SUGAR PRODUCTION IN THE NORTH-WEST FRONTIER 

 PROVINCE, INDIA. 



By W. ROBERTSON BROWN. 



Superintendent of Agriculture, North-West Frontier 

 Province. 



AND 



J. WALTER LEATHER, Ph.D., F.I.C. 

 Imperial Agricultural Chemist, India. 



AT the present time the sugar supply of this Province 

 is derived from locally grown cane and imported sugar. 

 The former crop ripens in December, and is crushed 

 during December and January in the villages, and the 

 juice is boiled down to the crude sugar called gur. The 

 season over which the standing crop is available is less 

 than two months, which is too short a period to admit 

 of a factory paying. 



Three years ago several varieties of sugar-beets were 

 sown, and of these several specimens were found on 

 maturity to furnish upwards of 20 per cent, of sucrose. The 

 experiments have been -extended somewhat during the 

 past two years, and these have shown that the crop grows 

 well and is of fairfy good quality. In 1913 the average 

 samples of two crops furnished 147 and 14*2 per cent, 

 of sucrose respectively, expressed on the root; the glucose 

 was 0*07 per cent, in each case. Individual roots con- 

 tained as much as 18 per cent, of sucrose. The present 

 year's crops have been grown from both German and 

 French seed, and average samples of the roots have 

 contained 16 and 14 per cent, of sucrose respectively. The 

 weight of the crops has varied from 10 to> nearly 20 tons 

 per acre. Thus the experiments have demonstrated 

 that the crop will grow well, and there is a considerable 

 prospect that an average quantity of 15 per cent, of 

 sucrose might be obtained on the large scale, especially 



