Vol. XII. No. 289. 



THE AGUICULTUKAL NEWS. 



16:; 



SUGAR INDUSTRY 



THE SUGAR INDUSTRY IN FORMOSA. 



T)ie rapid development of the cane-sugar industry in 

 Formosa practically dates from the conclusion of the C'hino- 

 Japanese war in 1S'.>5, when the island became a part of the 

 Japanese Empire. The country was not easily subdued. 

 In 1898, however, the last rebellion was suppressed, and 

 during 1900-2 a law was promulgated for the encourage- 

 raent of sugar cultivati(>n, and a Sugar Bureau was estab- 

 lished at Tainan to supervise all matters regarding the 

 i.sland's sugar industry. The work of this institution was 

 aided by the introduction of a special protection and bounty 

 system on the part of the Formosan Government. 



Recent developments in Formosa have been described 

 l;-.tely in an article entitled The Formosan Sugar Industry, 

 Past and Present, by T. Murakami in the hiternational 

 t^iigar Jouiiial, for March 1913. 



In this it is stated that the earlier woik i f development 

 consisted mainly in the introduction of new seedling varieties 

 from Java, Hawaii and Mauritius. In curse of time, 

 Lowever. many of these varieties biing unsuited to the soil 

 and Climate of Formosa lost, one by one. their superior 

 characteristics. Indeed, Rose Ramboo is the only variety 

 V. hich, by withstanding the .severe tests of ten years has 

 firoved to day to be the ideal cane for Formosa 



The tendency during the earlier years of the past 

 decade for Formosa to extend the intensive cultivation of 

 sugar-cane has induced Japanese capitalists to erect a large 

 cumber of first-class modern factories, constructed mainly by 

 the large British, German and American houses (e.g. the 

 Mirrlees Watson Co., the Harvey Engineering Co., both of 

 Gla-'gow: the Honolulu Iron Works of Hawaii; Maschinen- 

 fabrik Sangerhausen of Germany; and the Blymyer Iron 

 Works Co, U.S.A.). In these factories yellow sugar for 

 (direct consumption is made, and also grey sugar for refining 

 f'Urposes. More recently there have been erected a few 

 factories equipped with a complete plant for making white 

 sugar, either by the carbonatation or sulphitation processes. 

 There are thirty one of these factories, having a total capacity 

 in twenty-four hours of 22,800 tons of cane, yielding, per 

 season, 5,44.5,4.51 piculs of sugar (1 picul = 133 33 Hj ). In 

 1900, according to H. C. Prinsen Geerlig.s, the country's 

 total output of sugar was approximately 45,000 tons; in 

 1910, it was 2.30,000 tons. 



The method of sugar manufacture in vogue in Formosa is 

 a combination of Hawaiian and Javanese methods of boiling. 

 In Japan there is a considerable demand for small-grained 

 moist sugar of fine colour, having a certain 'viscosity' pro- 

 duced either by the formation of glucose during the 

 clarifying and boiling stages, or by adding a greater or lesser 

 amount of glucose to the disintegrator This demand is 

 met by several of the factories in Formosa. 



An idea of the progress made in sugar manufacture in 

 one of the largest Formosan factories can be obtained from 

 the following data: sucrose extranted in juice, per cent. 

 sucrose in cane (1908-9 crop) 87-5; (1911.12 crop) 912; 

 tf'tal lost sucrose per cent, on cane, (1908-9 crop), 3'47; 

 (1911 12 crop) 2-53. 



In concluding this .account of the sugar industry ia 

 Formosa, reference may be made to the country's future 

 prospects, which is summed up as follows by Prinsen 

 Geerligs, in llie Worlrf's Cane Su(jar Industrir. — 



'The ci.n.striictino of more factories is under way, so 

 that if the weather had r.ot been too unfavourable, in the 

 year 19 1 11 2, Formosa would have produced an amount of 

 sugar equal to that required by Japan for supplying her own 

 want.=, in addition to her own production of 1,000,000 piculs. 

 (60,000 tons). 



'It is certain that Formosa will not be satisfied with this- 

 success, and will aspire after greater things, and endeavour 

 to export hf r produce to other countries, either as raw sugar 

 or as sugar refined in Japan. 



'We must not lose sight of the fact that the success 

 achieved is greatly due to the Government's powerful 

 patronage, and the preferential treatment accorded tc 

 Formosan sugar in Japan.* The industry may, of course,, 

 lose all these privileges before long, in which case the present? 

 state of affairs may change altogether; but we must not; 

 forget how in Europe at the time of the sugar bounties, 

 refined sugar could be exported to foreign countries by the 

 levying of a high surtax and a clever co-operation of sugar 

 refiners and merchants. 



'The possibility of a great export trade in Formosan. 

 sugar depends on Japanese inland politics, so that we cannot 

 say anything certain about it. We may predict, however, 

 that Formosa will produce after 1912 a quantity of sugar 

 large enough to supply Japan's wants, and for the rest wfr 

 may leave things to the future.' 



DETERMINATION OF SUCROSE IN 

 MOLASSES. 



In an article on this subject in the Louisiayia Planter 

 for March 1, 1913, it is pointed out that the methods of 

 analy.sis of molasses in general use in Louisiana, require the em- 

 ployment of no exces', or at most, a slight excess of lead ia 

 clarification, and in this way often very imperfect clarification. 

 is obtained. Frequently an excess is employed of necessity, 

 without means being taken to eliminate the error due to this 

 excess Deerr's method of eliniinating the error by using: 

 long polarizing tubes and solutions of high dilution, i."- 

 impracticable for sugar work in Louisiana, as well as being 

 awkward in any case. 



Another wiy to eliminate the influence of the lead preci- 

 pitate is by the use of dry lead subacetate clarification, and. 

 Tervooren's principle along with this clarification has beea 

 u.sed with very satisfactory results. An excesi of dry lead i». 

 added to the half normal molasses solution and after filtering, 

 the excess of lead is removed by adding approximately the' 

 right amount of dry finely powdered oxalic acid After 

 filtration, the well decolourized, lead-free liquid is polarized, 

 siugle and Clerget. It was found that too great an excess- 

 of lead should be avoided, as the Clerget result falls slightly 

 after a certain excess his been reached. The maximum 

 decolourization however, is produced by an excess which i* 

 too small to affect the Clerget method in this way. 



* A note in The Biicird of Trade. Jouriuil, fur March 6, 1913, 

 .states that iiifonnation was piiWi-h-'d in the Formosan Official 

 Ciii-.ellt for August 11, l'.U2, to till' ctfect that the assistance t*. 

 lie i;iveii t> |)laiiteis by thedoMTiiiiiunt will consist of payment 

 ii<Y the cost of youii;^ canes ami fertilizers, money giants in aid. 

 (if iirij;atiori .-11111 cliain.i<,'e wciks, tlu' loan of sugar iiiaiiiifactur- 

 iiiij iiiacliiiury and iiiiplciiunts to suitable iiiaiiiifacturei's, anA 

 the ^itt 01 loan of faniiiiii.' iuipleiuonts to cane growers. 



