Vol. XI. No. 256. 



THE AQRIODLTURAL NEWS. 



51 



SUGAR INDUSTRY. 



THE JAVA SUGAR CROP. 



An article in the Intn)-national Suyar Jourruil for 

 •Jannary 1912, by H. C Prinsen Geerlig.«;, states that, 

 although there has been no appreciable increase in the area 

 planted in cane, in Java, the production of sugar has reached 

 a record amount, being about 1 \ million metric tons, as far as 

 has been estimated at present. The lar^e production was 

 partly due to the favourable meteorological conditions during 

 the year. These are enabled to produce their full results in 

 the season in which they occur, as all the sugar cane in Java 

 is freshly planted each year, invariably in irrigated lands. 

 The existence of irrigation is etiective in ensuring a crop, but 

 there is no doubt that conditions are greatly improved by 

 a good distribution of rain and sunshine. The rainy season 

 commenced early, lasted a long time, and kept the cane fresh 

 during the whole of the grinding season. There was only one 

 disadvantage, namely that the wet weather caused grinding 

 operations to be commenced later, and made thera longer than 

 the usual 120 days. Java sugar was therefore comparatively 

 late in the market. 



The total area under cane was 328,000 acres, and the 

 average output of sugar in the island, over the whole area, 

 was 4'51 tons per acre. In the results from the different 

 factories, the sugar extracted per cent, of cane varied 

 between the limits 8 12 and 12-24 Relating to this matter 

 the following statement is made: 'It appears increasingly 

 probable that the extremely high returns obtained during the 

 last decade are a consequence of the steady propagation of 

 the new cane varieties obtained by cioss fertilization of 

 different cane types.' 



Of the many new varieties only two, known as No. 100 

 and Xo. 247, appear to have been planted generally. The 

 former was raised at the Experiment Station, and is best 

 suited to a light soil; it ripens within a year after planting 

 and is soft and juicy, without much fibre, so that it does 

 not .supply sufficient megass for working up its juice. 

 The characteristics of No. 247, which has been raised by 

 a young planter in the island, are almost opposite in 

 nature to those of No. 100. It is similar in that it 

 yields large crops; it grows best in a stiff soil and is 

 fittest for reaping after fourteen months. It can, how- 

 ever, stand over for a long time without losing its quality, 

 whereas No. 100 quickly deteriorates after maturity. 



An interesting table is given which makes it evident 

 that the new seedling canes are greatly superior- to the old 

 Java cane, but this is not the sole cause of the greater return 

 for: 'Although it appears that the variety of the cane accounts 

 for a great deal of the increase in output, this is not exclus- 

 ively due to the kind of cane: the steady improvements in 

 the manuring of the land, the intensive tillage of the soil, 

 and, in general, the care bestowed in the treatment of the 

 canes have also to be given their due credit.' A review i.s 

 presented of the hearty state of co-operation that exists in 



Java between the Experiment Stations and the sugar planters, 

 and it is stated that the Experiment Stations have been 

 established again, for a fresh term of five years, at an annual 

 expenditure of £33,000; in addition, a special branch has 

 been opened for the purpose of carrying on Mendelian experi- 

 ments with sugar cane. 



Investigations with mills have shown that the addition 

 of another mill to a treble crushing plant improves the extrac- 

 tion greatly, and increases the dryness of the megass from 

 tie last mill to such an extent that its fuel value is greatly 

 enhanced; this result confirms the work of Deerr, of two 

 years ago. In extraction by a 14 roller mill (quadruple 

 crushing), the best way to carry out maceration is to apply 

 water to the mega.ss coming from the first and second mills 

 and to bring all the last mill juice in contact with the megass 

 from the third one. 



As has been shown already in the Ayricultiiral News, 

 the production of white sugar in Java has greatly increased. 

 In 1900-1 the total amount of sugar imported into British 

 India from Java was 22-5,247 cwt., all of which was 

 raw sugar; while in the year 1910 11 it amounted to 

 8,758,715 cwt., and of this all was white sugar except 

 about 200,000 cwt. For the manufacture of white sugar, 

 at first, carbonatation was always u.sed, but in 1902 

 fulphitation, by neutralizing over-tempered juice by a cur- 

 rent of sulphur dioxide, from a sulphur furnace, was 

 adopted. The differences between the two processes are 

 pointed out, namely that only part of the juice in sulphita- 

 tion is filtered, so that it gives a less limpid molasses, and 

 an inferior crystal as compared with that from carbonatation, 

 so that the final molasses of the latter can be reduced to a lower 

 quotient of purity; secondly that the sulphitation process 

 is more elastic: when raw sugar is obtaining good prices, sul- 

 phitation can be dispen.sed with, Avhereas carbonatation must 

 continue; the probability of the existence of the third diflter- 

 ence is expressed that it is imaginary: it consists in tl^ state- 

 ment that the cost of carbonatation is about M. per cwt. 

 higher than that of sulphitation. It is lik. ly that the actual 

 greater cost is much lower than this, and the advantages of 

 working, in carbonatation, make it probable that all factories 

 producing white sugar will eventually adopt this method. 

 An account is given of a process in which sulphitation is 

 combined with carbonatation by sulphitating the clarified 

 juice to a proper degree of acidity just before it reaches the 

 evaporators. 



In Java, in making white sugar, it is usual to cure the 

 sugars twice, instead of washing the cr3'stals in the centrifu- 

 gals in which they have been freed from the molasses. The 

 latter method entails the loss of already crystallized sugar, 

 which eventually finds its way into the molasses. In the 

 method of double spinning the sugars are cured, as far as pos- 

 sible, in the first centrifugal, without the addition of water. 

 The next process is to mix the sugar completely with clairce, to 

 centrifugal it a second time, and wash and steam it until it 

 becomes completely white. The washing, are used partly for 

 treating new lots of the coloured sugar, and the excess is kept 

 out of the molasses by being returned t^ the clarified juice 

 'Careful investigations have shown that, when working in 

 the way just described, no further unaccountable loss is suffered 

 than in making raw sugar. The only requisite is a good size 

 of pan, ample cooling capacity, a sufficient number of centri- 

 fugals, and above all good technical knowledge, plenty of 

 skilled labour, thorough pan boilers, and an efficient control. 

 It is not sutticient to get good machinery, and a good pre- 

 scription for working, it is indispensable to have at the same 

 time the right men to work them.' 



