Vol. IV. No. 93. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



349 



CONCENTRATED LIME JUICE. 



Ascertaining its Strength by Means of 

 a Hydrometer. 



The following is the substance of a paper on the 

 above subject, prepared by Dr. Francis Watts for the 

 Dominica Agricultural Society: — 



In a previous paper submitted to tlie Agricultural 

 Society of Dominica, and published in the West Indian 

 Bulletin, \o\.\, pp. 236-40, I made suggestions for the use of 

 A hydrometer for ascertaining approximately the strength of 

 lime juice. In that paper it is stated that the hydrometer 

 and the table may be used to ascertain approximately the 

 strength of concentrated lime juice by carefully diluting the 

 concentrated juice with water to ten times its volume. 

 This may conveniently be done by accurately tilling with 

 concentrated juice a flask holding exactly 100 c.c, then 

 transferring this juice to a tlask holding 1,000 c.c. (1 litre), 

 and filling up the 1,000-c.c. Hask with water. The small 

 flask must be carefully washed out with water used for 

 diluting, so that all the concentrated juice measured in the 

 100-c.c. tlask is transferred to the larger flask. 



The hydrometer is floated in the diluted juice, the 

 reading noted and multiplied by ten to give the strength of 

 the concentrated juice. 



Thus, if the hydrometer floats at 1,029 in the diluted 

 juice, the strength is (approximately) 11 '04 oz. per gallon, 

 or, in the concentrated juice, 110'4 oz. per gallon. 



It must be remembered that with anything but pure 

 solutions the results are only approximately correct, but it 

 is believed that they will be sufficiently accurate to be 

 useful in ordinary estate practice. 



Since the above was written I have had an opportunity 

 of examining several samples of concentrated juice by the 

 method stated, and of comparing the results with those 

 obtained by titrating with alkali. It must be remembered 

 that even titration bj' means of alkali does not accurately 

 determine the true citric acid, but only the free acidity, which 

 may be due in part to acids other than citric. 



From this it appears that by means of the hydrometer 

 and the table a planter can ascertain approximately the 

 strength of the concentrated juice which he is producing, and 

 can introduce into his work a measure of control which has 

 hitherto been wanting. 



What is necessary now is that the planters shall persist 

 in the use of the citrometerin determining the point to which 

 juice is to be concentrated, and then that each lot of concen- 

 trated juice shall be tested by means of the hydrometer, 

 attt\ diluting as described above. The indications of the 

 hydrometer should then be compared with those of the 

 citrometer ascertained during the process of concentration. 

 Should the hydrometer indications be too high, the workman 

 should be instructed to boil to a lower degree on the citro- 

 meter ; should a higher concentration be wanted, he should 

 be instructed to boil to a higher degree accordingly. 



Very little care and observation on the part of the 

 planter will enable him to concentrate to any point which he 

 may fix upon as most desirable. 



My observations led me to conclude that in the past 

 there was a tendency in Dominica to concentrate to too 

 high a degree ; this was due to the impression that by 

 concentrating, say, 12 to 1, instead of 8 to 1, there is a great 

 saving of freight and packages. This is true in some 

 degree, but high concentration is accompanied by destruc- 

 tion of citric acid. If the freight and packages of 



a cask of concencrated juice cost, sav, £2, and .he juice be 

 worth, .say, £1.5, then a saving of one-third of tlie freight 

 and packages will eft'ect a saving of 13s. i'J. : a loss of 

 per cent, of acid will entail a loss of \os.. '.nd a loss 

 of 10 to 1-5 per cent, of acid may eu.aly occur Ji-om over- 

 concentration, entailing a loss ■ f 30s. to 4.5.^. 



iloreover, I am informed that the purchaser of 

 concentrated juice prefers to have his supplies ■■ ncentrated 

 to a moderate degree, concentration of from 95 to 100 oz. 

 being preferred to that of 130 to 140 oz. 



I can only repeat the advice which I have previously 

 given (see Wast Indian Bulletin, Vol. II, p. 309 i: 'Carry on 

 the concentration until the citrometer, when immersed in the 

 juice at boiUng temperature, shows a density oT 50'.' The 

 concent.^atcd juice tluis obtained will contain about 100 oz. 

 of citric acid per gallon: if, on testing the re.= i]ting juice 

 with the hydrometer in the manner described, \* is found to 

 be too highly concentrated, then a lower degree on the 

 citrometer must be taken as the point to which t' jncentrate. 



There will be ^-ariations in each district, ;o that the 

 correct point can only be found by experiment. 



With the combined use of the citromeior and the 

 hydrometer the planters have the means of producing 

 concentrated juice of a uniform quality, and of approximately 

 learning its strength. 



DEPARTMENT NEWS. 



The Imperial Commissioner of Agrimlture re- 

 turned from a visit to Grenada on Sunday, the 2Pth. 

 idtimo. The Iniperial Commissioner met the members 

 of the Agricultural Experiments Committee at 

 St. George's on Thursday, the 2Gth. uttimo, and 

 a number of important subjects connected with local 

 industries were discussed and advanced. A conference 

 of Cotton Growers and of those interested in stock 

 raising, arranged to be held at St. Vincent on Saturday 

 the 28th. ultimo, did not take place owing to the 

 C.L.S. ' Orinoco ' being thirty-six hours late. 



The Hon. Francis Watts, C.M.G., the Superintend- 

 ent of Agriculture in the Leeward Island.s, is expected 

 to arrive at Barbados in the R.M.S. 'Esk' en the 8tli. 

 instant, in order to confer with the Imper; ' Commis- 

 sioner in regard to the business of the t part,;ieiii;. 



COHUNE NUT PALM. 



Reference is made elsewhere in these columns to attempts 

 that have been made to obtain a machine suitable for 

 extracting the kernels from nuts of the cohune palm in 

 British Honduras. 



These nuts are the produce of a majestic palm, known as 

 Attalea Cohune, which is a native of Honduras. It 

 resembles somewhat the cocoa-nut palm, but does not grow 

 to so great a height and has much larger leaves and a thicker 

 trunk. 



The fruit is about the size of a large hen's egg, :i.d is 

 produced in clusters. The oil is said to be sujierior to 

 cocoa-nut oil and to realize a considerably higher price. 



It has often been suggested thct a remunerative 

 industry might be established in this product in British 

 Honduras, but, so far, the obstacle has been the absence of 

 a suitable machine for extracting the kernels from the hard- 

 shelled nuts. 



