the uiatter of extraction of sugar from the cine in 

 some of the smaller West Indian islands, it would probably 

 Ije advisable in I lie future to devote more attention to what 

 iii\V be called the waste products of the sugar industry, 

 if this indn.stry is to continue lo he remunerative here. 



That this question is 'Migaginj; mueli attention in larger 

 sugargrowing countries was evidemed by the report of 

 the ftanding cotnmiLtee of the Louisiana .Sugar I'lanteis' 

 Asso<;iation, sjnte of which was reprodinrd in the same 

 issue of this .loiimai. The subject is again dealt with in 

 •i paper in the l.<>i(i\iiiiHi I'hrittr, December 29, 1 1)17. con- 

 tinued in the nninbor lor .January ■>, I'.tIM, by Dr. W. K. 

 ( 'ro.-s, who is now the Director of the Sugar lOxperiment 

 •Station at Tiicuman in Argentina. This paper was written 

 -ome years ago, but it h.is been brought uji to <late by 

 Dr. Cliarl'S K. (Jotlc.'s, and it is thus published. It is not 

 «jiily a xeiy inierc^ling stu ly of the ijuestion, but also seems 



to suggest developaients in this direction. A resume of it, 

 therefore, will possibly be of utility to West Indian sugar 



manufacturers. 



Much remains to be accomplished in the utilization of 

 the waste products of the manufacture of cane sugar, one 

 rea.son perhaps Ueint; thai the hasie and hurry of the reaping 

 sea'on is such as to leave little opportunity ot dealing with 

 oih-r things than the chief product, the sugar itseif, and 

 perhaps the molasses, which is rather a byproduct than 

 a waste product 



These waste prodmts of cane sugar making are ( 1 ) the 

 tops and trash, (2) the meuass. (3) the tilter-pivss cake. The 

 first of these is utilized in the West Indies probably in the 

 same way as has always been done; the tops are used as fodder, 

 and the trash is utilized as litter for estate animals, or as a 

 mulch on the fields. Tint the tops might be more economi- 

 cally used for the same purpose as at present by a more 

 jieneral emi)loyment of silos is probably true: but whether 

 for tops and trash more prolit*ble uses could be found is at 

 least doubtful at pre.-ent, although the possibilities with regard 

 to megass may apply to a lesser extent to the utilization 

 of the trash also. 



The use of megass to snpply the necessary fuel for the 

 factory appears not only to be essential but economical in 

 these islands, wiiere other fuel is scarce or expensive- Yet 

 in well managed factories there is .iiiite a considerable 

 amount of megass remaining after all the fuel necessities 

 have been met. 



Hitherto all attempts to utilize megass for other than 

 fuel purposes have been in the direction of paper making, 

 but with no conspicuous sucee.ss. .Apparently this idea was 

 first started in liuadeloupe as far back as Is72. .Since then 

 it cannot be said that any factory, up to 1912 at least, has 

 bien able to conduct papei- making from megass as a commer- 

 cial success. The mosi hopiful nndtrtaking in megass paper 

 seems to be that of mixing megass |nlp with other substan- 

 ee.s such as grass, wood, bamboo, etc. This was done, it is 

 said succissfully, a couple of j-ears ago at a factory in Triui- 

 dad. .\t Nipe I Jay, Cuba, extensive experiments have also 

 been made in this direi-:ion, and paper made of a mi.^ture 

 of megass pul|i and wood was of excellent quality. The 

 piper-making plant was burnt down in 191(i, but it is 

 reported that a new plant for the purpose is to be built this 

 year for operation during the next sugar-making sea.son. 



The Searliy shndder, to which attention was drawn in 

 the issue of this -lournal for December 1, 1917, is said not 

 only to increase the percentage of the extraction of Juice 

 from the cane, but also to leduce the mega.ss to such an 

 admirable condition for ])aper making that it seems a pity 

 to burn it. The •■xtended use of this machine in cane-sugar 

 factories may perhaps lead to the utilization of at least a part 

 r>f the megass in the manufacture of paper 



Two cither uses for megass are suggested which mav 

 be developed in the future. One is as a raw nuterial foV 

 the inanufacture of ethyl alcohol. The process b\ which 

 lellulose isdissolvid in conivntrated cold sulphuric acid, and 

 then hydrolizrd to gluco.se, is in successful operation in 

 sevend factories in the I 'nited States, .saivduat and waste 

 w )'>d being iMiqiloyed as the raw material. Tlie simil- 

 arity in eompo.sjtion between .»awdu»t and megass would 

 indicate that the latter ought to be just as good a material 

 for the process as the former. Indeed the poronty of mega.ss 

 should be so advantageous as to make it [wisibly the better 

 material of the two for the [mrpose. 



A feeond suggestion is the enrloyment of megass for 

 ■ listillation, I'a'r prolits are ma le in various ountries from 



