12 



THE CUBA REVIEW 



THE SUGAR INDUSTRY 



THE MOLASSES PROBLEM IN CUBA 



An importaat p;ii)cr l)y Mr. Noel Deerr on 

 the Cuban sugar industry is reproduced in 

 the latest issue of the West Indian BuUelin 

 (the official organ of the Department of 

 Agriculture of the West Indies), and includes 

 the following observations on the molasses 

 problem in that country. Mr. Deerr argues 

 that the price obtained normally for molasses 

 is not reasonably high enough if one works out 

 the value of molasses on the basis of its in- 

 dustrial potentialities, which include the 

 manufacture of alcohol, potash (both very 

 important just now), and nitrogen. To 

 these might be added the utilization of molas- 

 ses directly on a large scale in pig-raising, 

 and its employment in the manufactiu'e of 

 acetone, used in the preijaration of ex])losives. 

 Mr. Deerr says:^ — • 



"Connected intimately with the well-being 

 of the cane-sugar industry in Cuba is the 

 molasses problem^. At the ])resent moment 

 the molasses production in the 178 factories 

 in Cuba is sold at rates varying from 2 1-3 to 

 4 cents per gallon, and this may, on an average, 

 be estimated to give the sellers a profit of one 

 cent per galloI^. I do not think this profit is 

 reasonable, and I particularly wish to place 

 before you the facts as to the molasses an- 

 nually produced in Cuba. 



"For the crop of 1913-14, the sugar j^ro- 

 duction of Cuba was very nearly 2,600,000 

 tons; at a low estimate this must have pro- 

 duced 40 gallons of molasses per ton of sugar, 

 or, in all, 100,000,000 gallons of molasses. 

 With the most modern processes of fermenting 

 and distillation, these 100,000,000 gallons of 

 molasses could have produced 40,000,000 

 gallons of commercial alcohol; in actual prac- 

 tice at the present time, as a source of power, 

 alcohol is worth, bulk for l)ulk, 60 per cent, 

 of gasoline; these 40,000,030 gallons of alcohol 

 would thus be equivalent to 24,000,000 gallons 

 of gasoline, worth 36 cents per gallon, or a 

 total of $8,640,000. This would give to 

 alcohol a value of 23 cents per gallon, and 

 enable it to compete with gasoline. 



"In addition to the sugar in the molasses, a 

 very great proportion of the potash removed 

 from soil by the crop of cane is to be found in 

 the molasses. I have not available any 

 analysis of Cuban molasses showmg the per- 

 centage of potash, but in all probability this 



will not be below 3 per cent. The 100,()0(),()0() 

 gallons produced for the cro]) of 1913-14 in 

 ('ul)a will weigh in all 600,000 tons, so that 

 this molasses will contain 18,000 tons of 

 potash. The present price of sulphate of 

 potash in Cuba is $55 per ton, which would 

 give to the potash a value of $110 per ton. 

 The 18,000 tons of potash contained in the 

 molasses have, then, a value at the ciu'rent 

 price of $1,980,000. 



"In addition to the potash, molasses con- 

 tains a small but very appreciable quantity of 

 nitrogen, which I will, in the absence of de- 

 tailed analysis of Cuban molasses, take as 

 being 0.5 per cent.; then there is contained in 

 the molasses, 3,000 tons of nitrogen, having a 

 market value of $1,200,000 when valued as a 

 commercial fertilizer. 



"In addition there is a small q\iantity of 

 phosphoric acid in molasses, which will not 

 l)e taken into accoimt. 



"The following tal)ulated statement gives 

 the gross value of the three princi]jal products 

 of the molasses output, based on a ])roduction 

 of 2,500,000 tons of sugar:— 

 Alcohol, 40,000,000 gallons, worth 



20 cents a gallon $8,000,000 



Potash, 18,000 tons, worth $110 a 



ton 1,980,000 



Nitrogen, 3,000 tons, worth $400 a 



ton 1,200,000 



$11,180,000 

 "It is one thing to make a calculation show- 

 ing the possible value of the ])roducts to be 

 obtained from the molasses produced annually 

 in Cuba, but before these can easily be realized 

 it is necessary to demonstrate the possibility 

 of a market for them. I believe that a very 

 extended use for the alcohol capable of being 

 produced locally can be fovmd within the 

 limits of the sugar plantation in the following 

 cases : — 



"(o) Alcohol-lmniing locomotives; 



"(6) Alcohol-burning tractors, to be used 

 in propelling ploughs, cultivators, and 

 other agricultural im.plements. 



"The 18,000 tons of potash contained in the 

 molasses produced annually in Cuba ai"e sev- 

 eral times more than the quantity imported 

 annually into Cuba for use as a fertilizer, 

 which amounts at present to aliout 3,000 tons. 

 I am informed that great difficulty would 



