21 



who have attempted ratooning secured such light yields that it is 

 doubtful whether this system is profitable. 



Yield. — Yields of 8 tons per hectare have been produced in Pam- 

 panga and the present average of but little over 2 tons is far below 

 what it would be if improved methods were used. 



The Spanish Government maintained an experiment station at Ma- 

 galang on the north slope of Mount Arayat. Here they had a small 

 sugar mill and did some experimental w.ork with cane. D. Manuel 

 Soto, the director of this station, undertook in 1895 and 1896 to show 

 the value of applying lime and using irrigation on eight plots with 

 the following results :^ 



Mills. — With only two exceptions the mills of the province are very 

 small in size, have only three rollers and are propelled by aninjal 

 power or small steam engines. 



The evaporating apparatus consists of a series of cast-iron kettles set 

 in a furnace and fired with the cane trash which is taken from the mill, 

 placed in the sun to dry and returned to the furnace room for fuel. It 

 is never sufficient in quantity for firing the steam boiler and evaporating 

 kettles. The mill is generally run independently and wood is used as 

 fuel for the boiler at considerable expense, averaging as much as 'P3.20 

 per ton. 



After the juice has been evaporated down to a thick, heavy mass, it is 

 poured into a large earthenware jar (pilon), holding about an average 

 of 63.25 kilos (1 picul or 137^ Spanish pounds) of sugar. These are 

 then set in wooden troughs so that the molasses contained in the sugar 

 will drip through the hole in the bottom of the pilon and run into a 

 vessel placed at the end of the trough. For the best grades of sugar, the 

 dripping is continued during a period of several months and sometimes 

 is hastened by applying a thin layer of clay on top of the sugar 

 and pouring water over this so that it slowly percolates through the clay 



' Boletin oficial Agrfcola de Filipinas, Tomo III, p. 129. 



