June i, 1883.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



959 



label two inches long as follows; — "Uliuus gras. Written 

 with lead pencil Aug. 20, 1879." On the other side was 

 written: — '-President Gale's suggestion." President M. P. 

 ■\Vildcr has since told the readers of the Rnrid Ncv) 

 Yorktr that be has used these zinc labels written upon 

 mth common lead pencil for many years. M'hen first 

 letters are written they so very indistinctly — just as if 

 written upon glass; but m a few days they grow more 

 distinct, and finally show as plainly as if upon painted 

 wood. Copper wire alone should be used, for the reason 

 that iron wire soon rusts, and the rust is washed over 

 the zinc. This label is so far free from objections that 

 we are now using if for all of oiu- plants as the old 

 wood labels wear out or the marking becomes indistinct. 

 Evaporating Feihts on a Small Scale. — Fruit raisers 

 who have a limited .supply of fruit often wish to know 

 of the facilities for doing the work of drying with their 

 own bauds without much outlay. AYe lately examined 

 the work of a neighbour who performed all himself. He 

 uses the American dryer, costing 75 dollars (formerly 40 

 dollars), which will di-y twelve bushels of apples m a day, 

 although much of his fruit is so wormy that he can 

 cut only nine bushels. A hundred pounds of coal does 

 the evaporating for twelve hours. Foui' horn's are re- 

 quired to complete the process, or four bushels at a time. 

 A bushel will make five pounds of evaporated fruit. 

 AVormy and defective apples will give only four poimds. 

 They are pared, cored, aud sliced by machinery. The 

 entire cost of dying is thi'ee cents per pound of dried 

 fruit. — A ustralasian. 



SUGjVB. 



The following table (taken 

 ants de Sucre) shews the aver 

 Bectioot worked each season 

 ZoUverein) : — 



from the Journul des Fubric- 

 age yield of Sugar from the 

 in the German Empire (or 



18-10-41 

 1841-42 

 1842-43 

 1843-44 

 1844-45 

 1845-40 

 1846-47 

 1847-48 

 1848-49 

 1849-50 



5-88 

 613 

 6-25 

 6-58 

 6-67 

 6-80 

 714 

 7 00 

 7-25 

 7-35 



1850-51 

 1851-52 

 1852-53 

 1853-54 

 1854-55 

 1855-56 

 1856-57 

 1857-58 

 1858-59 

 1859-60 



7-25 

 6-90 

 7-81 

 7-70 

 8-20 

 8-00 

 7-52 

 8-33 

 7-87 

 8-47 



1860-61 

 1861-63 

 1862-63 

 1863-64 

 1864-65 

 1865-66 

 1866-67 

 1867-68 

 1868-69 

 1869-70 



7-94 

 7-52 

 7-58 

 8'20 

 8-55 

 7-94 

 8-13 

 8-33 

 8-33 



1870-71 

 1871-72 

 1872-73 

 1873-74 

 1874-75 

 1875-76 

 1876-77 

 1877-78 

 1878-79 

 1879-80 

 1880-81 

 1881-82 



7-62 

 8-28 

 8-26 

 8-25 

 9-30 

 8-60 

 815 

 9-24 

 9-21 

 8-52 

 8-79 

 9-56 



This is truly a most remarkable record of the progress 

 attainable with patient science and skill. During the same 

 period almost complete stagnation has reigned in om- West 

 Indian Colonies, where, instead of improving the strength 

 of their plant year by year, and extracting every atom of 

 saccharine, as the Germans do with the Beet, the Cane 

 rather deteriorates than improves, and the Planters are 

 contended with extracting oue-thii'd of the Sugar in the 

 Cane in a semi-hquid state aud one-sixth more as molasses. 

 The resulting batUy-made Sugar loses 10 to 15 per cent 

 on the voyage to England, and then has to be sold 

 5s. io 10s. below the price of properly-made parcels. It 

 must be remembered, also, that up to eight years ago there 

 was no bounty on German exports, as the average yield 

 only corresponded with that anticipated by Government. 

 By far tlie greater part of the progress made was there- 

 fore aided by no extraneous causes, and even now the 

 bounties can only be obtained by the utmost skill in manu- 

 facture . If the German bounties continue and increase 

 for a few more seasons, their operation will compel reforms 

 in the West Indies which nothing else can. The West 

 Indian Planters, after throwing away two-thu'ds of the 

 money they might get from theu- land, have hitherto been 

 too prosperous to care to change, but when they are really 

 pinched, when the old wasteful system no longer pays on 

 a small scale, when estates are amalgamated, aud modern 

 macliinory set up — then, sooner or later, a period of almost 

 uuh(>ard-of prosperity would set in, and tlie Cane would 

 at last being to compete with the Beet, with a tropical 

 climate and 18 per cent of saccharine in its favour. To 

 aid tliis result, there is ample room for half a dozen West 

 Indian Committees, tlio more so as the one at home occu- 



pies so much time in the impossible task of getting 

 foreign bomities of 3s. per cwt. removed, at a time when 

 a large portion of its constituents ai-e year by year sacri- 

 ficing, certainly, one-half of their possible net income. 

 The produce of the islands is about 250,000 tons of Sugar 

 a year, worth, at 18s. per cwt., £4,100,000, and 125,000 

 tons of Molas.ses (and Rum made from it), worth, at 8s. 

 per cwt., £1,000,000; a total produce of £5,100,000. Tlie 

 same fields, mth proper machinery, would yield 500,000 

 tons of Sugar, worth, at 25s. per cwt., £12,500,000, without 

 counting otTal in the .shape of Molasses or Kum. 



The following, from Aatvre^ mentions a new sweetener, 

 of which the name will have to be shortened before it 

 becomes a serious competitor with Sugar, even if the public 

 were bold enough to put a coal-tar derivative into their 

 Tea : — " A new substance, remarkable for its intense sweet- 

 ness, being much sweeter than Cane Sugar, has been lately 

 founil by Dr. Fahlberg in the coiu'se of some investigations 

 on coal-tar derivatives (Jourit. Frank. Inst.). He designates 

 it 'benzoic suiphinide,' or ' anhydrosidphamine benzoic 

 acid.' " 



The American Grocer states that the Hon. Geo. B. 

 Loring, U. S. Commissioner of Agi-iculture, recently deUvered 

 a highly interestmg address before the Mississippi Valley 

 Cane Growers' Association at St. Louis. Speaking of the 

 extent of the Sorghum industry in this country and its 

 possibilities, Mr. Loring said : — " The fact that Sugar can 

 be made from Sorghum has been proved. That it can be 

 profitiddy made Professors Weber and Scovillo have 

 demonstrated, and have so declared to this association with 

 their figures before them. That there is a market for the 

 product, no man doubts. Whether it is a univer.sal crop 

 or not, time and experience alone can prove. AVho can 

 say, as yet, that this crop will take its place among the 

 special crops of oiu- extreme Northern and Eastern States, 

 or will occupy the place now filled by the Sugar Cane of 

 Hbe South? Nor is this important. Like all other agricult- 

 m-al products, the profit of Sorghum depends on locality, 

 soil, chmate, and the commercial status of the cultivator 

 as regards the ownership of his land ; whether he possesses 

 a plantation of thousands of acres or a small farm ; whether 

 he sets up his own Sugar mill and runs a Sugar plant- 

 ation, or depends upon a neighbouring factory for his market 

 of the crop from his few acres. We have a right to expect 

 that it will find its place, as every other crop has done, 

 aad will be accepted in its proper sphere, either for the 

 domestic supply of Molasses when convenient and econom- 

 ical, or for conversion into Sugar where circumstances 

 are favourable. It took many years for the gi'eat cotton 

 and woollen and iron industries to e.stablish themselves 

 and occupy the market, but their founders made their 

 goods, found their market, and pocketed their profits. They 

 worked with perseverance, economy, and great ingenuity 

 and skiU. You can follow their example." — Produce Markets' 

 Review. 



PSEUDO-GUTTA PEKOHAS. 



OB SUBSTANCES SITPPLESIENTAEY TO GUTTA PERCHA. 



Foremost amongst Pscudo-Guttas as we use the phrase, 

 stands Balata Gum. It is obtained from the Mimnsnps 

 Balata of Ga^rtner {Xat. Ord. Sapotacecp) and is sjTioymous 

 with the Sapota j/idleri of Bleekrod, the Achras liohtta 

 of AubUt, &c. It is found iu Demerara, Bcrbice, British 

 and French Guiana, Antilles, Jamaica, and Surinam. It 

 has many vernacidar names, amongst w'hich may be men- 

 tioned, Balata, Paardenvleesch (Dutch — horse-flesh), bullet 

 tree, &c. 



One of the fii-st writers on this substance was Professor 

 Bleekrod, who communicated .some information as to the 

 plant and its product to the Society of Arts, in 1857. 

 He, too, described the plant and named it Saputa Mvlleri. 

 In 18i)0 Sir. Walker communicatetl samples ^c., received 

 from Dr. Van Hoist of Berbice, to the same society, and 

 in 1864 Sir AViUiam Holmes also drew attention to tJie 

 same subject. The tree is a large one with a tnink of about 

 six feet iu diameter, aud furnishes a wood much liked for 

 buildhig purposes aud of the colour of horse-flesh — hence 

 the Dutch name. The baik is thick and rough, and the 

 fruit is of the size of a coffee beiTy, sweet like a plum, 

 and with a hard white kernel which yields a bitter oil. 



he leaves art: glossy, oral, aud accumiuated. Ilio milk is 



