THE CUBA REVIEW 



19 



THE SUGAR INDUSTRY 



however, the canes are not quite straight, bnt 

 are somewhat curved, or are mucli curved, 

 the quantity of cane contained in a unit of 

 volume is so much less than when the canes 

 are much bent, in which case the loss of weight 

 is greater. So that if the weight of a wagon 

 fully charged with very straight canes is 

 5,000 kg.^ in the case of another wagon of the 

 same capacity fully charged with very bent 

 canes, the figure would only be 2,800 to 300 

 kg. It will also be easily understood that 

 when the temperature is veiy high, and the 

 wind very strong, that the loss of weight is 

 greater than when the temperature is rela- 

 tively low and the air calm. 



Yet the loss in weight is not always in pro- 

 portion to the degree of deterioration. That 

 is to say, a lot of canes may lose considerably 

 in weight without being much changed in 

 composition, so that indeed the sucrose con- 

 tent might even appear to increase to a cer- 

 tain extent, though the coefficient of purity 

 would have duninished to a more or less 

 extent. 



Influence of the variety of cane. — -But there 

 is a point to which we would call the attention 

 of those interested, Y>'hich is that the deteriora- 

 tion of canes preserved under the same con- 

 ditions varies very much with the variety 

 used in the experiment. In fact we have had 

 occasion to compare five or six very different 

 varieties of canes, in order to ascertain their 

 relative degree of resistance to deterioration 

 under the ordinary' conditions of worldng; 

 that is to say, leaving them on the ground for 

 greater or less lengths of time after cutting, 

 and afterwards placing them in wagons also 

 during variable periods of time, while parallel 

 experiments were made when conveyance by 

 water in boats was employed. 



Now we demonstrated that certain varie- 

 ties are hardly altered even -48 hours after 

 cutting, whereas others undergo a very ap- 

 preciable deterioration after only foiu- of five 

 hours. It was also noticed that while one 

 variety loses but little in purit}', another 

 shows a comparatively great decrease, namely, 

 5°, 6°, and 7", the loss of eight in both series 

 being about the same, and the conditions 

 under which they were exposed being also 

 similar. 



When, therefore, one is examining the ques- 

 tion of the best cane to propagate in a certain 

 district, it is necessary not only to know the 

 yield per acre, and the sucrose content and 

 the purity of the juice, l)ut also to determine 

 their keeping qualities. Such an examination 

 must be made at cUfferent intervals of the 

 period of working, expecially if grinding lasts 

 4, 5 or 6 months, during which time there may 

 be atmospheric variations of heat, wind, etc., 

 that are often consideraV>le. 



For it is possible to have two kinds of cane, 

 one of wliich is distinctly richer than the other 

 at the time of cutting, but lioth of which 

 are of the same qualitj' at the mill, the 



first having altered considerably less than 

 tlie second. And the one which had the lower 

 sucrose content at the time of cutting, and 

 which has shown greater resistance to deterio- 

 ration, would be ])referred to the other, since 

 a juice having a i)urity of 83'^, and not having 

 undergone much alteration, would be more 

 readity worked up than a juice having a 

 purity of 85'^ to 88°, but which had lost a few 

 degrees of purity by deterioration. 



Experimental errors in cane investigations. — 

 Consequently, experimenters operating on 

 canes of different varieties ma}" arrive at very 

 different conclusions, due solely to the variety 

 of cane used in the ex-jjeriments and also to 

 the atmospheric conditions prevailing during 

 the tests. It is therefore important in such 

 investigations to state all the conditions, 

 namely: (1) the variety of the cane; (2) the 

 maximum and the minimum temperatures 

 and (3) the atmospheric conditions, that is 

 the velocity of the wind, and whether the 

 material was preserved in the sun or the shade. 

 Naturally (as indeed was done in the experi- 

 ments made at Barbados), precautions must 

 be taken to procure average samples by 

 analysing a large number of lots, thus avoiding 

 those differences which are sometimes con- 

 siderable and may lead to quite erroneoug 

 conclusions. 



For example, it is known that if 100 canes 

 are taken, and made au hazard mto 10 lots of 

 10 canes each, it is possible to find differences 

 in the sucrose contend -".mounting to 2 per 

 cent, and to 4*^ to d^ of purity. Therefore, 

 the experimental error is reduced by increas- 

 ing the number of canes analysed, and the 

 number of samples comprising a series. It 

 should also be indicated whether the canes 

 have been attacked by frost at a certain mom- 

 ent. Because in some countries the cane may 

 be subjected to the effects of a more or less 

 intense freeze, and frozen canes have a ten- 

 dency to deteriorate more rapidly than canes 

 not so affected, and the more so, the higher 

 the subsequent rise in temperature. 



Frozen Cane. — It is easy to recognize frozen 

 cane. After being submitted to frost for a 

 few days, deterioration in the upper part com- 

 mences, and to detect it the stalk is cut a little 

 below the first two or three nodes from the 

 top, the leaves being then removed. The 

 piece of stalk thus cut is split longitudinally 

 into two sections, and the point where the 

 stalk and the foliage commence is examined. 

 If the cane has been affected by frost there is 

 a more or less Isrown coloration, and some- 

 times when a cane has been strongly attacked 

 the coloration is dark brown or even black for 

 a length of 10 to 12 cms. (4 to 4i^,4in.), the 

 central portion being already decomposed. 

 These evidences of deterioration increase 

 gradually until the purity of the cane is much 

 lowered. And it has been noticed that cane 

 attacked by frost shows no further signs of 

 development, neither of weight nor of quality. 



