"\'0L. XIII. Xo. 308. 



THE AGRICTLTUKAL XEWS. 



SUGAR INDUSTRY. 



THE PACKING OF SUGAR IN BAGS. 



What appears to ba a very important development in 

 the invention of appliances for use in sugar factories are the 

 new machines recently designed by the Singer Sewing 

 Machine Company for closing sugar bags after they have 

 been filled and for other purposes. There are three types of 

 machine; and according to Sw/ar (.January 1914) the}' are 

 giving entire satisfaction where there are in operation, and 

 the demand for them is constantly increasing. 



It is stated that, in the manufacture of bags the elastic 

 chain stitch is preferred, and the Singer machines designed 

 for this class of work make either the single or double thread 

 chain stitch as desired. The machines work at the extremely 

 high speed of 3.000 stitches per minute. They are made in 

 two sizes and run with very little vibration in spite of the 

 rapid rate at which they work. 



The machines designed for closing bags which have been 

 filled, are made in three sizes for dealing with bags of varying 

 capacities. These machines make the double thread chain 

 stitch. In order to secure convenience, they are usually run 

 electrically so that they can be moved from one place to 

 another. Each machine has a conveyor upon the belt of 

 which the filled bags are placed as they are taken from the 

 weighing machine, and the bags are thus carried to the 

 operator who guides them through the machine. Cutting of 

 the thread is ingeniously provided for and there is no delay 

 as the bigs go through. According to the authority from 

 which this information is got, it would appear that an 

 extremely tight seam is made and the produce placed in the 

 bag cannot leak at the seam despite rough-handling in storage 

 or in transit. 



Finally it is interesting to learn that ' the bags can lie 

 darned and patched on these machines. This means a great 

 saving in time, and results in a stronger and superior class of 

 mending. 



GOVERNMENT CO-OPERATIVE CENTRAL 

 FACTORIES FOR QUEENSLAND. 



A well known English firm of sugar engineers has, 

 according to the International Sugar Journal (January 1914) 

 secured the contract for the supply, erection and setting to 

 work of two complete central sugar factories for North Queens- 

 land. 'Each factory is to have a cajiacity to work up 

 1,000 tons of cane per twenty- four hours, and the machinery 

 will be of the most modern description throughout. The 

 canes will be discharged from the railway truck to the cane 

 carrier by electrically driven rakes. The grinding plant 

 will consist in each case of a Kradjewski crusher and 

 4 three-roller mills arranged in series. A superheat system 

 of clarification, by means of a high velocity flow of juice and 

 subsiders will be employed, and the whole of the auxilliary 

 plant of the factories will be operated electrically, direct 

 coupled alternating current generators of a total capacity 

 of COO K.W. being provided. The compound engines for 

 driving the generators and the grinding plant will be the 

 only steam engine in the factories, and incidentally, it is 

 claimed, will be the only compound ones in existence to 

 drive the sugar mill. 



'One factory will be erected near Cairns and this will 

 be ready for operation in July 1915; the other will be 

 situated on the south arm of the Johnstone river and will 



grind in July 1916. The value of the contract closely 

 approaches £250,000, antl was keenly competed for by sugar 

 machinery makers of the United Kingdom and the continent 

 of Europe.' 



The relation of the Government in the matter of the 

 establishment of these big concerns rests upon the Sugar 

 Works Guarantee Act of li:<93, and the Amendment thereto 

 of 1895. Under the provisions of this Act any group of 

 farmers may form themselves into a co-operative company, 

 and by mortgaging their lands to the Government obtain 

 sufficient capital to erect a mill. This eventually becomes 

 the property of the investors as soon as the Government has 

 been repaid the money advanced f6r the factories erection 

 and equipment. 



THE IMPORTANCE OF SAMPLING CANES 



IN REGARD TO THEIR SALE TO 



CENTRAL FACTORIES. 



A leading article in the Lotiisiana Planter (January 3, 

 1914) discusses in an interesting manner the problems to be 

 solved in the Cuban sugar industry. It is asserted that in 

 Cuba a considerable waste occurs owing to the good facilities 

 which the factories have for getting a large and continuous 

 supply of cane at an early date. The mills, it is stated, 

 frequently start grinding at an early date when the canes are 

 not ripe, a procedure which is obviously extremely 

 extravagant. 



For many decades, the Cubans have found that they can 

 get their best results as the season advances, and the purchase 

 price of canes was based upon the advancing season, and the 

 improving quality of the sugar-cane. This method is 

 eminently equitable, although of course the starting point is 

 a matter of bargaining between the interests involved. 



Sugar cane is rather a difficult commodity to buy based 

 upon its test. As is shown by recent work in India, canes 

 in an individual stool, or a bunch of canes will vary greatly 

 in quality. Moreover the whole plot will vary to 

 a large extent with the season. In a large measure, variation 

 seems to be due to seasonal influences, and unless the 

 juice is sampled as it falls from the mill a fair 

 test of quality cannot be made. If maceration or 

 saturation with hot water be used, true sampling be- 

 comes still more difficult. It would .seem that the most 

 practicable way to proceed in getting definite samples would 

 be by selecting the very best canes and determining the 

 relations between the various canes by these best samples. 

 It is remarked that this course would possibly not be 

 appreciated by the buyers and although the sellers of cane 

 would be quite willing to adopt the method, it must be 

 confessed that it would not be an ab.solute determination of 

 quality, but might be a true determination of quality of 

 relative fields of cane. 



With the immense crop of sugar cane that Cuba is now 

 developing, the natural ability of the people will finally 

 evolve some satisfactory method of determining any varying 

 value for sugar-cane. The Louisiana Planter is rather in- 

 clined to the idea that unless there be some exceptional 

 cause for variation in the quality, it will be found that the 

 varying quality of sugar-cane, if it does vary, is the result 

 of climatic conditions, prevailing through a considerable part 

 of the year, and that the whole crop would practically be of 

 the same quality and worth the same percentage per unit 

 of weiaht. 



