VcL. XVII. No. 416. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



99 



early morning, and the chance of a special bit of work, 

 if not taken advantage of at once, may not happen 

 again for months and even \ears. Another desideratum 

 is an adequate staff of trained experts iu different 

 subjects. It does noi conduce to efficient experimen- 

 tation or the obtaining of reliable results, if the atten- 

 tion of the worker or a large part of his time has perforce 

 to be divided among several duties. As was noted above, 

 instruction and the dissemination of information are 

 functions of the experiment station, but the instructor, 

 even the scientific instructor, has a part to play other 

 than that of the experimenter and research worker. An 

 ideal experiment station staff would beabody of experts, 

 each one conducting research on the lines of his specialty, 

 acting in co-operation and consultation with the others, 

 and along with them, agricultural instructors, whose 

 business it should be to publish and Explain the results 

 obtained by the i-esearch workers^, and the conclusions 

 thereby reached. 



A NEW USE OF CENTRIFUGAL FORCE 

 IN THE SUGAR FACTORY. 



Anyone familiar with sugar machinery in a modern 

 factory is well aware that centrifugal power is used fcr the 

 expulsion of the molas.ses from the crystallized sugar. In an 

 article published in the Louisiana Planter, for February 9, 

 191.^, Mr. George M. Kewhall describes experimentation on 

 a large scale with centrifugal power adapted to the filtration 

 of cane juice and other products. He believes that he has 

 developed a machine that will perform filtration more ea.-ily, 

 more effectively, and more economically than the filter-presses 

 at present generally used. 



The centrifugal designed for the purposes of treating 

 the juices and syrups at various points in the process of sugar 

 making is a separator of solids according to their specific 

 gravity. Substances lighter than the main solution are 

 depi: 'Sited near the centre of the machine, while those that 

 are heavier are deposited against the periphery. The 

 following experiments were made: — 



(1) Oil cold cane jiiicf direct from tlie mil!. 

 Twenty thousand gallons of juice, without liming, were 

 machined to obtain a charge of cake in a 36-inch basket. 

 The duration of the run averaged four hours. The weight 

 of this cake (eqtial in compactness to filter-press cake) 

 varied from 7.50 to 9.">0 lb., with 49 t" 50 per cent, moisture, 

 and less than 1 per cent, sucrose. The bulk of it farthest 

 from the centre of the machine resembled filter-press cake of 

 good quality; the inner cake was quite like glazier's putty. 

 The weight of this portion averaged about 5 per cent, of the 

 total charge. It contained t<0 per cent, of vegetable wax, 

 according to the chemist's report. It is being further 

 investigated. It is evident, therefore, that cold cane juice 

 can be readily and properly filtered by centrifugals on its way 

 to the defecators, and freed of much more solids than are 

 generally thought to be present in it. 



("2) On hot ///ices from settlers ai/d ftlterfresses. 

 This juice, gauging about 6° Beaume, should have been in 

 condition to pa.ss along to the evaporators. It was however 

 far from that, as was shown by "btaining 559tti. of gocd 

 cake from a run of .S,360 gallons through the centrifugal. 



(3) On low tirade molasses warmed up. ^'ery cold 

 molasses was found unfit for separation into solids and 

 liquids, but, when warmed up, the residue of black, gummy, 

 and oily precipitate only proved the propriety of resorting 

 to centrifugal filtration to standardize such an output. 



(4) Serious trouble having arisen in gftting the settlings, 

 etc. handled in the filter-presses, the centrifugal found no 

 difficulty at all in forming first class cake from this stuff. 

 The centrifugal appeared to work equally well on this gummy, 

 viscous and rather foul mixture, whether sour or sweet, thick 

 or thin. In short the centrifugal found no difficulty in 

 dealing with any of the sugar-house solutions, and it will 

 probably be found a valuable manufacturing agent in the 

 sugar-cane factory. 



SUPPLIES AND RENEWALS FOR SUGAR 



PLANTATIONS. 



The war has done the sugar industry generally a good 

 turn in raising prices to a remunerative level; but. on the 

 other hand, it is tending to hamper the sugar producer more 

 and more; it may well be that the dittioulties of carrying on 

 sugar estates will be so great before long as to affect the 

 production to a large extent. A note in the International 

 Suijnr Journal, Nciveraber 1917, draws attention to this 

 aspect of the (juestion. As matters stand at present, the 

 scarcity of shipping, the high rates of freight, the prohibition 

 of exports of various kinds, all Contribute to make it a slow 

 and tedious task, even when it is possible at all, for sugar 

 plantations in different parts of the world to get renewals 

 of machinery, implements, and chemicals. 



The necessity of getting licences to export goods, or 

 even to have them manufactured in a reasonable time, is 

 inevitable when the claims for war material are the chief 

 matters to be considered. The result is, however, that when 

 an order for goods has escaped the submarine menace, and 

 arrives at its destination, a delay often of months occurs in 

 getting the goods manufactured, and finally, even when 

 shipment is made at length, it is quite possible that the 

 goods may only reach the bottom of the sea, and the order 

 has to be repeated with still further delay and risk. 



The result is bound to be that some plantations will be 

 held up for lack of supplies. Implements for field purposes, 

 or chemicals for the factory, or spare parts for the mill of 

 the engine may fail to turn up in time for the reaping season, 

 and managers of estates or factories will have to makeshift 

 with existing supjilies and stock. 



Such are the conditions which apply more or less to 

 plantations receiving their working supplies from the United 

 Ivingdom. Now that the United States has also entered into 

 the war it is more than probable that sugar estates which 

 have been accustomed to obtain their supplies from that 

 country will meet with the same difficulties in obtaining 

 them. 



The chief thing, however, is to win the war. All efforts 

 must be concentrated to this one end, and the sugar 

 industry must be prepared to suffer along with other 

 forms of production, It must make up its mind to an 

 increasing scarcity of supplies. Those who are wise will 

 send their orders for supplies so much in advance that the 

 delay even of months will not seriously affect them; they 

 will husband what supplies they have in hand, and avoid all 

 waste, so as to have the means to carry on their production, 

 even if at a restricted rate, until conditions become once 

 more normal. It must be remembered also that the end of 

 the war will not immediately restore normil conditions. 



