292 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



Min Mi.ri: 11, 1915. 



SUGAR INDUSTRY. 



SUGAR POSSIBILITIES IN 

 BRITISH GUIANA. 



An arl icle on tl n — ..i Bril t>li ' luiana by 



-.'i Harrisori and Mr. ( '. K. Bancroft in the 



Bulletin of the Imperial Institute (Vol. XIII No 2) 



he follow ing r< • n no s to sugar which will no 



doubl interesl manj of our reader.-: 



The sugar industry is by Far the most important industry 

 of the colony, .mil sugar, with its by products rum, molasses, 

 and molascuit, contributes almost 75 per cent, of the t"t,tl 

 value "i tin exports. About 33 per « -« -i 1 1 . of the wage earning 

 pi 1 1 .-ii -i t lii- population air directlj connected with the sugar 

 industry, while if those indirectly connected are included, the 

 proportion is in excess of 50 per cent, of the population. 



Of the empoldered area of the colony 14 - 7 per cent, is 

 n cultivation. About 85 per cent, oi I bis is i aped 



year. This indicates that in round figures 38 per rent. 

 ■ it the empoldered land contributes to the yearly production 

 "I sugar. The avera ction of sugar over the colony 



a norma] years is about I < s tons of sugar per acre. 

 On well-administered, suitably equipped, and satisfactorily 

 financed plantations the average yield in fair years may be 

 taken as 210 to i-'- 11 tons of sugar per acre per annum. 



A conservative estimate "I the area of land well suited 

 for sugar cultivation, in the districts from the mouth of the 

 Pomeroon in the north west to I we I bank of theCorentyne 

 river in the east, is 531,000 acreg, exclusive ol the area ahead} 

 empoldered on sugar estates Sixty four thousand acres of 

 this may be already beneficially occupied by products other 



than sugar, leaving nearly t'0,000 aires available for the 



extension of sugar cultivation. At the present proportion of 

 land yearly cropped with sugar to the total empoldered area, 

 this would give in round figures 178,000 acre-; to I"- reaped 



each year, yielding a mean crop of 320,000 tons of sugar. 



Given sufficient capital, labour, progressiveness, and 

 enterprise, the colony's sugar crop on its eastern area could be 

 increased to 570,000 tons of sugar per annum, which by fully 

 applying modern cientific methods in cultivation and 

 nianni i i raised to 700,000 tons. Inclusive oi 



the vast north-western section on the coastlands and along 

 the lower i the rivers of British Guiana, the total 



area of easily accessible land presumably well suited for 

 sugar-cane cultivation, and at present not otherwise bene 

 ficiallj occupied, amounts in round figures to 1,620,000 acres. 

 The area, if fully planted and reaped under m d iditions 



of cultivations and manufacture, could yield from 2 J to-'. 1 , 

 millii ;ar per annum. 



PROBLEMS IN THE CHEMISTRY 

 OF SUGAR. 



I n .i p tpei ie.nl befon the si - 1 ion ol agricultural 

 chemistry oi the American Associatioi be Advancement 



tt San Frai i August 5, 1915, I >r. < '. A. 



Browne gave a most interesting review of the various agricul- 

 tural, technical and biological questions th at the 

 present time receiving very widespread and thorough in 

 gation by sugar chemists. The paper is reproduced in the 

 Louis, i August 7, 1915, from which source the 

 folio iared. 



h mould be pointed out fr the first that the author, 



ire "i In- subject found i 1 di sir kble to 



survey tin diffi rent phasi s with' 



to the i heraists in the United States. This does not 



detract however from the valu the review as an outline of 



the Kind oi work which is being done in other parts ,.i the 

 world. 



The first aspect of the subject dealt with is the study of 



tl tcurrence and distribution ol sugar in the vegi 



kingdom. It is mentioned that the more recent m< 



niple by means of the enzyme 

 invert b greatly helped to widen our knowledge of the 

 distribution of sucrose, and scarcely a month passes, without 

 mention of some new plant in whii n has been 



discovered. A closelj related, but far more difficult problem 

 is the one concerning the function o in the economy 



nt plant life. In tin met ib carbohydrates the law of 



equilibrium is referred to as a governii r, and it is 



led that the investigation of this part of our subject 



would lie enor usly helped by the discover} of a i 



micro-chemical test for sucrose. The importance ol such 

 a test will In- appreciated when we consider that practically 



thing known about transitory starch has resulted from 

 the well known micro chemical test with iodine. 



The effects ol climatic and othei conditions upon the 

 sugar content of plants present another class of interesting 

 problems, and in this connexion mention is made of the work 



of Wiley, for ny years the effect oi changing conditions 



upon the sucrose content of cane has been invest j 



especially in Hawaii. 



The prol ilen i of improving sugai producing crops is always 

 before the agricul i J, scientist. Dr. Browne puts forward the 

 opinion that we have now reached the limit to the chemical 

 improvement of ouri sugar-producing plants. It is doubtful if 

 the laws of osmotic equilibrium will permit the accumulation 

 nt sucrose in the eon- oi beet to es tain maximum, 



winch with normal conditions probably does not exo 

 per cent. Occasional analysis has been reported of cane- and 

 beets exceeding 25 per cent, sucrose, but such i 

 unusualand nearly always the result ol drought, or ol other 

 abnormal conditions. 



Turning from the agricultural to the technical side of 

 sugar production Dr. Brown refers first to the change of 

 opinion as regards the economical working ol the factory. At 



the present day the aim of the successful -agar house chemist 



no < ■ i sarily, as it was in the past, to .-cure the highest 

 possible yield of extracted sucrose, bul rather to 

 that degree of extraction which is most advantageous from 

 the financial and the economic point- ol view. A 

 factory, says Dr. Browne, operated at the highest deg 



chemical efficienc} may be a i tplete failure financially. 



Many thousands ol dollars were wasted recently in equipping 

 certain sugar-cane mills with diffusion batteries for the 

 purpose of extracting the last traces ol residual sucrose from 

 the megasse. H bile the i icrose from th 



by this means was perfect, the increased cost ol the operation 

 .ind the injury oi the mega e for fuel purposes caused the 

 process to be quickly abandoned. Anoth aringupon 



in c mnexion with the demand for molasses, 



It .' rich grade is rcyllired pays to reduce extraction, 



allowing excess ol sucrose to remain in the molasses which 

 are then used fm Fi iding 



Th. I idli in- - b cai ories 



for six to ten months of the year is is economic 



loss, and to secure some relief from • uch on is one of 



the most pressing problems to sugai production. It is 

 ted thai efforts should be mule to extend the working 

 season bj devising better i the sugar 



ing, A a ewhat promi 



the problem consists in di beet and 



