Vol. XI. No. 262. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



U7 



SUGAR INDUSTRY 



SUGAR FROM SHREDDED CANE. 



The manufacture of sugar from shredded cane, by 

 what is known as the McMullen process has been des- 

 cribed, cr has received attention, in the last volume of 

 the Agricultural Neus, on pages 67, 83, 19-5 and 303. 

 The following further information is contained in the 

 American Sugar Induntry, for April'l912: — 



A cone.spondcnt of the Chenukir Zeitung gives the 

 following account of the manufacture of dried sugar cane as 

 now carried out in Cuba under the auspices of the United 

 Fruit Company. 



In the so called bagasse factory situated in Preston, on 

 Nipe Bay, in north eastern Cuba, neither sugar nor cellulose 

 is made. The products of this factory are the so called 

 'fibre' and 'pith'. The 'tibre' is the bast like long fibres of 

 the cane, and the 'pith' i.s the fine cellulose fibres of the marc. 

 'J'hese two products combined contain the entire quantity of 

 sugar originally present in the cane. 



It has been found a very difficult niiitter to separate the 

 two very different kinds of fibre in the cane by one and the 

 same boiling process, because one kind requires a vigorous 

 chemical treatment which destroys the other kind. For this 

 reason the United Fruit Company has adopted the McMullen 

 process, in which the two kind.s of cellulose are first separated 

 and then treated separately to obtain their sugar and cellulose. 

 To boil the dry cane first and then separate the two fibres, as 

 is recommended in another process, is not the correct way. 



In order to separate the components of the sugarcane, 

 fibre and pith, the cane is first cut up by rotating, chopping, 

 and at the same time tearing knives, without loss of sugar. 

 The fragments are then quickly dried and subjected to 

 a second beating; the fibre and j)ith are then separated in 

 rotating .sieves. Analyses of these two sugarcane products, 

 wh:ch were exhibited at the Industrial K.xposJtion in Havana 

 in February of last year [see AgriculturaOKews, Vol. X, 

 p. .303], showed the following results: — 



After this mechanical separation, the components of the 

 sugar-cane are subjected to high pressure in a press and 

 shipped in the form of bales. If the moisture content 

 exceeds a certain per cent., the juice is pressed out of the 

 fibres with the result that there is forjned a compact solid 

 mass of the consistency of wood. This contingency must be 

 avoided in order to prevent ditficulties in the subsequent 

 operation. The cane being prepared in this form, further 

 operations can be carried out in Cuba itself, or in any 

 industrial district of other countries where there may exist 

 more favourable labour conditions, and where the cost of 

 obtaining fuel for heating is not so great.] — - 



The dried cane is utilized chittiy in obtaining sugar and 

 cellulose for the manufacture of paper, and it is reported that 

 considerable quantites of wax are obtained as a byproduct. 

 At the present time the sugar is obtained from this dried 

 sugar-cane by diffusion in a beet sugar factory at Madison. 

 Wisconsin. The fibre extracted from this material is then 

 worked up in a paper mill to cellulose. The quality of the 

 resulting cellulose lies between that obtained from straw and 

 that obtained from esparto — a species of Spanish grass {^fac- 

 rochlr.a tetiacissinui [synonym of Stipa tenacissima]), of which 

 cordage, shoes, baskets, etc , are made. It is also used in 

 making paper. 



At the present time the process employed in obtaining 

 the fibre is the soda process, but there exists a question as to 

 whether this process can survive, liecause large quantities of 

 chloride of lime are required for bleaching and the use of this 

 chemical is accompanied by decreasing yields. The two 

 situations together make the economic standing of the pro- 

 cess very doubtful. A better process is urgently needed, and 

 it is very likely that a new method which has been proposed 

 will give the desired results. 



The material called 'fibre' yields long, strong, bast-like 

 fibres The pith contains aliout 75 per cent, water-soluble 

 substances. Three-fourths of its weight, therefore, consists 

 of sugar. After extraction the crude fibre of the pith is found 

 to consist of cellulose, oxycellulo.se, and about 12 percent, 

 of lignocellulose, determined by the method of Dr. Renker. 

 The very short fibres of the pith are said to constitute a Tery 

 good material for the manufacture of nitro cellulose. 



The advantages of the McMullen process consist in the 

 fact that it permits sugar-cane, which can be kept only a com- 

 paratively .short time, to be subjected to a preliminary treat- 

 ment without affecting the quality and quantity of the sugar 

 it contains. It is thus put into a condition which makes 

 the factor}- manager independent of the season The cane 

 thereby acquires good keeping quality, is easily transported, 

 and ma}- be worked up in localities where fuel and labour 

 conditions are more favourable than in the tropics. It is self- 

 evident, says the correspondent of the Chendker-Zeitung^ that 

 if the McMullen process becomes capable of general introduc- 

 tion, it will bring about great changes in the sugar industry. 

 If, under favourable conditions, the cane sugar industry 

 becomes able to furnish cellulose for paper manufacuire, this 

 may mean that cane sugar will come to play an important 

 part in the European markets, since the profits on the 

 byproducts will enable the sugar to be sold at a lower price. 



DEPARTMENT NEWS. 



.Mr. F. \V. South, B. A., Mycologist on the Staff of 

 the imperial Department of Agriculture, returned from 

 St. Lucia by the S.S. 'Guiana', on April 26, afcer visit- 

 ing that Presidency for the purpose of making iiivesti- 

 gatioijs in connexion with plant diseases in the i-land. 



According to the Board of Trade Journal for March 28, 

 1912, it is reported by H. M. Consul at Dairen that for the 

 last two or three years attempts have been made to introduce 

 the Lima bean (Phant^olus lunatus) into Manchuria. It has 

 been found necessary, however, to abandon the attempt on 

 account of the expenses incurred in protecting the seedlings 

 from high winds, which, when added to other unavoidable 

 expenditure, render the venture unprofitable. 



