Vol. X. No. 239. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



195 



SUGAR INDUSTRY. 



A NEW METHOD OF DESICCATION. 



A new nietbod of desiccation, for laboratory use, particu- 

 larly in relation to the drying of organic matters, is described 

 in the America/i Siu/ar Industry and Beet Sugar Gazette, for 

 May 1911. from Der Zeitscltrift fiir Ziickerindustrie in 

 Biihmen. It may not be out of place to give here an outline 

 of the process, which has been used chiefly for dehydrating 

 the beet and its products. 



The apparatus consists of a glas.s jar having a- capacity 

 of 2 or 3 litres, provided with a circular trough round the 

 rim, in which mercury may be placed, and into which a gla.ss 

 lid i.s fitted, making the vessel air-tight. The desiccator con- 

 tains a porcelain dish, or other support, on which rests 

 a coarse wire basket. The other apparatus required is a piece 

 of filter paper or fine silk gauze, laid upon a piece of wire 

 gauze of such a size that it can be easily lowered into the jar. 



The desiccator is filled with ether, at the bottom of which, 

 resting in the coarse wire ba.sket, are several sticks of ordin- 

 ary caustic soda. When the apparatus is lieing used for dry- 

 ing, the substance to be dried is placed on the filter paper or 

 the silk gauze, which is supported on the wire gauze, and 

 then lowered to within a few centimetres of the basket con- 

 taining the caustic soda; the vessel is then closed by means 

 of the lid, in the way described above. 



The fact on which the apparatus depends is that ether 

 will dissolve from 1'6 to 3 per cent, of water, according to 

 the temperature. In this way, it removes water from the 

 substance to be desiccated, and the mixture of water and 

 ether, being heavier than ether alone, sinks to the bottom of 

 the jar, where the water is absorbed by the caustic soda. In 

 any ordinary period of use of the apparatus, all the attention 

 required is to remove the solution of caustic soda from the 

 bottom of the jar, by means of a pipette, to replace the 

 dissolved caustic soda by fresh sticks, and to make up for 

 the loss of ether from time to time. 



It is claimed that such a desiccator, containing ether, 

 is more efficient and rapid in action than the ordinary form, 

 because firstly, ether takes up water more quicldy than this 

 is done by air, and secondly, the wet ether sinks to the bot- 

 tom of the vessel where it is dried by the caustic soda, 

 whereas moist air, in an ordinary desiccator, rises to the top 

 out of the way of the substance that is intended specially 

 for the purpose of making it once more dry. 



PURIFICATION OF CANE JUICE BY MEANS 



OF BURNT FILTiUR PRESS SCUM. 



The International Su'jar Journal, ioT May 1911, contains 

 a translation of a preliminary note by J J. Hazewinkel, 

 Director of the West Java Sugar Experiment Station, 

 describing work which had for its object the investigation as 

 to the possible efficiency of filter press scum, burned in 

 a suitable manner, for the purpose of purifying sugar-cane 

 juice, on account of the probable possession by the material 

 of properties similar to those of animal charcoal. 



On being burnt, the dried filter press scum gave 46 per 

 cent, of carbonaceous residue, which was treated with suitable 

 quantities of a dark syrup of 31 '.5° Brix., twelve times in 

 succession. Decolourization took place in every case, the 

 colour of the different fractions of the .syrup varying in 

 intensity from 25 per cent, of that of the untreated .syrup, in 

 the case of the first fraction, to 80 per cent, in that of the 

 twelfth. A determination of the average colour value of all 

 the filtrates together showed that more than one-third of the 

 colour had disappeared. It was not indicated by the colour 

 of the first fractions that a very considerable decolourization 

 would have taken place if the mixed filtrate had been once 

 more subjected to the action of the burnt scum. It is 

 claimed that the above figures show that, in practice, the work 

 could be done in batteries of three filters, at the most. 



Figures are given to show the capacity and time of 

 running of the batteries, with a given production of thick 

 juice. The calculation, however, assumes a certain rate of 

 filtration which may Ije greater than that in practice, and 

 that no large time is required for the reaction. In relation 

 to these matters, no investigations have been carried out as 

 }-et, so that there is still uncertainty as to the applicaliility of 

 the method on a practical scale. 



In the experiment, it was found that the juice must be 

 filtered hot, and that the burned filter scum should be 

 washed before being u.sed. Commencement has been made 

 already of the investigation of the applicability of the method 

 in practice. 



A report received from the Agricultural Superintendent, 

 St. Kitts, states that the reaping of the cane crop has been 

 delayed during May by constant showers; the general return 

 is, however, good, and the young cane crop is well advanced 

 and healthy. As regards cotton, a large area is being 

 planted for the coming season; some has been sown already, 

 and is making good progress. 



The .Japanese Government has adopted, in Formosa, 

 a system inspired by the Dutch in Java. Any company desir- 

 ing to estaV)lish a sugar factory must obtain the authorit)' of 

 the Sugar Bureau. There is an inspector for each district, 

 and the native cultivators (chiefly Chinese) cannot sell their 

 cane outside the district in which it is grown. The cultivator 

 must not use his sugar-cane for any other jmrposethan sugar- 

 saking (distilling is, therefore, forbidden), and he can only 

 mil it to the company having a control over the land. He 

 must not, under any conditions, create a mill of his own. 

 (The American Sii'iar Industry and Jleet Suyar Gazette, 

 April 1911.) 



With reference to the McMullen process for the manu- 

 facture of sugar from shredded and dried cane, the following 

 editorial note is contained in the Interiiational Sugar Journal 

 for April 1911: About forty years ago desiccating experi- 

 ments with beets were made in factories in Europe; but were 

 unsuccessful. Moreover, cane desiccation is by no means 

 a new idea, since many years ago eflbrts were made to dry 

 cane in the West Indies and ship the product to England, for 

 extraction there Thus British Patent 12,033 of 1848 

 describes a method of ' extracting the sugar from the sugar- 

 cane by first drying and pulverizing, and afterwards extract- 

 ing the sugar therefrom by passing water through it in 

 vessels'. This project was likewise a failure. 



