Vol. XVII. No. 41: 



THE AGPvICULTITRAL KEWS. 



the distillation of different woods, by v.hi.ih wood alcohol, 

 acetone, acetic acid, and various oils. etc.. are produced on 

 a commercial scale. It is possible that mt^as5. subjected to 

 the process of dry distillation, would give products (i( .<uch 

 value as to justify the cr'tr.mercial exploitation of the idea. Tlie 

 writer of the article in the Loiiii-iiiiui Pi^r '/t/- staxes that he 

 has conducted preliminary experiments with megass on these 

 iines, by which methyl alcohol, acetic acid, and acetone 

 were indentified anif'Hg the products obtained, which also 

 included a tar of a ptculiar odour, which h*s not yet been 

 fally investi(iated. 



The third' waste prf-duct of the cane-sugar manufacturer 

 is the filter-press cake. The conjposition of this c-ike varies 

 very considerably with the method of cl; rification. In every 

 case however, wax is an important constituent, biing present 

 to an extent of up to 1 i per cent, ot the dried cake. This 

 wa.-c can easily be extracted by boiling the dried cake with 

 o.'-ganic solvents like alcohol, naphtha, etc. The extract 

 thus obtained is filtered off and. after evaporation, cooled as 

 a yellowish wiiite mass. 



Very consideiablt attention has been given to the 

 p- isibility of extracting this wax on a commercially pm- 

 p.talile scale. As was noted in the i~sue of this Journal. 

 January 1"2, the question has been taken up in the- 

 Xatal sugar factories. Samples of Xatal sugarcane wax 

 shipped to England have been examined at the Impsr- 

 ial Institute, and found to be of good ijuality, so that 

 It could be used as a substitute for C-rnaTiba wax The 

 ii dustry has been started on a small sf .'e in Xatal. One 

 (iitficulty in extracting the wax is the danger of fire, due to 

 the use of alcohol or gasolene in the process of extraction. This 

 L'Twever is overcome by the use of non-inflammable carbon 

 tetrachloride. The wax is said to be probably worth 20c. to 

 •j-^ic. a ft). The oilier ingredients of the filter-jiress cake 

 ,;.. not ort'er anv prospect of economical eitraciion. The 

 ;yrcfitable utilization of filter-press cake itself is also receiving 

 :i:ter,tion. It is u.sed at present to some extent as a fertilizer. 

 The filter-press cake is also used as a v.iluable food in the 

 AV^-t Indies for estate animals, and after it has been 

 eaten by the stock a large proportion of its contents of 

 t:i:r.eral value will be recovered in the pen manure. 

 Ls high lime content probably causes benefit to the soil from 

 its use. and the small quantities of phosphate and nitrogenous 

 matter it contains are undoubtedly of some fertilizing value. 

 A' other use ha,s been recently snggestel from .Java It is 

 ^lisosted that the filter-press cake sh"ull be b irned-^that 

 i- to sav. charre<l — and that this should be used inst/ad of 

 I. -ne black for the decoloration cf the juice. 



It is thus evident that in severa' directions research is 

 i in" made for the utilization of hitherto waste products of 

 ;. :.e sugar manufacture. 



CANE FARMERS. 



The Loiiiiiana Plarder, December 15, 1917, contains an 

 j.rticle on this subject, more particularly with reference to 

 conditions in Trinidad. The matter is of so much importance 

 1-. the sugar industry everywhere that the article in question 

 will be of general interest. 



'As the island of Trinidad is becoming of increising 

 i...portance in the cane-sugar world, its i)resent ouiput 

 I r;^ching 70.000 tons per annum, and still larger results are 

 (.remised within a few years, the data that come from that 

 Inland are of importance to all persons concerned in cane sugar 

 HMTwhere. In revit- wina in this Journal some months ago 

 Uii official report of the Agricultural I k partinent of Trinid id 

 -.i . Tobauo on cane farming, we were surprised to see the 

 ii.-reasinwly large auvunt of cane coming from the cane 



farmers. The -ugar industry of Cuba could never h>.ve- 

 attained the proportions that it has done had it not^een for 

 the cane farmers or colonog, as th«>y are termed on that island. 

 Some of these colonos are experienced sugar planters of the 

 old mascovido days, who found that they could now d'j bstter 

 by selling their canes to the new great central factories than 

 they could by contin'iing in ihe old line;!. In fact, the 

 .central factory idea has come to slay, and has practically 

 supplanted the old fashioned sigar planter who grew his 

 o^n Cine, and made the cane into sugar. 



'In referring to the work done in Trinidad, we adverted 

 to tlie fac: that the great St. Madeleine central f.ictory there 

 was reporting a larger number of tenants than formerly. Our 

 intention was simply to show that the cane fields and the 

 cane factories were two separate establishments, and that the 

 modem tendency was to identify the tiller of the soil with 

 the work that be was doing, and in this way to secnre the 

 highest degree of eflSciency from the individual man. if such 

 efficiency be procurable by any means. 



'The point thus under consideration, and which we believe 

 will be under very serious consideration in all the West 

 Indies before many years, is as fj where the factories shall 

 get their sugar-cane. 



'The undeih'ing principle in the whole matter is to 

 secure piece work, so that the individual will learn that each 

 effort he makes is for himself, and that even while he may 

 be employed by a greit factory, or by sorn? single sugar 

 planter, the work that the employee does a.s an Individ oal^ 

 is for his own account. If the caue firmer be ambitious he 

 will endeavour to utilize every moment of time and all the 

 knowledge that he has in the < iccessful production of his 

 crop. 



Of course, the cane farmer on his own land, free and 

 independent and not in need of aay financial relief, mii'ht 

 be careless without injuring anyone excepting himself. At 

 the same time, if he or such men as he were the main 

 dependence oi the sugar factories, they would necessarily 

 be seriously damaged b.y the carelessness on the part of all 

 of these furmer.s. 



'Bnt we find thit the Kist ludim government has- 

 been discouraging the migration of the coolies to the West 

 Indies, and that the labo ir supply in Trinidad, as well as else- 

 where has been seriously impaired, and the matter of 

 human labour is now becoming a very serious one throughout 

 the c-ine-suaar world. 



'They are beginning to feel the scarcity of labour in 

 Cuba at the present time . In the implement world every 

 eEFort is making to produce agricultural tools that will reduce 

 the cill for human labour down to a minimum. All the world 

 seems to he bent on utilizing this idea, and we are reaching 

 an age in which the application of mechanical power is rank- 

 ing higher and higher every day. 



'As the years roll around us, and as labour gi-ows scarcer, 

 the cond tions presented thrust new problems out for solution, 

 and cane farming is one of the present solutions that is 

 producing in Louisiana and in Cuba about half of the canes 

 produced in these two countries, and is gradually prouressing 

 throughout the eane-sngar world.' 



From official returns which Mr. -1. K. Bovell, I.S.O., 

 the Superintendent of Agriculture, Birbados, his forwarded, 

 it appears tliat l,."i37 acres are under Sei Lsland 

 cotton cultivation in that island, .'l acres of which are- 

 cultivated for a second crop. Practically the whol-; of the 

 cotton area is in the drier parts of the island, l,0t"2ac.-ei 

 being in St. PhiUp and Christ Church, the sojth eastern dry^ 

 district, and 177 more in .St. Lncy, the dry northern jarish^ 



