806 EXPERIMEISiT STATION KECORD. [Vol. 41 



Conference on the production and consumption of sugar within the British 

 Empire (.low: Soc. Chcm. Indus., 38 {1919), No. 15, pp. 287T-3lJfT, flg.'i. 2).— 

 This account of the conference on the production and consumption of sugar 

 within the British Empire, held in London on July 16, 1919, contains the pre- 

 liminary report of the Empire Sugar Supply (Technical) Committee with dis- 

 cussions of the sjime. The report consists of statistics on the prewar sugar 

 position of the British Empire as regards production, consumption, and the 

 quantity, nature, and source of the sugar imported or exported by each unit of 

 the Empire ; tlie economic sugar-producing possibilities of each unit, the most 

 likely localities for increased supply, and the kind of sugar required by the 

 various consumers throughout the Empire; and technical suggestions for the 

 development of the industry. 



The paper making' qualities of Hawaiian bag'asse, Arthur D. Little, Inc. 

 (Haicaiian Sur/ar I'hinters' Sta., Agr. and Chem. Bid Jf6 {1919), pp. 51). — This 

 detailed report consists of the follov.ing sections: General survey of the 

 question of the utilization of Hawaiian biigasse for paper making, discussion 

 of the various previous attempts to utilize bagasse as a paper making mate- 

 rial, description of the principal paper making processes, discussion of the 

 technique involved in handling Hawaiian bagasse for paper making with 

 special reference to the experimental results obtained, commercial aspect of 

 the paper making possibilities of Hawaiian bagasse, estimates of investment 

 and production costs, and tabulation of experimental data. 



Hawaiian bagasse fiber was found to have practically the same character- 

 istics as the fiber from Cuban bagasse. The fiber is somewliat shorter than 

 so-called soda pulp, the shortest bleached fiber in large-scale use in the United 

 States, and is thought to have certain points of superiority over it. Used 

 alone, it is suitable for book paper and certain grades of writing paper, but 

 it is thought that the widest application of bagasse pulp would be in admix- 

 ture with rag, sulphite, or soda fibers for the production of such papers. For 

 wrappings and other papers in which strengtli is the principal consideration 

 bagasse pulp is considered of little value. Failures of previous attempts to 

 develop bagasse as a paper making material are attributed, chiefly, to a lack 

 of comprehension of the characteristics of bagasse, and to attempts to convert 

 it into a grade of paper to which it was ill adapted. 



From experimental results obtained in the application of various pro'cesses 

 to different samples of Hawaiian bagasse, it was found that for the large- 

 scale separation of pith the bagasse should be given a somewhat finer shredding 

 than is necessary in the sugar mill, that the sulphate process with the spherical- 

 rotary type of digestion is best adapted for cooking the bagasse, and that the 

 pulp can be easily bleached with 15 per cent of bleaching pov/der. The rela- 

 tive yields of bleached pulp from different varieties of Hawaiian bagasse in 

 percentage of air-dry bagasse are estimated as 30 per cent for the Yellow 

 Caledonia variety, 2G.7 per cent for Hawaii 109, and 22.3 per cent for Lahaina 

 bagasse. No marked difference in quality of the pulp from the different sources 

 was noted. 



Estimates of investment and production costs on the basis of prewar condi- 

 tions as existing in 1912 indicate that a bagasse pulp and paper mill with a 

 daily capacity of 30 tons of paper would yield a net profit of 25.3 per cent 

 after deducting interest at 6 per cent on the total capital involved, and that 

 under the same conditions a mill with a 10-ton output might be expected to 

 yield a return of 15.6 per cent. 



Unfermented grape juice: How to make it in the home, C. Bearing {U. S. 

 Dept. Agr., Farmers' Bid. 1075 {1919), pp. 32, figs. 20).— This bulletin gives direc- 

 tions for the hoipf? preparation of unfermented grape juice. Descriptions are 



