Vol. XIV. No. 339. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



] 3 1 



SUGAR. 



THE NORIT PROCESS OF MANUFAC- 

 TURING WHITE SUGAR. 



Tin /■ ' Sugar . ' mtains an account 



<.t . bj Dr, \. VVijnbi ■ \ of 



Manufacturing Wh ir. In thi claimed 



thai iring matter of the juii is removed bj mean 



of so call nufacl iired under i he 



name of N'oi it I, ii this is effected by 



■ill in tin 1 sugar refinery. This substance has 



aln nccessfullj emplo] ! I ing purposes in 



vai i i ries, but hitherto has ol been used in sugai 



ks, partlj on aecounl of il - c >s1 and pari !> because 



mi thod of n is not known. 



Ii is now found thai t he dei col iur of Norit ran 



I ed by boiling fi >r fifteen minutes with 



I p iluti caustic sod; 



\<i it is stated to exert its decolourizing action on slightly 

 ■ I sugar solutions, the colour b | slightly or not at 



all removed when the solution is alkaline. The author explains 

 this action bj reference to the pi olloids of the 



pectin which are transformed into larger molecular 

 groupings in feeblj acid solutions, but into smaller ones in 

 alkaline. The larger molecular groups are held bj the 

 decolourizing carbon, while the smaller ones are not. 



It is claimed that the decolourizing power of Norit is 

 it twentj five times greater than granular animal char 

 coal. Its decolourizing power is relatively greater in 

 dilute sugar solutions as compared with concentrated ones, 

 hence it is recommended to use Norit to bleach the juice 

 rather than syrup. Norit is stated to possess the advantage 

 of removing pectins and gums from sugar solutions, so that 

 juice decolourized by this means is more easily filteri d 



.\ continuation of the article is promised in which the 

 practical results obtained in certain factories and refineries 

 will be considered. 



THE PLANTING OF CANES IN 

 DEMERARA. 



Readers of the Louisiana Planter will have noticed 

 that recent issues have devoted much attention to the 

 establishment of sugarcane by the planting of tops. A 

 correspondent has recently contributed some interesting 

 observations concerning this and other matters with special 



d to British ' luiana. 



In the West Indies for various reasons, only force of 

 circumstances will compel a planter to re-establish his fields 

 with material other than tops. It is noted, apparently as 

 comment on previous statements made in the Louisiana 

 Planter, that tops from arrowing canes are never cut, much 

 Less used. 



Attention is called to the undesirability of yearly 



iting because of labour conditions. Moreover such 

 a system is unnecessary as is exemplified by the statemen 



that a crop of -~> tons per acre of B 'bon cane with juice of 



specific gravitj of L - 75 was obtain d in one instance fr 



nineteenth ratoons. Ii i- maintained further that the 



'ii for replanting depends largely upon the variet) ot 



cane employed. I >. 71 and I >. 95 never proved t<> be 



- ' ratooning canes in Demerara < m the other hand, 



l>. 109 and D. 625 are two excellent seedlings from every 

 point of view. 



The History of Sugar Comp iginal 



n in the he Sp inish Covert 



. Spain, are tlh ol interesl i 



i - subject in the 1 1 ■ '' ■ r. The h 



illy bist il 

 Rico, [n the 1 rj 20, 1915, 



that hap] 

 1 pally to with 



the -I i , ' 



In loill, Porto Hi' I from the 



Spanish < to irnmenl as wen 



not admitted at Sevill i were 



h ii I Espanola. Porto Rico at this 



required to paj I 5 per cent. Variou it hi itei 

 interes: are included but mil theii b 



dealt with in the present note, 



AGRICULTURAL CREDIT IN THE 



PORTUGUESE COLONIES. 



This statement ha been prepai id under the auspices ol 

 the special Portuguese Commission appointed to superintend 

 the preparation of reports and papers for the Third Inter- 

 national Congress of Tropical Agriculture. It describes the 

 operations of three of the chief concerns which have been 

 organized in Portugal to facilitate the agricultural develop- 

 ment of the Portuguese Colonies, viz., the Banco Nacional 

 Ultramarino, the Companhia de Mocambique, and the 

 Companhia de Zambezia. The Banco Nacional Qltramarino 

 was founded in May 1864, and as its name implies, its 

 operations are concerned entirely with the overseas posses- 

 sions of Portugal. It makes advances repayable by annual 

 instalments, to promote irrigation works, the construction of 

 roads, the formation of plantations, and other similar opera- 

 tions necessary to agricultural development, and in addition 

 offers all the usual banking facilities to planters and 

 planting companies. Its statutes defining agricultural 

 credit and stating the conditions under which advances 

 are made are quoted in some detail in the paper, and 

 instances are given of the assistance it has rendered in 

 the development of Angola, St. Thome, 1'rincipe, and the 

 < 'ape Verde Islands. 



A short account of the facilities offered by the Compan- 

 hia de Mocambique to settlers in its territory is also given: 

 these include a labour bureau, a system of hiring out agri- 

 cultural machinery, assistance in boundary surveys, provision 

 of packing materials for agricultural produce, the purchase of 

 farm stock by instalments, and assistance in the sale of pro- 

 duce in Europe. 



Similarly the Companhia de Zambezia, with a view to 

 developing tobacco cultivation in its territories, has institut 



a M-heme whereby settlers are provided with laud, draught 

 cattle, machines, drying -tores, food and pay for nati 



labourers, on condition that thej grow tobacco on the land and 

 |ia\ interest at the rate of 7 per cent, per annum on the sum 

 expended by the companj for their benefit. The companj 

 buys all tin- saleable tobai :o produced, at the rates current 

 for tobacco in Nyasaland, and is prepared to take hack 

 farm animals and m less depreciation at he rate of 



20 per cent, on the initial outlay, when tl ontract expin -. 



(Proceedings of the Third International Congress of Tm< 

 Agricultur' .) 



