Vol. X. No. 235. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



131 



SUGAR INDUSTRY. 



THE REDUCED SUGAR OUTPUT FROM 

 HAWAII. 



The output of sugar for the i^ast year in tbe Hawaiian 

 Islands shows a decided failing ort' from that of recent years. 

 The yield was 428,000 tons against .535,000 tons for the pre- 

 ceding year, and .521,123 tons for the year previous. Several 

 causes are ascribed as accounting for this result, two of which 

 are the scarcity of labour and the decrease in the artesian 

 water-supply. .Japanese labourers have almost entirely re- 

 placed the Chinese help on the sugar plantations, and have 

 become more or less independent, as a result of the abundant 

 prosperity in these islands. This has re-^ulted in higher jirices 

 for labour, and there has been one rather serious labour strike. 



The Hawaiian sugar planters are now turning to the 

 Philippines for relief, and are taking thousands of Filipinos 

 to Honolulu each j'ear, for workmg on the plantations of the 

 Hawaiian Sugar Planters' Association. This movement has 

 met with some opposition in the Philippines, yet it is con- 

 ceded that the number of labourers taken will not seriously 

 affect the labour supply here, and those who actually work 

 on the sugar plantations will be better fitted for the same 

 work when they return to the Philippines. The entire 

 population of the Hawaiian Islands is but little more than 

 half of the population of the city of Manila. The area planted 

 in sugar-cane is about 100,000 acres, or less than that 

 now planted in the Island of Negros in the Philippines. 

 However, the Hawaiian Islands derive a large income from 

 their sugar crop, on account of the high rate of production 

 and of modern milling methods, while the Philippines, with 

 a much larger area planted, export sugar worth only about 

 one-sixth of that exported from Hawaii. (From The J'liilip- 

 pine Agricultural Revieii\ Vol. Ill, p. 783. i 



EXPERIMENTS IN DRYING MEGASS. 



The Agricultural News, Vol. IX, p. 355, contained 

 a short article, abstracted from information given in the 

 Modern Sugar I'lanter, on the work of Professor E. W. Kerr, 

 of the engineering Department of the Louisiana State Univers- 

 ity, relating to the burning of megass in sugar factories, and 

 the drying of this before use. In the issue of the Mixiern .Sugar 

 Planter for January 14, 1911, a letter appears from Professor 

 Kerr, giving further results of his work. In this he 

 describes the drier as consisting maiidy of a sheet-iron rect- 

 angular box about 4 feet x 6 feet x 20 feet high, containing 

 .six inclined shelves at equal distances apart, from top to bot- 

 tom on the inside, each having an area of about 4 feet. 

 The megass travels downward from shelf to shelf on account 

 of the inclination which they possess, and because of a slight 

 shaking motion that is imparted to them. The drying is 

 effected by means of the heat from the furnace gases, which 

 are passed through the box from bottom to top, so that when 

 they are hottest they come into contact with the driest 

 megass. The apparatus for driving the gases through the 

 drier takes the form of a 50-kich induced draught fan, placed 

 near the top of the drier. 



In the experiments, the product from the drier was used 

 for a 100-h.p. boiler, and though it was found to be rather 

 small for thi.s, a large number of tests was made for the pur- 

 pose of comparing the fuel values of dried and undried 

 megass. When relatively small amounts of megass were 



passing through the drier, the moisture was reduced from 52 

 to 37 per cent.., the tests, when sufficient megass was pass- 

 ing to supply the boiler, showed an average decrease of 

 moisture from 54 to 44 per cent, which amounts to an 

 evaporation of about 18 per cent, of the original moisture in 

 the megass. The average temperature of the gases entering 

 the drier was about 490° F., and of those leaving it about 

 230° F. Figures are given to show that the mega.ss thus 

 dried had a fuel value larger by 46 per cent., when equal 

 weights of the two kinds of megass are considered. On 

 equal amounts of mega.ss, the increased efficiency, obtained as 

 the average of a large number of tests, was shown to be 19-1 

 per cent. 



From a mechanical point of view, the drier was found 

 to be satisfactory, although, as has been stated, it was not 

 quite large enough for the boiler used; and the outcome of 

 the experiments has been the gaining of suggestions for other 

 matters of improvement. As far as the burning of the fuel 

 is concerned, it was found that much higher furnace tempera- 

 tures were obtained with the dried product than with that 

 which had not been so treated, and there was the additional 

 advantage that a smaller draught was re(iuired for burning 

 the dried megass. 



PRIZE-HOLDINGS COMPETITION 

 DOMINICA. 



IN 



A report has been furnished by the Assistant Curator, 

 Botanic Garden, Dominica, on the Prize-holdings Competition 

 held in the La Plaine district during 1910-11. This is the 

 third competition of the kind held in the district; like the 

 others, it had for its object the encouragement of the adop- 

 tion of improvements among peasant cacao growers in the 

 La Plaine district. The competition comprLses two classes, 

 including holdings of bearing cacao between 1 and 4 acres in 

 extent, and those having an area under 1 acre, and contain- 

 ing not less than 100 trees of bearing cacao at proper 

 distances; the entries in these clas.ses were twenty-four and 

 thirteen, respectively, making a larger total than in any other 

 year. As formerly, much useful assistance was given by 

 Mr. Alexander Robinson, ex-Government Officer, and now 

 a planter, who acted as local instructor. 



Owing chiefly to Mr. Robinson's efforts, the competition 

 was a success. The holders now show a readiness to receive 

 and carry out instructions; most of them possess a proper 

 regard for planting at correct distances, pruning, the removal 

 of pods with a knife or with cacao pickers, and the use of 

 manures. In regard to the last, a tendency was shown to 

 bury animal manure in holes too near the trees. Suggestions 

 are given for the greater employment of lime, in the event 

 of this becoming available, and of green dressing plants. 

 It was found that many of the suggestions made during the 

 judging of the last competition, such as thinning of trees, 

 opening drains, reducing shade, and planting windbreaks, 

 have been carried out. It is a fact of .some interest that, 

 although the prize winners of the previous years were not 

 allowed to compete, the work on their holdings was being 

 done with care. 



The prize winners in this competition were as follows: 

 Class I, first prize, C. Barry and k. Lawrence; second prize, 

 C. Didier and E. Eloir; third prize, N. Laurent and L. Cuffy; 

 fourth prize, B. Sorhando, D. Barry and M. Sorhando. Class 

 II, first prize, R. Didier and M. Laronde; second prize, 

 O. Oscar and D. Alfred; third prize, M. Chassot, W. Laronde, 

 E. Laudat and R. Attidore. The cost of the competition 

 was £21 5.«. 



