45 



vided the planter has an interest in the factory such a develop- 

 ment is to be looked for. 



The preparation of lime juice would then be separated from 

 estate's work, and the planter would have more time to attend to 

 the culture and manorial requirements of his lime trees. 



The highest commendation is due to those planters who by 

 making citrate, or by preparing a very pure concentrated juice, 

 are seeking to raise the quality and the value of the products of 

 the lime industry in Dominica. 



LIME JUICE CONCENTRATION. 



The following brief note on lime juice concentration has been 

 prepared by the Hon. J. C. MACINTYRE, of Dominica, and should 

 prove of interest : — 



The need for improving the quality of West Indian concentrated 

 lime juice has long been apparent, and during the last few years 

 attention has persistently been directed to this fact by Dr. Watts, 

 merchants, and others interested in the sale of the product. 



It has been pointed out that the great difference between the 

 price of Sicilian and West Indian juice, amounting usually to 

 about £3 perhhd.,* is very largely due to the indifferent prepa- 

 ration of the latter, for it usually contains large quantities of pulp 

 and foreign matter, and carbonized juice due to excessive concen- 

 tration. 



Efforts at improvement have usually taken the direction of 

 attempts to clear the raw juice and have invariably resulted in 

 failure for the following reasons : — 



(1) Raw juice takes long to settle, and therefore very large 

 storage capacity is necessary. This alone would render the 

 adoption of this method impossible on most estates. 



(2) Subsidence is never complete, it being only possible to draw 

 off as clear juice 60-65 per cent, of the entire quantity, and the 

 residue, a thick mass of pulp and oil, defies every effort at eco- 

 nomical treatment. 



It was not until attention was directed to clearing the juice after 

 distillation that any substantial improvement was effected. The 

 process of distillation removes the oil, and if the juice is then run 

 into subsiding vats, the pulp as well as a good deal of the gummy 

 matter contained in the juice, rapidly settles to the bottom along 

 with the heavier impurities. The supernatent liquid can, after 

 the lapse of a few hours, be drawn off perfectly clear, and the 

 remaining juice recovered from the sludge, with which it is mixed, 

 by the use of ' brewers' filters. 



These filters are merely canvas bags enclosed in one outer casing 

 of loosely woven twine. They are cheap, simple, and quite 

 efficient. 



* Market quotations are made as for a pipe of 108 gallons, of 64 oz. of citric 

 acid per gallon. West Indian concentrated lime juice is shipped in packages of half 

 this size, but inasmuch as the juice contains usually about twice the quantity of acid, 

 it is customary to regard the quotation as referring to a hogshead of West Indian 

 juice, and it has been so treated her 



