38 



THE CUBA REVIEW 



INFORMATION FOR SUGAR PLANTERS 



MOLASSES NOT A GOOD FERTILIZER FIRE INJURY TO CANE ANALYZED 



A SUGAR MERGER 



■ USE OF MOLASSES HARMFUL 



As the result of experiments on the sub- 

 ject of the use of molasses in cane culti- 

 vation, Mr. S. S. Peck concludes that mo- 

 lasses applied to land which is receiving 

 the usual fertilizer applications as prac- 

 ticed in Hawaii does harm. It causes a 

 part of the nitrogen applied as nitrate to 

 revert back to less available or unavail- 

 able forms of nitrogen, by checking the 

 nitrification of sulphate of ammonia dress- 

 ings, and by retarding the ammonification 

 and nitrification of the nitrogen of organic 

 fertilizers. This harmful efifect is stated 

 to be entirely due to the organic constitu- 

 ents of the molasses, the mineral matters 

 having no influence. Dressing with car- 

 bonate of lime does not correct the adverse 

 action of the molasses. — West India Com- 

 mittee Circular. 



DETERIORATION IN BURNT CANE 



The burning of sugar cane either by ac- 

 cident or design has assumed large pro- 

 portions in Cuba this year and has attracted 

 general attention. In Australia there has 

 been likewise considerable destruction of 

 cane in this way and to such an extent 

 that at the Australian Sugar Producers' 

 Association conference recently there was 

 considerable discussion. The injury to the 

 cane by fire is thus summed up by the 

 Australian Sugar Journal and copied in the 

 Agricultural Nezvs : 



"Recent analyses have shown that losses 

 from burning occur to the following ex- 

 tent. In the? first place there is a loss in 

 weight which is never less than 4 per cent 

 and, on the average, probably as high as 6 

 or 7 per cent. Accompanying this, there is 

 an increase in the percentage of fibre 

 which leads to corresponding difficulties as 

 regards extraction. Moreover, the deterio- 

 ration in the field is more rapid in the case 

 of burnt canes than in the case of green 

 canes cut an^' left in the same way. 

 Furthermore, an average interval of three 

 days between burning and milling causes a 

 minimum average reduction in value of 20 

 per cent. In one experiment, during ten 

 days the following changes were found to 

 have taken place : on the day of burning 

 the analysis was : Brix., 24.19 ; sucrose, 

 sucrose, 22.36 ; quotient of purity, 92.43 

 glucose, 1.41 ; glucose ratio, 1.83 ; per cent 

 sucrose in cane, 17.92. On the tenth day, 

 analysis gave the following result : Brix., 



20.59 ; sucrose, 14.95 ; quotient of purity, 

 72.61; glucose, 4.17; glucose ration, 37.89; 

 per cent sucrose in cane, 10.07. 



"It is stated further that practical expe- 

 rience supports the above figures, since on 

 several estates it is taking from 10 to 12 

 tons of burnt cane to make a ton of sugar, 

 whereas of green cane only 7 tons are re- 

 quired." 



An iron skeleton frame on the Toledo sugar estate, 



Havana Province, used to cool the condenser 



water from the mill. 



A LOUISIANA SUGAR MERGER 



Irf the March issue of the Gulf States 

 Banker appeared the report of a tenta- 

 tive plan for the formation of the Louisi- 

 ana Cane Sugar Company, a $60,000,000 

 holding company to be organized in case 

 the tariff reduction on sugar should turn 

 out to be a moderate one. The company 

 would put all the sugar interests under a 

 single i^D management, and cut down the 

 number of factories in the State from 168 

 to 50. 



Sol. Wexler, vice-president of the Whit- 

 ney-Central Bank, prepared the prospectus 

 asking an inventory of each factory. He 

 further contemplates the organization of a 

 subsidiary company with a capital of $1,- 

 000,000 to be known as the Agricultural 

 Credit Company, the object of which will 

 be to furnish growers of cane entitled to 

 credit with the necessary funds for the 

 carrying on of their planting operations. 

 These advances will be made at the lowest 

 rate of interest and without any commis- 

 sions or other charges. 



The Cuba Railroad will soon build a 

 handsome station at Manzanillo, Oriente. 



