Vol. VIII. No. 198. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



371 



SUGAR INDUSTRY. 



SUGAR FACTORY RESULTS IN JAVA, t 



The tenth Annual Report on the statistics of 

 a large number of sugar estates in Java, which has 

 been prepared by H. C. Prinsen ( Jeeriigs, is abstracted 

 in the Infernafional Su<j<(r Jan fnt(l,\o]. XI, No. 127, 

 and from this the following information is take^n. An 

 interesting comparison of mill-work and the fibre- 

 content of canes in Java with those in the West Indies 

 can be made by referring to an abstract of a paper by 

 the Commissioner of Agriculture which appears on 

 page 179 of the current volume of tiie Ayrieultural 

 News. 



The genera] averages of a great many figures are set 

 forth in tlie table given below, which allovv.s us to get a good 

 idea of tlie results in the different years, and also shows the 

 steady progress in the output 

 material. 



Year. 



Sucrose 



on 100 



cane. 



of sugar from the raw 



Quotent of , ., ^, P'^^^*'^'" ^'^- 

 Fibre on purity of ^^^dable tween sugar 

 sugar on available 



100 cane, the raw 

 cane juice. 



100 cane, and actually 

 received. 



1899 

 1900 

 1901 

 1902 

 1903 

 1901 

 190.5 

 1906 

 1907 

 1908 



13-99 

 12-2G 

 12-G8 

 13-43 

 12-10 

 13-04 

 1266 

 12-38 

 13-11 

 12-30 



10-6.5 

 10-95 

 10-91 

 11-21 

 11-29 

 11-61 

 11-78 

 12-00 

 12-01 



8S-6G 

 84-18 

 84-66 

 84-65 

 84-00 

 84-69 

 83-30 

 83-04 

 84-61 

 83-74 



11-98 

 10-21 

 10-61 

 11-33 

 10-26 

 11-06 

 10-62 

 10-34 

 11 09 

 10-30 



96-4 

 96-5 

 98-2 



98-0 

 98-6 

 98-8 

 97-7 

 98-4 

 99-1 



The content of sucrose in cane has not varied very much 

 during the last ten years. This seems rather strange ivhen 

 we considt^r what pains have been taken to increase the 

 sugar content of the cane coming to the mills. Much atten- 

 tion has been paid to the raising of canes having a higher 

 sucrose content, both by chemical selection and by the propa- 

 gation of highly promising seedling ca)iG varieties. Then, the 

 tops used for planting material were carefully selected in 

 order to ensure a sound seed, which was afterwards disin- 

 fected to keep off parasites and germs of disease, very 

 cautiously planted and cultivated, and protected against 

 damage. Further, on most estates, the canes from the 

 different fields are constantly sampled and analysed, starting 

 from a couple of months before the grindiug season and con- 

 tinuing during same; all thi.s with a view to ascertaining the 

 exact period of maturity of each of the cane-fields, and so to 

 harvesting the cane always at its highest sucrose content. 

 Finally the transport of tlie cut cane is con.siderably accelera- 

 ted, and good care is taken to grind every day all the cane 

 which has been cut the previous day, thereby preventing 

 any lying over of cut cane, and its deterioration and conse- 

 quent Io.ss of sucrose. 



Notwithstanding all these precautions, it appears that 

 the .sucrose content of the cane crushed ifl'the majority of 

 the sugar mills has practically remained the. same, although 

 the tonnage per acre has very considerably increased. It is 

 evident that the care and attention bestowed on the raw 

 material havs benefited its cpiantity more than its quality. 



The fibre content of the cane has considerably increased 

 in the last ten years, and doubtless amounts to 1 per cent, 

 on the cane more than before. This is not due to a change 

 in climate, nor in cultivation, but exclusively to the fact that 

 the Black -Java or Cheribon cane, which was, some ten years 

 ago, well-nigh the universal variety in cultivation, has since 

 that time gradually been supplanted by the descendants of 

 seedling canes, of which one of the most valuable is distin- 

 guished by a very high fibre content. 



The high fibre content of the seedling canes now in 

 vogue in Java has often induced planters to consider 

 this property as a special characteristic of seedling canes, but 

 we see at once that this is not the case. As a consequence of 

 the choice of parents, a couple of the most popular varieties 

 of seedling canes happen to be remarkable for their high 

 fibre content, and this has been the reason why the average 

 fibre content of the crushed cane increased when these 

 varieties were more extensively planted; but the reverse 

 might very easily have occurred. If by accident a couple of 

 varieties of the No. 100 type had been obtained, which 

 pos.sessed the other favourable properties of No. 247 cane, 

 the propagation of seedlings would, on the contrary, have 

 given rise to a decrease in the fibre content instead of an 

 increase. But as matters stand now, we are in the happy 

 possession of a cane which contains about 10 per cent, more 

 fibre than previously, and yet the same amount of sucrose, 

 which means an inci-ease in the fuel supply of 10 per cent., 

 or a very appreciable i)rofit. 



The quotient of purity of the juice stands in .some 

 relation to the sucrose content of the cane, inasmuch as a low 

 saccharine content of the cane is usually accompanied by 

 a low quotient of purity, and vice versa. A low quotient i.s 

 unfavourable to the manufacturer for two reasons. Firstly, 

 juices having a low lairity already contain but little sucrose, 

 and next, less of this is obtained as marketable sugar owinc to 

 the large amount of molasses which is the consequence of the 

 many impurities. 



"We notice a gradual droj) in the purity simultaneous 

 with the dec^-ease in saccharine content. It is perhaps not 

 superfluous to mention here that we could not expect any 

 strict agreement, since the purity of the juice observed is that 

 of the juice which was extracted, and not of the iuice 

 as it was present in the cane. We know that the greater 

 the power of the mill which extracted the juice, the 

 lower will be its purity, and since the pressure of the 

 mills has become more efficient of late years, a much less, 

 pure juice will nowadays be extracted from the very same 

 cane than would have been the case ten years before. 



Generally speaking, the statistics reviewed here give 

 every reason for satisfaction. Although neither the sucrose 

 content of the cane nor the purity of the raw juice shows any 

 improvement, indeed the latter has actually diminished, yet 

 we have succeeded in Java in obtaining from that raw 

 material not only a better sugar but also a better return of 

 that improved product. This happy result is obtained botb- 

 on extraction of the juice and on working it up into sugar, 

 so that it is due as well to an improved mechanical mode of 

 working as to a better and more rational and careful clarifi- 

 cation and further treatment of the juice. This improve- 

 ment is steadily going on, and there is nothing in the 

 statistics to suggest that we have now come to a standstill. 

 It is therefore quite possible that statistics published ten 

 years hence will furnish us figures with which those now 

 given (which appear to us as very satisfactory) will again 

 contrast unfavourably. 



