Vol. XIII. Xo. .322. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



277 



SUGAR INDUSTRY. 



THE TOPPING OF SUGAR-CANE. 



Ill flitting .sugar-eane.s the planter has. aifairly clear idea 

 i)f the extent to which it is desirable to remove the iiniiiatnie 

 portion of the top, especially where lie himself is also the 

 niaiinfacturer of the sugar and particularly where muscovado 

 sugar is made. When, however, canes are .sold to a factory 

 there is a not unnatural desire to sell the maximum weight 

 and there is a tendency to include immature portions, 

 a tenilency that has been evident to a considerable e,\tent in 

 some places and has been the cause nf considerable cimi- 

 plaint in the past season. 



The question of the distribution of sugar in the iiidi 

 vidual stalk of cane has been studied by Geerligs, Went and 

 'ithers, and Geerligs in his text-book on Cane Sugar and Its 

 Manufacture gives an interesting account of the meclianisni 

 (if the" distribution and storage of .sugar. He .shows that in 

 the youngest joints, bearing immature leaves not yet assimil- 

 ating, the joint contains no sugar but only starch which is 

 consumed as the leaves attached to the.se joints become 

 capalile of assimilating: reducing sugars now collect, con.sist- 

 ing of glucose and fructose. l>ut little or no sucrose is present. 

 At the time when the joint is full-grown in point of size, it 

 contains little sucrose and much glucose and fructose: after 

 this ripening sets in, the glucose and fructose steadily diminish 

 in quantity and the suci'ose increases. 



While it is dirticult to frame a definition tliat will meet all 

 cases, it may be said that there should be removed from cane 

 littered to the factory all that part of the top which is 

 immature as judged by either whiteness or paleness in colour 

 and in softness of rind. It may be .stated that nothing 

 should be sent to the factory aliovo the point where the leave.s 

 are mature anil are readily detached fi-oin the caiie so that 

 a cane showing attached leaf sheaths may be regarded as 

 having undesirable 'top." These points are easily recognized 

 and Well known to planters, thougli not esus)' to define. 



In the contracts for the supply of canes to the Antigua 

 and 8t. Kitts factories it is specified that all canes .shall be of 

 usual fair cpiality of Antigua (St. Kitts) canes and shall be 

 sound and fully matured so as to gi\e good produce; they 

 shall be .stri|>i)ed of their portions not containing sugar and 

 shall be free from tops, roots and trash. 



Such a contract affords a basis for mutual understanding 

 between planters and factory on the lines above indicated. 



Now that the matter has assumed imjiortance it should 

 not be impossible for the scientific officers of the factories and 

 Experiment Stations to make oliservations upon which 

 a scientific standard of the qualitj' of the portions of the toj) 

 of the cane may be based for purposes of acceptance or rejec- 

 tion by the factory; this matter is commended for their 

 consideration in the coming .season. 



AVent has ascertained the distriVmtiou of the sugars in 

 the rliflerent parts of canes of various age.s, his results are 

 summarized liy Geerligs (loc. cit. pp. 58-61). Taking the 

 case of fully ri[)e canes planted in -Inly and analysed (a) on 

 June :)() and (b) on .luly (>, and considering only the upper 

 parts of tlie cane, it is found that leclvoning from the top of 

 t^he cane the results were as follows: — 



No. of the 



joint. 



Reducing Glu<!ose 



sugar ratio. 

 per cent. 



M 22-0 



1-0 12-5 



0-6 5-i) 



0-5 4-7 



0-34 2-7 



0-32 2-4 



0-17 1-2 



0-19 1-2 



(1)) 



Weight, Sucrose Reducing Glucose 



grams. per cent. sugar ratio, 

 iier cent. 



1 to 9 43-5 



10 „ 13 37-0 



11 „ 16 43-.5 

 17 and 18 37-5 

 19 „ 20 44-0 

 21 „ 22 64-0 



The rapid diminution of the glucose ratio would apjjcar 

 to aflord a good criterion of maturity, and as a provisional 

 hypothesis it may be suggested for the consideration of 

 investigators that probalily the top should be cut oJi' not 

 higher than the point where the glucose ratio is 10. 



Observations may show that the condition of the bud 

 may serve as a guide to the ripeness or unripeness of the 

 individual joints. 



The whole subject is one which may well commend itself 

 to the careful consideration of planters and sugar makers, and 

 the scientific workers as.sociated with them. 



Solidified Molasses. — Solidified molasses is attnvct- 

 iiig the attention of a goodly number of scientists according 

 to a paragra[)h from a recent exchange. Mr. .J. J. Hazewinkel 

 has made some experiments and has discovered that in the 

 conci.Mitration of molasses a considerable loss of dry substance 

 takes place. In .Java experiments were carried on that 

 showed that through the dilution of the product the inversion 

 of the sucrose was hastened perceptibly. When thickened to 

 certain density it will not invert, when heated to 134°(!. 

 so long as it is neutral or alkaline. It only caramelizes 

 all the sugar and gradually diminishes with a consequent loss 

 of dry sub.stance. The process of hardening molasses can be 

 divided into two periods, before and after reaching the limit 

 of concentration. During the first, inversion only take.s plac'e 

 with no loss of the dry substance while in the last jjeriod 

 sucrose and reducing sugars are replaced by pure carameliza- 

 tion los.ses. (Louisiana Planter, .July 25, 1914.) 



The Queensland Field Assistant's Reports of the sugar 

 experiment bureau says that in the Mount Larcon district the 

 ]jrincipal varieties of cane grown are: — D. 1135, Rappoe, 

 Striped Singapore, M. 1900 and also small amounts of B. 208, 

 liadilrt, Maladar, and others. Of the now varieties of cano 

 that have been lately intrriduced along the Machine Creek 

 valley are H. Q. 285, Malagasche, ^lohono Kew 1 16, M. 1900, 

 M. 33, Ng. 24a and D. 1 135. (The Australian Siyar Jour- 

 nal for .June 4, 1914). 



