THECUBAREVIEW 13 



Use of Ashes. 



The ash of sugar cane constitutes the mineral matter that has been taken out of the soil. 

 This usually runs about 0.48 % of the total weight, according to Payson's classical analyses. 

 Chemically this contains the following: silica, iron, aluminum, lime, magnesia, potash, sodium, 

 phosphorus, sulphur, chlorine, oxygen, water, etc. Of these various elements, the phos horus 

 and potash are the most valuable to the planter. Lime is also useful for many soils in correcting 

 the acidity, and occasionally in supplying that element, when it happens to be lacking in a par- 

 ticular soil. 



The cost of different fertilizers is governed ])y the percentage of these plant-food elements 

 contained. Phosphoric acid is worth $0.05 per pound (22 pesos per kilo) in crude fertilizers. 

 At this rate the value of this element recovered from a crop of 75 tons of cane per hectare would 

 be from 10 pesos to 12 pesos. 



PotashisvaluedataboutO.26 pesos per kilo and that removed with a crop of 75 tons would 

 cost about 25 pesos. The lime contained is a cheaper element but will not act as a detriment 

 on any soil, while on many it will be found very helpful. 



In spite of the great deficiency in these elements in the cane lands here, and the high cost 

 of commercial fertilizers, this waste material is not only neglected at the majority of the fac- 

 tories, but is actually thrown away, yet the same elements that command a high price in commer- 

 cial fertilizers are contained in these ashes. 



Filter-Press Refuse. 

 In the defecation of cane juice, certain chemicals are often used to precipitate the impuri- 

 ties, which are removed from the subsiders after the clear juice has been drawn off, and sent 

 to the filter presses, where it is filtered through heavy cloths. This material contains coarse 

 particles of bagasse, together with other impurities, including the lime and phosphoric acid 

 which were used in this work. The composition of the material depends upon the original 

 composition of the juice and the amount of the different chemicals that has been used in the 

 clarification. In any event, it makes a most valuable fertilizer because of the organic matter, 

 nitrogenous bodies, phosphoric acid, and lime that it contains. This organic material is an 

 ideal substance to be applied to the worn-out cane lands (which consist almost entirely of min- 

 eral substances) since it induces bacterial action, and during its decomposition certain acids 

 are freed, such as carbonic, nitric and organic acids. These have the power to act upon the 

 mineral constituents and thus liberate other plant-food elements. The filter-press mud can 

 very well be mi.xed with the bagasse ashes, and scattered about the cane rows as an almost 

 complete fertilizer for sugar cane, the only element lacking being nitrogen, which was lost in 

 the burning of the bagasse. 



It will be remembered that in the synthesis of sucrose, which consists of carbon, hydrogen, 

 and oxygen, there are none of the plant-food elements used which are sought for in commercial 

 fertilizers. These are used only in building the fibrous stalk of the cane and they may all be 

 recovered in the bagasse and cane-juice impurities. The carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen which 

 are used practically all come from the air and water. 



It is the custom today to cart this ash to piles or depressions some distance from the 

 factory. In some places it is thrown into the river, or cast into the sea — an absolute loss. 



Planters must not depend upon commercial fertilizers for their supply of plant-food ma- 

 terial, when there is such an abundance of natural fertilizer being wasted. The cost of the 

 artificial fertilizers in many cases is considered prohibitive and often unnecessary. In order to 

 build up a great sugar industry- here, the material at hand must be used, while money should 

 be spent for modern apparatus and equipment. 



Molasses. 

 The dark-colored viscous substance remaining after the large crystals of sucrose have been 

 removed is called molasses. This contains small crystals of sucrose, which has passed through 

 the perforations of the centrifugal screens, sucrose in solution, gluecose, fructose, and other 

 organic substances, such as pectin bodies, albumenoids, coloring substances, etc., besides the 

 inorganic matter constituting the ash upon incineration of the molasses. 



The composition of the molasses varies with the working of each factory, also with the 

 condition of cane, time of harvest, etc. The juice from green cane and that which has reached 



