Vol. XIV. No. 334. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



51 



The cost 'it technical labour in K 

 i- higher than ii is in Germany. 



I luring the < Serman 1908-9 oro 

 high price oi 22*. \<l. per ton foi 

 capital of 22 pei cent. Had the rooi 

 Cantlej ba 25*. for roo 



dividend would have been reduced to ." 



American and Eun i dencc ■_' 



tin- establishment ol a successful beet ii I 

 there must be protect] >n oi at least 

 enjoyed bj < lei ma n 



writer suggests thai assist: 

 rather to colonial ran.-, which «m be 

 lower cost level than tei «et. 



Sugar cane cai be wn at 10*. pi 

 be taken as making a b « of 96 sugar, 

 according to the writer, 20* to grow 

 7 tons go to a ton of -> sugar. 'I 

 j i is 



ugland for one 



one factory gavi the 



! i on 



been paid for on the 



rmal swee ss, the 



per cent. 



ies to show that for 

 ustry in < treat Britain, 

 the £2 10s per ton 



ce sh iuld be giv< n 

 produce 1 at a i 



r ton, and 9 tons ran 

 In England ii costs, 

 a ton of beet, and 



'his means that cost 



( lane 

 Beet „ 



VI Mis. 



£7 



But the factoi _., iter Hum those 



for beet, although the megass is used for fuel, stores, skilled 

 labour, e1 her. Uso the exhausted slices of beet form 



_ "I cattle t I 



Capital expenditure is much the same in both instances, 

 so first cost production oi cane sugar is low by reason of the 

 lower cost of the raw material. As a set-off in the cost of 

 ran.- sugar, there are freight and shipping expenses to be con 

 sidered, equal toabout t'l 10* to £2 per ton, in time of peace. 



Colonial sugar could then i pete with continental beet 



it it received preferential treatment equal to that which con- 

 tinental beel receives. 



There is about 550,000 tons of cane sugar available for the 

 requirements of Great Britian annually. This is produced in 

 British Guiana, the British West Indies, Mauritius, and Fiji, 

 The remaining million tons might be produced in Africa. 



The carriage of this produce would be beneficial to 

 shipping interests. 



The home-grown beet .sugar could compete with the 

 colonial, which would be handicapped by shipping charges. 



Consumers need not be afraid of the protective tariff 

 necessary. Even if it were as high as £2 10*. per ton, the 

 increase in the price is compared with thatdue to the present 

 duty would only be one-fourth of a farthing per lb., or 

 ■ <d. per annum per head of population. 



Political reference is made to the tact that the Govern- 



at on leaving the Brussels Conventipp pledged themselves 



not to give preference to colonial sugar. The Government 



reserved the right, however, of withdrawing the pledge after 



giving six months' notice. 



The writer concludes by pointing out that the climatic 



and labour conditions in the Tropics can be relied upon much 



i re than Mr. Robertson Scott supposes. 



MESSCHAERT JUICE GROOVES. 



Id the Agricultural News, Vol. XIII, p. :!:!7 << (ctober 

 24, 191 It attention is dra n to the Messchaerl Gro 

 Roller for sugar mills. It was there stated that 

 devici described appeared to possess merit, and that 

 ■ i. tailed reports of the results oi their employment 



awaited « ith interest. 



[n the Louisia Planterfcn December 26 1914 

 ]■. 412, Mr. P. Messchaert gives an account of the 



use of roller- g] i - he 



ils in it Ii. -i experiments in 



of 1 I). 



results obtained in thi 



recommends, and also 



attempts to extend th< application 



advocates 



In the first instain c the application oi 



nded to applj | d rollers. V- the result oi 



i mploj ing rollers groovi d is rei ommended, it i that 



the juice Hows awe ,. . , sm g ,,„, 



the Lack as well as tl ■ roller: the ai ml 



of the fine trash that is pressed into th i d to be 



small, ami to be easilj n n oved 



It is further stated that as the result of applying the 



grc* ves, the running of tl ngine driving the mill 



'•' more even, that it was possible to grind so 10 pet 



cent, more cane for the application oi thi irae amount oi 

 steam pn^er. and that the resulting megass was much more 

 even in quality, presenting greatlj diminished duct tations 



both in the SUgar and the water content 



It is stated that grooving enables large quantities of 

 maceration water to be used without difficulty. 



The most marked improvements have been obtained 

 might be expected, from the application of the system to 

 those mills doing less perfect work; more perfect mills pres 

 ent less margin for improvement. 



In order to increase the extraction (crushing) when 

 grooves are introduced, all that is necessarj is to close the 

 rollers until the megass begins to refuse to teed freely: this is 

 said to be the main point to observe to make the system 

 a success. Tables are given, showing the changes in the 

 dimensions of the feed-opening in the case of six sets of 

 mills in Hawaii. 



As the result of experience, the author now recommends 

 'to give the juice grooves not more than 2|-inch pitch and 

 J inch width. It is safe,' he states, 'to make them 1.', inches 

 deep, in 34-inch and 36 inch roller-. In 30-inch rollers, 1 inch 

 depth is sufficient, with the same width and pitch, as these 

 mills have so much smaller capacity in proportion to the 

 length of the roller. One inch depth is enough as the 

 bagasse does not press more than | inch or |-inch deep in the 

 groove, and is released by its own elasticity after passing the 

 point of pressure. A small amount stays in the grooves and 

 is easily removed by the scrapers.' 



Some experiments have been made in grooving the 

 discharge rollers, and further improvement- appear to result 

 from this. In one instance the 'discharge roller of mill 4> 

 was turned smooth and only juice grooves ^-inch wide, ''■ inch 

 deep, and 1 inch pitch put in. This fourth mill now did 

 better work than ever and gave g better extraction, but it has 

 been in operation too short a time to say how it will stand 

 wear.' 



The writer goes on to say that 'the top roller should 

 always be kept rough as it has to pull the bagasse over the 

 returner bar, and we keep the surface grooves of jj inch pitch 

 on i hem.' 



Appended to the papei are reports of six engineers and 

 managers giving their experience in employing grooved r<dl, 

 and from the-e it is evid considerable gains in effici 



ency have been expei ii 



Considerable excitemenl obtains in Australian sugai 



circle- in connexion with the price of sugar. This ap] trs 



to have I raised in Q msland, but in New South \\ 



sellers are ao t givei tl itne adva s in this 



The matter is discussed in the Aust nal 

 for December 3, 191 1. 



