36 



THE CUBA REVIEW 



THE SUGAR INDUSTRY 



MESSCHAERT JUICE GROOVES 



In the Louisiana Planter, Mr. P. IVless- 

 chaert gives an account of the results obtained 

 in the use of rollers grooved as he recommends, 

 and also details further experiments in at- 

 tempts to extend the ajaplication of the sys- 

 tem he advocates. 



In the first instance the application of the 

 grooves was recommended to apjjly to the feed 

 rollers. As the result of employing rollers 

 grooved as recommended, it is found that the 

 juice flows away easily from a grooved roller, 

 passing out by the back as well as the front 

 of the feed roller; the amount of the fine trash 

 that is pressed into the grooves is said to be 

 small, and to be easily removed. 



It is further stated that as the result of 

 applying the grooves, the running of the en- 

 gine "driving the mills became much more even, 

 that it was possible to grind some 10 per cent. 

 more cane for the application of the same 

 amount of steam power, and that the resulting 

 megass was much more even in quality, pre- 

 senting greatly diminished fluctuations, both 

 in the sugar and the water contents. 



It is stated that grooving enables large 

 quantities of maceration water to be used 

 without difficulty. 



The most marked improvements have been 

 obtained, as might be ex-pected, from the ap- 

 plication of the system to those mills doing 

 less perfect work; more perfect mills present 

 less margin for improvement. 



In order to increase the extraction (crush- 

 ing) when grooves are introduced, all that is 

 necessary is to close the rollers until the me- 

 gass begins to refuse to feed freely; this is 

 said to be the main point to observe to make 

 the system a success. Tables are given, show- 

 ing the changes in the dimensions of the feed- 

 opening in the case of six sets of mills in 

 Hawaii. 



As the result of experience, the author now 

 recommends "to give the juice grooves not 

 more than 23/2-inch pitch and J4-inch width. 

 It is safe," he states,"to make them 1 }4 inches 

 deep, in 34-inch and 36-inch rollers. In 

 30-inch rollers, 1 inch depth is sufficient, with 

 the same width and pitch, as these mills have 

 so much smaller capacity in proportion to the 

 length of the roller. One inch depth is 

 enough as the bagasse does not press more 

 than }i-mch. or ^-inch deep in the groove, 

 and is released by its own elasticity after 

 passing the point of pressure A small amount 

 stays in the grooves and is easily removed by 

 the scrapers." 



Some experiments have been made in groov- 

 ing the discharge rollers, and further im- 

 provements appear to result from this. In 

 one instance the "discharge roller of mill 4 was 

 turned smooth and only juice grooves 3^-inch 

 wide, l^-inch deep, and 1-inch pitch put in. 

 This fourth mill now did better work than 

 ever and gave a better extraction, but it has 



been in operation too short a time to say how 

 it will stand wear." 



The writer goes on to say that "the top 

 roller should always be kept rough as it has to 

 pull the bagasses over the returner bar, and 

 we keep the surface grooves of ^^-inch pitch 

 on them." 



Appended to the paper are reports of six 

 engineers and managers giving their experi- 

 cene in employing grooved rollers, and from 

 these it is evident that considerable gains in 

 efficiency have been experienced. 



MANY CANE FIRES 



A fire broke out recently at the ingenio San 

 Simon, near Melena del Sur, and about 130,- 

 000 arrobas of cane were destroyed. The 

 origin of the fire is unknown. 



A fire in the cane fields of the Colonia Las 

 Palmas at Melena del Sur destroyed about 

 40,000 arrobas of cane. The fire is supposed 

 to have originated from a spark from a passing 

 locomotive. 



About three hundred thousand arrobas of 

 cane were destroyed at the ingenio San 

 Antonio Guantanamo, and it is believed that 

 the fire was the work of an incendiary. At 

 tills same ingento some individual attempted 

 to wi-eck one of the crushing engines by throw- 

 ing a huge ingot of iron into the works, luckily 

 the machine was stopped before damage was 

 done. 



About 20,000 arrobas of cane were de- 

 stroyed at the Central Tinguaro by a fire 

 which is thought to have been accidental. A 

 fire is also reported from the Colonia Sitic 

 Vieja in Santa Cruz del Sur, in which 120,000 

 arrobas were destroyed, and in this latter case 

 the rm-al guards are investigating the cause. 



It is reported from Guanatanamo that a 

 serious fire took place at ingenio Santa CeciUa. 

 Incendiaries were suspected and rural guards 

 have been sent to the spot to make investiga- 

 tions. 



SUGAR EXPORTS FROM GERMANY 



"The Imperial Office of the Interior has 

 given orders that no permit for the exporta- 

 tion of sugar shall be granted in the future. 

 Such products containing sugar which have 

 been granted permits for export may still be 

 exported." — Deutsche Zukor-Industrie. 



