Notes. 13 



Molasses, the residue from the manufacture of sugar at the 

 mills, are being utilized in increasing quantities in the manufacture 

 of rectified spirits, industrial alcohol (including* methylated spirits), 

 motor fuel (Natalite), ether (anaesthetic and commercial), chloroform, 

 and a specialized article known as " Instanto," used as a liquid soap. 

 A wax is derived from the sludge obtained from filter presses, and 

 this residue is, in its turn, used as a fertilizer in the cane fields. 



The cane itself, after the extraction of the jviice, is used as fuel 

 in the mill furnaces, and in an efficiently running mill this 

 ■"' bagasse " is usually sufficient for all steaming purposes. There is 

 an impression that this use of " bagasse " is wasteful, as it is under- 

 stood paper could be made from it, but it is calculated that to replace 

 the bagasse would require 250,000' tons of coal which, at to-day's 

 prices, would cost, delivered at the mills, £375,000. At present 

 bagasse has a fuel value, compared with coal, of 10s. per ton. 



Acreage and Yield. 



The area under cane was returned in the 1918 census as 87,035 

 morgen. During* last season the area cultivated could not have been 

 less than 100,000 morgen. The cane used to produce the sugar output 

 was 2,278,000 tons. The yield of cane per acre varies considerably, 

 but is generally taken to average 20 tons per acre every 20 to 24 

 months. The quantity of cane required to produce a ton of sugar 

 also varies from year to year on account of climatic conditions, and 

 the duration of the crushing period; but the class of sugar made and 

 the efficiency of plants are the chief factors governing this figure. 

 Last season's practice showed that raw sugar could be made from as 

 low as 9.87 tons of cane, and white sugar made from as low as 10| 

 tons of cane. Taken as a whole (refining losses being excluded) the 

 average was approximately 11^ tons of cane to a ton of sugar. 



In this connection it is of interest to learn from a Renter message, 

 dated 31st August, published in the Press, that an official estimate 

 places the season's sugar production in Australia at 160,000 tons, 

 leaving a shortage in that country of 100,000 tons which will have 

 to be met by impoitations. 



Fruit Export. 



. The following is a return of the fruit shipped overseas on the 26th 

 November and 3rd December last, being the first shipments of the 1920-21 

 deciduous season. 



Variety. 



Apricots 

 Peaches... 

 Plums ... 



Total ... 



South African Wine in Competition. 



We are advised that at the recent Brewers' Exhibition, held in 

 London, Messrs. J. Sedgwick & Co., Capetown, were awarded nine 

 first and three second prizes, and Messrs. E. K. Green & Co., Cape- 

 town, two first, two second, and two third prizes for their exhibits 

 in the Colonial Wine Competition. 



