Vol. IX. No. 212. 



THE AGKICULTLTKAL NKW.s. 



179 



SUGAR INDUSTRY. 



INTRODUCTION OF SUGAR-OANES INTO 



MAURITIUS. 



A Memorandiun of the IntroduHion of Suffarcines to 

 Mauritius has been issued recently by the Mauritius Govern- 

 ment. It is especially interesting, as it gives some indication 

 as to the history of the sugar industry in that island. 



It appears that the sugar cane was iniported into Mauri- 

 tius in July, 16.50, by the Dutch, from Batavia. At first the 

 cane juice was only used for making a liquor called arrack, 

 and it was not until 1744 that a sugar mill was erected. In 

 1816, soon after the British occupation of the island, the 

 production of sugar had reached 4,000 tons per annum, from 

 eighty sLx mills. The canes chiefly cultivated were the white 

 canes of Otaheite and Batavia, and the red one of Batavia. 

 The continual growth of these in the same soil led to their 

 becoming diseased, and in 1849 a group of planters subscribed 

 a sum of money for the purpose of obtaining a new kind from 

 Java. This resulted in the arrival in Mauritius, in 1850, of 

 over a million cuttings, three varieties of which, namely, 

 Bellouguet, Diard and Penang, gave entire satisfaction. 



At this time, similar importations of cane were made 

 from Ceylon, even though it was well known that these were 

 infested with borers. On their arrival, a Committee was 

 aiipointed to examine the canes, with the result that they 

 were ordered to be destroyed. This precaution, howe\'er, did 

 not prevent the introduction of Diatram striatnlix, which 

 became a suttieiently serious pest for a Committee to be 

 appointed in 18.56 for the purpose of finding means of dealing 

 with it. The recommendations that were made do not appear 

 to have been of much avail, for the sugar cane industry was 

 saved from ruin in 1858 by the introduction of the Bamboo, 

 or Batavian cane, and the Ouinghan, or violet-striped cane. 



In 1864, another enemy of the cane was reported as 

 doing much damage in the sugar plantations of Reunion, as 

 well as those of Mauritius. This was one of the Coccidae, called 

 the ' pou a poche blanche' (Pii/rinariii ii'tateraljilia, leery). 

 This no longer exists in Mauritius, and it is suggested that 

 its disappearance is due to a parasite. 



From 1866 to 1870, new varieties of cane were received 

 from Java, Trinidad, British Guiana, (i>ueensland, Xew 

 Caledonia, Egypt, India, Brazil, the Sandwich Islands, 

 Reunion and Penang. Between 1862 and 1875, Mr. Lousier, 

 who was manager of an estate in Mauritius, is said to have 

 obtained a bud variation from a cane called Mignonne, which 

 was itself a sport from a cane received from New Caledonia. 

 It is this variety which is now know-n as the Lousier, and it 

 has given rise in turn to the green-striped Lousier and the 

 red-striped Lousier, from the latter of which the red Lousier 

 is derived. 



After 1877. other canes were introduced, chiefly from 

 Fiji and the Sandwich Islands. This stage of the introduc- 

 tion of new car.es was ended in 1883. During several of 

 these years, other canes were received at the Botanic Gardens, 

 but there is no record of the results which were obtained 

 with many of these. The chief of the more modern intro- 

 ductions of canes took place in 1891, 1908 and 1909; among 

 the last to be obtained were the New Guinea canes, Goro and 

 Badilla 



None of the above introductions include seedling canes. 

 The first of these were obtained from Barbados in 1891, 

 through Kew, but, unfortunately, they all died before they 

 could be propagated. In 1901, D.14.5, r..308 and D.130 



were received through the Imperial Department of Agriculture 

 for the West Indies, and propagated until 1905, when cut- 

 tings were distributed free to planters by the Chamber of 

 Agriculture It is stated that D.130 has given very favour- 

 able yields in many localities, chiefly at low altitudes, and 

 it is now cultivated on a large scale. Other importations of 

 West Indian seedling canes have been made as follows: 

 1902, D.95; 1903, B.147; 190.5, D.74, D 95, D 109, D.195 

 and B208; 1906, D.19.5, D.74 and B.208; 1909, D.625 

 and B.147. All these have been propagated for distribution. 



SUGAR CULTIVATION IN BENGAL. 



An article in the April number of the International 

 Swjar Journal deals partly with the state of the sugar indu!*- 

 try in Bengal. It shows, first of all, that four kinds of sugar 

 are chiefly produced in India: these are : (1) white sugar, 

 which is almost entirely consumed by Europeans; (2) yellow 

 sugar, which is made by concerns that are generally financed 

 and controlled by Europeans, and is largely sold in the bazaars; 

 (3) 'country' sugar, which is a fine variety of yellow sugar, 

 very sweet but very expensive, made by native processes; (4) 

 gur, which is a native variety of sugar consisting actually of 

 cane juice evaporated to dryness, and containing 70 to 80 

 per cent, of sucrose. 



The present article, which is to be followed by another, 

 deals mainly with the making of the yellow sugar (No. 2), 

 It is pointed out that conditions in India would seem 

 to indicate that there is a specially good opening tor 

 central factories. The reasons for this are chiefly the follow- 

 ing: the preference of the natives for goods of Indian 

 manufacture; the conditions of rainfall and soil, which are 

 particularly suitable to sugar-cane growing in those parts of 

 India where sugar is made; the low price of sugar cane, which 

 can usually be obtained at 7.?. per ton; the good prices that 

 are offered for molasses ; the provision of cheap labour by 

 a population which is intelligent and hard-working. 



The writer shows that there is room for the introduction 

 of great improvements in the way in which the sugar-cane 

 industry is carried on in India, and that there has been little 

 progress in the matter for many years. 



The kind of cane that is obtained for crushing is almost 

 always the small green variety : this has usually a height of 

 6 to 9 feet, with a circumference, at the base, of 2 to 3 inches. 

 Such canes, when their measurements are 6 feet and 1 J inches, 

 generally contain 12 to 15 per cent, of fibre, and give a juice 

 having a purity of 78 to 84. The larger canes, such as 

 Pansahi, are superior to these, sometimes giving a juice of 

 purity 90 to 94, while the fibre content is 9-5 to 11. It is 

 stated that there is little doubt that, with proper means of 

 irrigation and manuring, better results could be obtained with 

 the large canes, but the grower in India prefers small cane, 

 because its production requires little trouble, and it is fairly 

 free from pests, with the exception of the borer. For planting 

 purposes, about 2 or 3 cwt. of the canes are placed in a ditch, 

 covered with earth, and left for three weeks or a month. 

 Those which have not sprouted by this time are rejected, 

 while the others are planted at a depth of 3 to 4 inches, 

 immediately behind the plough. The time of sowing is always 

 between November and March, during the cold weather, and 

 the cane continues to live through the dry months of March, 

 April and May, without irrigation, and begins its full growth 

 in June, when the rainy season commences. Where weeding 

 is practised, one is given before the rains and one when they 

 commence; no more cultivation takes place before the end of 

 the growing .season, in November or December. 



