THE CUBA REVIE W 



nrj 



South African Sugar Congress 



The South African Sugar Association's 

 combined congress and exhibition at Dur- 

 ban in April, the first event of the kind 

 ever held in South Africa, has been made 

 the occasion for the publication by the 

 South African Sugar Journal of a special 

 Congress and Exhibition Number, which 

 appears as the June issue of the journal. 



Containing a full report of the proceed- 

 ings of the congress, together with the com- 

 plete text of the papers read before that 

 body and of the discussions following their 

 presentation, and a review of the principal 

 exhibits at the exposition, the number is a 

 valuable document and a distinct credit 

 to the enterprise of its publishers. 



Two of the papers read before the Con- 

 gress discussed the subject of sugar ex- 

 periment stations. An effort is being made 

 to secure the establishment of such a 

 station in Natal, and a paper by B. Pearce 

 gave an account of existing experiment 

 stations in tropical countries, with special 

 mention of those at Audubon Park, 

 Louisiana, and in Hawaii. 



The exhibition was confined principally 

 to South African and British displays, but 

 it is interesting to note many American 

 products were shown. 



nutritious but, it is added, is guaranteed to 

 be serm-free by reason of the high tem- 

 perature to which the material is exposed 

 in the process of evaporation. — Facts 

 About Sugar. 



Flour From Sugar Beets 



An interesting use for the sugar beet 

 aside from its employment as a source of 

 sugar and for feeding purposes is reported 

 from France, where sugar beet flour is 

 manufactured in considerable quantities at 

 Suresnes, it is stated. The process of 

 manufacture consists of chopping up the 

 beets, drying the water from them, and 

 grinding the evaporated product to a fine 

 meal. By this process 100 pounds of dry 

 material are obtained from 357 pounds of 

 beets, the report says. 



The dry material contains more than 70 

 per cent of sugar, or 70 pounds in each 100 

 pounds of the flour. The latter is, ac- 

 cordingly, very sweet and is said to be well 

 adapted to making cakes and puddings, 

 being estimated to contain 82 per cent of 

 pure nutriment. The product is not only 



Cuban Labor Situation 



Some concern is already being shown 

 by mills in the eastern end of Cuba in con- 

 nection with labor for harvesting. There 

 has been sufficient labor for all field work 

 during the present idle season, but it is 

 greatly feared that there will be a shortage 

 for the crop and that it will be necessary 

 to again make importations of Haitians, as 

 was done last year, in addition to the large 

 number of Canary Islanders that have al- 

 ready been contracted for. The one 

 thousand Spaniards that arrived recently 

 have already been allocated to mills that 

 are in need of laborers for railroad re- 

 pair work, which always commences at 

 this time of vear. 



Australian Sugar Supply 



The latest estimate of Australia's sugar 

 production for the season of 1923 is 258,000 

 long tons, according to H. T. Easterby, di- 

 rector of sugar experiment stations in 

 Queensland. Mr. Easterby places the 

 Queensland crop at 240,000 tons, and esti- 

 mates the cane sugar production of New 

 South Wales and the beet sugar produc- 

 tion of Victoria at 18,000 tons. 



The Queensland figures indicate a de- 

 crease of about 48.000 tons in the produc- 

 tion of that state, the 1022 outturn having 

 been roundly 288,000 tons, raw basis. Ex- 

 tremely dry weather in the early part of 

 the year is the cause assigned for the fall- 

 ing off in the crop, which will, however, ex- 

 ceed those of 1918, 1919 and 1920. 



In addition to the current season's pro- 

 duction there will be available a carry-over 

 supply from last year amounting to approx- 

 imatelv 55,000 tons, making a total avail- 

 able supply of 313,000 tons, or sufticient to 

 meet domestic requirements and allow a 

 small surplus at the end of the year. 



