456 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [January i, 1886. 



deep fish, slashed across and across and dried, Tliis 

 JB a capital addition to a curry. Then there was 

 a fish in Sinhalese very much of the same name 

 as the ant-eater, " Kabbelawa" I think ; a small 

 modicum of smoke and less salt would make these 

 fish very like herrings. But I am only wearying 

 your readers, and will ouly mention that some en- 

 terpriziug individual, according to a recent letter 

 in a local paper, has heen rescuing coast sardines 

 from the manure manufacturer, putting them up in 

 tin, and shipping them to Europe. When tbesc 

 sardines appear in sucli immense shoals ay they do 

 on the east coast of Ceylon, at times so multitud- 

 inous that at the point opposite Trincomalee wliere 

 the lighthouse stands— Foul Point, is if:*— they can 

 be baled up in hand-nets, and surely some might be 

 cured iu some way, and turned into food. One would 

 ntiturally suppose that, when Government instituted 

 cuiiiig yards for fish, they would likely do it where 

 there are fish to catch and fishermen to catch them, 

 instead of at Hambantota, where there is neither 

 one nor the other, and plenty of sand drifting con- 

 stantly iu the windy, dry weather to spoil the lot 

 if it did ever come to anything. I will, if you t}nnk 

 it likely to interest anybody, demonstrate what I 

 mean by this assertion. And al.so, if you think fit, I 

 shall be happy to try ajid prove that the only way 

 to reduce the price of imported goods is to knock 

 on the head the "■ general emporiums" of Colombo, and 

 go into smaller concerns, each sticking to its own 

 last. — D. E. — Local " Times." 



WASTE OF FORTY PER CENT IN SUGAR- 



TO THE KJJITOR OF Tiii: *'l-ltoUUCE MARKRT.s' IlEVIEW. " 



Sir, — In a late iftsue of your valuable publication 

 I noticed with satisfaction some very opportune and 

 pertinent remarks made in the way of comment up- 

 on the "Circular of the Agricultural Society" of 

 this island, advocatiug the establishment here of 

 Central Sugar Factories, &lc. That circular is not free 

 from mibtukes in some particulars ; chief error, per- 

 haps, being found in the statement that "only about 

 tii lb. of Sugar and Molasses are obtained by the 

 process ordiunrily iu use in this island." It had 

 previously beeu said that "the Cane in Barbados 

 contains 18 lb. of crystal lizable Sugar in 100 lb. 

 weight of Cane." It would have been more correct 

 to have said, iu 100 lb. weight of juice ; and bett'T 

 pktill, "containing at lea.st 18 1b. of saccharine matter 

 iu each U lb. weight of juice;" for although thf o- 

 retirally, or by chemical aual3'sis, all the sacchariue 

 contained in the cane is crystaiiizable, it »:> not 

 possible to obtain practically any such result, a certain 

 proportion of the saccharine in the Cane juice being 

 inconvertible Sugar, yielding I\lolasses, and being 

 lost and wasted in the operations of converting 

 that juice into Sugar. The statement lust reTirred 

 to is therefore, to some extent, misleading. How- 

 ever, the chief mistake is in saying that ''6.', lb. 

 only of Sugar and Molasses, are obtained," ^c. It 

 should have been Qh per cent of Sugar only ; for 

 there are also obtained about 2'5 per ceut of 

 Molasses, making a total saccharine product of 9 

 per cent, got out of 18 to 20 per cent which does 

 exist in good Cane juice. Surely the case is bad 

 enough, without the argument beiug weakend by 

 inadvertent statements. 1 beg to forward to you 

 two slips cut from the Ai/ricidtKral Ueportcr of this 

 phice, and which give .•*omewhiit elaborate statements 

 and calculations, treating of the particulars which 

 have been referred to. The object of those articles 

 is to demonstrate, once more, that which should long 

 ere now have been an ailmitted certain fact, beyond 

 all question, all cavil, and disjmte — viz., tliat Caue 

 Planters who make Muscovado Sugars by the ordinary 

 l)^oceb.^, do not get, on an average, mure than (iO 

 iKT ceut of the saccharine which exists in the Cane. 

 They loio in absolute waste two-fift)is of the Sugar 

 in the plant, and they produce an imperfect, impure 

 article, of whioh, moreover, after all the expenditure 



of time, trouble and money used to get it, one- 

 tentli part is lost through drainage. Yet, who shall 

 convince such people that Beetroot Sugar, despite 

 artificial aids, lives upon sufferance, and thrives in 

 consequence of the apathy, ignorance and obstinate 

 adherence to routine shown by Cane Planters ? The 

 Beet contains naturally a far smaller proportion of 

 Sugar in its juices than does the Cane, but the 

 beet is induscrially nearly twice as productive as the 

 Cane. In the making of the Beetroot Sugar nothing 

 is lost, everything practically is gained; Cane Planters 

 lose iu sheer waste about one half of that which 

 Nature has placed in their hands; they will persist 

 in doing this, and instead of endeavouring to help 

 therosflves, they howl after fi.scal protection, which 

 they never will obtain. The Agriculturist Society of 

 Barbados and the most enlightened men in this 

 community are quite alive to the truth of the pos- 

 ition, and are anxious to avail themselves of the 

 advantages offered by the Central Factory sy.stem, 

 which is an application of the wise and efficacious 

 principle of a division of labour. But it is to be 

 feared that the most .sensible and business-Hke 

 propositions will fail to overcome the obstacles opposed 

 by ignorant prejudice and stupid self-sufHciency. 

 When there are planters who at this day will still 

 assert that they extract, with their absurdly inetficient 

 windmills and old rattletrap toy engines, of .'^o much 

 donkey-power, all the juice that it is possible to 

 obtain from the Cane (they get in reality 55 to tiO 

 per cent); when there are men, professing to know 

 their business, svho declare that they get a yield 

 from the Cane of 10 per cent and more in Sugar, 

 when the fact is they gee 6 or G\ per cent, it 

 is useless to throw away any effort iu endeavouring 

 to convert such peuple so utterly devoid of common 

 sense. They must inevitably be stamped out, and 

 make way for better and more useful men. — I am, Sir, 

 youfs faithfully, PracticA!. Pr.ANTER. 



■*^^* OwM correspondent's facts are confirmed by the 

 two recent letters he sends from the Karhudos Aqri- 

 ci'Hural Repori^T, treating of this matter in full 

 detail, and arriving at the conclusion that HO per 

 cent of the Sugar iu the Caue is extracted, and 4(1 

 per cent lost. At the same time, we can hardly 

 think that any but a minute fraction, if that, of 

 the Barbadian Planters take the views attributed to 

 them by " l*ractical Planter," or that they are so 

 blinded by prejudice to obvious facts as to deserve 

 the certainly severe remedy of "stamping out," which 

 he names as their inevitable doom. It is, indeed, 

 l)retty obvious that it is their poverty, and not their 

 will, which consents to the prosent deplorable .state 

 of things, and an assumed stupidity is often service- 

 able to those who do not wish to acknowledge lack 

 of cash. The Germans, either by the Strontium, 

 Substitution, or Osmosis ])rocc.s.ses, now extract the 

 whule of the Orystallizable Sugar from their Molasses, 

 and our Cane Planters can do the same. — Eo, P. 



SoLPiiiBE OF Por.A.ssiUM. — Your correspondent. Mr. 

 Badger, calls attention (p. 339) to the use of sulphide 

 of potassium against tnildew, red-spider, and a])liides. 

 Gishurst Compound among other ingredients contains 

 sulphide of sodium; a soluble sulphide has therefore 

 been a long time iu use. — The luveutor of Gishurst 

 iu the Gai-denrrs' Clironicfe. 



A PKOPitiKi'AiiY mtKPAuTiON brouglit out recently in 

 Germany under the name of '* Eichelcacao " (acorn 

 cocoa), and which has been reported on favourably as 

 yiehling a beverage that has been found useful in 

 cases of chronic diarrhi^n. especially in children, is 

 described (PlifUin Ztit., Oct. 24) as consisting chiefly 

 of cacao powder and an aqueous extract of roasted 

 acorns, together with sugar and roasted flour added 

 for flavouring purjjoses. It is said to form a brownish 

 powder, with a slightly astringent tnste, whicli is 

 accounted fur by the fact that Professor Fresenius 

 has found it to contain nearly 2 per cent of tannic 

 acid, — I'kannaftutical Journal. 



