lO 



A'A TURE 



[May 2, 1901 



for a moment be questioned ; it means much more than 

 that we shall be able to telephone to America ; it means 

 that we shall be able to telegraph at the speed of the 

 automatic transmitter. The present speed of Trans- 

 atlantic telegraphy is something like 20 words a' minute, 

 and there are 12 duplexed cables having, therefore, a 

 carrying capacity of about 500 words a minute. A 

 single distortionless cable, built op Dr. Pupin's plan and 

 working with an automatic transmitter, would have, 

 therefore, a carrying capacity equal to that of all the 

 existing cables. 



INDIGO AND SUGAR. 

 'T'HE Behar Sugar Commission, which was appointed 

 -*■ in October of last year to see whether improvements 

 might not be made in the cultivation and manufacture of 

 cane sugar, has completed its task. The report has been 

 issued with commendable promptitude — scarcely five 

 months having elapsed from the appointment of the 

 Commission to the presentation of its report. The Com- 

 mission was primarily appointed because of the perilous 

 position of the indigo industry, to see whether it might 

 not be possible to grow the sugar cane and indigo crops 

 in rotation. 



The Ti'wfj- of April 15 contains an article upon this 

 report. One thing the Commission seems to have made 

 clear is that the methods employed in the sugar industry 

 have been on the same happy-go-lucky slip-shod fashion 

 as those until lately used in the manufacture of natural 

 indigo. The yield of sugar per acre in India averages 

 about one ton, whereas in Barbadoes it is three tons, and 

 four tons are obtained in Java. 



The Indian Government, taking alarm at the great in- 

 crease in the imports of beet sugar and wishing to aid 

 the indigenous planter, imposed countervailing duties in 

 March 1899. The duties have apparently failed in their 

 object, as the imports of beet sugar for 1900 were greater 

 than for 1898. It would appear that very little attempt 

 has been made in India "to treat the soil or plant the 

 canes on scientific principles," and that the methods of 

 refining the sugar are rough, crude and wasteful, so that 

 under such conditions the yield of the finished article is 

 not what it should be, and the quality is poor ; Indian 

 sugar is, therefore, unable to compete with sugar refined 

 by modern scientific methods and appliances. 



It is further stated that there is an increasing tendency 

 in India to prefer sugar which has been refined to un- 

 refined sugar. The Commission recommend the em- 

 ployment of modern and up-to-date apparatus. We are 

 glad to note that they do not recommend indiscriminate 

 help to the individual planter or refiner, but suggest that 

 such assistance as is desirable should be given in helping 

 systematic experiments at a central station. 



Turning now to the indigo industry, which was the 

 primary cause of the appointment of the Commission, we 

 find that the indigo planter, now thoroughly alive to the 

 danger which threatens him, is exerting himself to im- 

 prove the yield of indigo. In the first place, by the 

 employment of artificial manures, principally superphos- 

 phates, an increased plant production of from 50 to 100 

 per cent, has been obtained. In manufacturing indigo, 

 it will be remembered (N.\TURE, November i) that it 

 is usual, when the plant has reached maturity, to cut it 

 near to the ground and to steep the whole plant. After 

 a few months the fresh shoots which have sprung up are 

 again cut, but the yield of indigo from this second crop 

 is inferior to that obtained from the first. It has been 

 suggested, seeing that almost the whole of the colouring 

 matter is contained in the leaves, that the plant should 

 not be cut down, but that the leaves only should be 

 stripped off and steeped. It is calculated that four or 

 five strippings could be obtained during the manufacturing 

 NO. 1644, VOL. 64] 



season, and thus a very much larger quantity of indigo 

 would be produced than by the methods at present in 

 vogue. 



The old beating process for oxidismg the liquors 

 obtained after the plant has been steeped is gradually 

 being replaced by the use of the "blower." In this 

 method air is blown through a number of perforated pipes 

 which are placed at the bottom of the vats, with the 

 result that oxidation is more rapid and complete, and 

 about 25 to 30 per cent, more colouring matter is pro- 

 duced than by the old process. Mr. Rawson, in addressing 

 a meeting of those interested in the indigo industry at 

 Calcutta on February 20, said that the output of indigo 

 in North Behar last year amounted to about 60,000 

 maunds,' and that at least 12,000 maunds more would 

 have been produced had the new " blowing " process 

 been employed. 



A manufacturing industry, such as that of indigo, which 

 is to a large extent dependent upon atmospheric con- 

 ditions, has naturally seen many dark days. But when 

 the supply has been short there has generally been an 

 enhancement in prices. The Commission is of opinion 

 that a rise of price owing to bad seasons or short sup- 

 plies can no longer be looked for, and say in their report : 

 " It is reasonable to anticipate that the competition of 

 synthetic indigo will prevent any future increase in the 

 price of vegetable indigo, that it will soonest and most 

 injuriously affect the finest and most expensive indigo, 

 which is that of Behar, and cause a further reduction in 

 price, which would hardly clear the planter in a good 

 season, while a bad season would be ruinous to him." 

 They go on to say, " it is obviously expedient that indigo 

 planters should possess in sugar and other products re- 

 sources which, if they are carefully and intelligently 

 utilised, will enable them to contemplate the future of 

 indigo with equanimity." 



In order to aid the Indian indigo industry, the Bengal 

 Cjovernment has formally agreed to grant an annual sub- 

 sidy of 50,000 rupees for three years for further chemical 

 and scientific researches with regard to indigo culti- 

 vation. 



Indigo planters claim that at present the natural dye 

 can be placed on the market at prices which can under- 

 sell the synthetic product. This is good news, but it is 

 difihcult to see how it is in the long run to hold its own 

 against the artificial product, which is of uniform quality, 

 requires no grinding, and is unafifected by vicissitudes of 

 weather. 



Prof Armstrong, in a long letter to the Times., says 

 that " The truly serious side of the matter, however, is 

 not the prospective loss of the entire indigo industry so 

 much as the fact that an achievement such as that of the 

 Badische Company seems to be past praying for here." 



Whether or not the natural indigo industry is to become 

 a thing of the past remains to be seen, but if the replace- 

 ment of natural mdigo by a synthetic article produced in 

 Germany leads British manufacturers to realise more 

 fully the importance of trained scientific assistance, the 

 decline, although in itself a great calamity, might not be 

 entirely without its compensations. 



Since writing the abo\e, I have received a copy of an 

 address upon "The Synthesis of Indigo," delivered by 

 I'rof Meldola before the Society of Arts on April 17. In 

 introducing the subject Prof Meldola says that it is now 

 often considered unpatriotic to " call public attention to 

 any branch of industry in which we are being beaten by 

 foreign competitors." He, however, considers that "The 

 real enemies of British industry are those who, by virtue 

 of their positions as politicians, economists, or as men of 

 science, try to blind the public and to allure the manu- 

 facturer and merchant into a fool's paradise of false 

 security." 



^ The Bengal factory maund is 74*66 lbs. 



