102 



The World's Commercial Products 



A STORE-HOUSE FOR BEETROOTS 



together with bacteria and 

 other air-borne organisms. 

 As the yeasts multiply the 

 liquor begins to " work," 

 and the fermentation is 

 allowed to proceed for two 

 days or more. When the 

 fermentation is completed 

 the alcohol formed is ob- 

 tained in the ordinary way 

 by distillation, various types 

 of stills being employed in 

 different localities. 



Fresh rum is not pleas- 

 ant, the characteristic aroma 

 developing with age. The 

 pure spirit is colourless, but 

 it is the custom to colour 

 rum by means of caramel, 

 usually made by burning molasses. In the West Indies rum manufacture is principally 

 practised in Jamaica, Demerara, and Barbados, although conducted on a small scale in other 

 colonies. Rum is also made in Mauritius, etc. In Java and other places in the East, the 

 methods adopted of making spirit from molasses differ in various ways, the ferment being 

 generally introduced in the form of the little balls known as " Ragi," the preparation 

 of which has already been described in dealing with the utilisation of rice as a source of 

 alcohol. 



Improvement of the Sugar-Cane 



From the proof in 1880 of the important fact that sugar-canes, contrary to what had 

 previously been thought, bore seed, efforts have been made to raise new races of superior 

 qualities to those already in existence. The credit of the discovery of the seed is shared 

 between West and East : between Prof. Harrison and Mr. J. R. Bovell in Barbados, and 

 Dr. Soltivedel in Java. Since that date seedling canes have been raised in large quantities, 

 cultivated experimentally, and some of them are now grown on an industrial scale in various 

 parts of the world. The Barbados canes, distinguished by the letter B, such as B. 208, B. 147, 

 Demerara canes, e.g., D. 95, and others, are now well known and appreciated, not only in the 

 West Indies but also in Queensland, Louisiana, and other cane-growing countries. Similar 

 work has been prosecuted in Java with successful results. Owing to the long period of time 

 required for the thorough testing of new varieties of sugar-cane and other difficulties, progress 

 must necessarily be very slow compared with the results from similar work on such a plant 

 as the sugar-beet, but definite advances have been made although the results are not so sen- 

 sational as were at one time hoped for. In the West Indies one of the most valuable features 

 of the seedling canes is their increased resistance to disease, so that they can be cultivated 

 in areas where the Bourbon, formerly the standard cane, can no longer be grown. 



BEETROOT SUGAR 



Beet-sugar, as has already been stated, comprises about six-tenths of the world's commercial 

 sugar crop. The sugar-cane doubtless still yields more than one-half the world's total produc- 

 tion, but India, for example, although it produces a large amount of cane-sugar, consumes it also ; 

 and India's output does not figure in the statistics of the world's commercial crop, to which the 

 sugar-beet is the greatest contributor. The sugar-beet, which is clearly thus one of the most 



