Vol. V. No. 119. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



355 



SUGAR INDUSTRY. 



Jamaica. 



The Collector-General for .Jamaica makes the 

 following reference in his Annual Report for 1905-6 

 to the position of the sugar and rum industry in 

 Jamaica : — 



Since the abolition of the bounties'the sugar industry 

 in this island has shown considerable improvement. Stimulus 

 has been given to the industr}', which has resulted iu the 

 erection of better machinery, and closer attention to manu- 

 facture. Thus, the cost of production lias been cheapened, 

 ■whereby cane sugar is given a still further advantage over 

 beet sugar, which, owing to the higher price of roots in 

 Germany, Austria, and France, was produced this year at 

 high cost. 



One of the striking features in the year's figures is the 

 appreciably higher prices obtained for rum ; and judging from 

 the indications that are at present in evidence, the future of 

 Jamaica rum is most promising. The following extract from 

 a recent report by Mr. Xolan shows the success attending 

 the action taken under Law 26 of 1904 to protect .Jamaica 

 rum in the United Kingdom and elsewhere from imitation 

 and frauds of all kinds : ' The statistical position of Jamaica 

 rum was never better, and there is a good demand for new 

 arrivals of shipments. On account of the large quantities 

 of other rams on the market, .Jamaica rum would, at the 

 present time, be at least 3d. a gallon cheaper and difficult to 

 move, but owing to the prominence the article has received 

 in different papers, and other means of bringing it before the 

 public, I am glad to say such is not the case. This matter 

 of M. a gallon means from £1-5,000 to £20,000 to the 

 planters of the island for the year.' 



The Collector for the parish of Westmoreland 

 reports as follows : — 



The only works of improvement in the past year have 

 been the erection of new machinery upon Retrieve and 

 Retreat estates, respectively the properties of Messrs. John 

 Hudson, and W. H. and J. Farquharson. On these estates 

 the improvements have been considerable, and I understand 

 that without the wearisome night working they now manu- 

 facture more sugar than they formerly did. 



All the estates of this parish are ' hard about ' — some 

 are near the close of the crop and some are about mid-way. 

 The yield is, I understand, good, and it is expected that the 

 estimates will be realized. During December the price per 

 ton of canes from the small cane farmers was reduced from 

 10s. to 7s., on account of the bad yield due to the then heavy 

 rains ; since then the position has improved for the cane 

 planters, and now for the ordinary muscovado I understand 

 that 2,500 gallons of cane juice (liquor) go to the ton of sugar 

 on the estates in the eastern part of the parish. In the 

 western districts the yield is slightly better, 2,300 gallons of 

 liquor going to the ton of sugar. To make vacuum pan sugar 

 2,000 gallons of liquor are required to the ton. 



The growth of canes has been exceptionally good, and, 

 on account of the late rains, the yield has been high. Cane 

 cultivation by cane farmers — pen keepers and small settlers 

 — continues, and is increasing steadily. This industry 

 received a set-back in the drop in the price per ton of canes 

 in December last. The prevailing price is 8s. per ton, 

 delivered at the estate. The price, roughly, is regulated by 

 the price per ton of sugar ; £8 per ton of sugar means 

 Ss, per ton of canes. 



I understand that the ' high ether ' process in the 

 manufacture of rum associated with the Island Chemist is 

 being adopted by a few of the estates in this parish. 



The Collector for Clarendon writes : — 

 In spite of the abandonment of Chesterfield and 

 Perrin's in the southern portion of the parish, there has really 

 been no loss on the production of sugar and rum ; for these 

 places have been purchased by some of the proprietors of 

 Amity Hall factory, amalgamated with it, and used for 

 growing canes to supply the factory. A network of tram 

 lines now unites these places, so that there is now no 

 difficulty in conveying canes, cut in the most distant field, 

 to the factory. 



Economical Working of Molasses. 



In a bulletin recently issued by the Experiment 

 Station of the Hawaiian Sugar Planters' Association, 

 Mr. S. S. Peck discusses the composition of Hawaiian 

 waste molasses. The object of the investigation will be 

 learned from the following extract : — ■ 



Xo product of the sugar mill presents more interesting 

 or perplexing problems than the final or waste molasses. It 

 is not, of course, entirely without value, for it still has it3 

 uses as horse feed, fuel, fertilizer, or for conversion into 

 alcohol ; but, as far as the making of sugar is concerned, it is 

 a waste product. The bulk of the difficulties of the boiling 

 house is concentrated in the handling of these low-grade 

 products, and by their success or failure in this respect is the 

 true measure of the skill of the sugar boiler to be estimated. 

 In the mills of Hawaii, to each ton of sugar manufactured, 

 there are produced from 15 to 23 gallons of molasses of 

 a sucrose content averaging 35 per cent. It is, therefore, of 

 the greatest importance to be able to decide correctly whether 

 or not the attenuation of the molasses is complete, within 

 economic limits, and likewise to keep the amount of it down 

 to a minimum. 



The practical sugar boiler, with a correct understanding 

 of the behaviour of his pans and the limitations of his house, 

 can usually be relied upon to decide properly when the 

 economical working of a molasses ceases. It has assumed 

 a stickiness, or consistency, which his experience teaches hira 

 will not allow proper boiling, precluding the possibility of the 

 separation of any more grain. The question of what causes 

 this stickiness, or to what is the loss of crystallizing power 

 due, is a subject of much discussion. It has been variously 

 ascribed to ash, glucose, gums, and combinations of two or 

 all three of these. 



The following are the author's conclusions as to the 

 result of his inquiries : — 



(1) The ratio of glucose to ash does not serve as an 

 indication of the exhaustion of the Hawaiian molasses. 



(2) The limit of the further recovery of sugar is 

 established principally by the viscosity of the molasses. 



(3) The viscosity of the molasses originates with the 

 gums, and any method reducing the quantity of gums or their 

 stickiness makes for the possibility of further recovery of 

 sugar. 



(4) The ashes of molasses and the composition of the 

 ashes vary with the conditions of growth of the cane and 

 the amounts of lime used in the clarification of the juices. 



(5) A high salt content in the irrigation water increases 

 the potash and chlorine in the ash, but not to an appreciable 

 extent the soda with which the chlorine was originally 

 combined. 



