THE CUBA REVIEW 



fields a larger part of cane is produced, 

 additional necessary supplies are purchased 

 from Colonos, who own their own lands, 

 the area of which is not at present avail- 

 able. The 1909-10 Cuban crop of the com- 

 pany was equal to 9.08 per cent of the total 

 Cuban crop of 1,804,357 tons." 



A Mill for Marti 



Plans for a new sugar mill at Marti, to 

 be built by the Cuba Company, call for an 



outlay of nearly $2,000,000. The mill will 

 have a capacity for ,350,000 bags annually 

 and work will begin next month, says the 

 Havana Post. 



Marti is on the main line of the Cuba 

 Railroad Company, owned by the Cuba 

 Company, and is in a rich sugar country. 

 The new mill, of course, is designed osten- 

 sibly to handle the big production of sugar 

 from the plantations of the Cuba Company, 

 but the smaller planters in the district will 

 find it convenient to send their cane there 

 for grinding. 



THE SUGAR INDUSTRY 



Sugar and Sirup 



Cane is a robust, rugged plant, as easily 

 cultivated as corn, requiring no thinning 

 to a stand at enormous cost of labor, no 

 special care, and seldom properly fertil- 

 ized ; still, I have yet to learn of a total 

 failure of a cane crop from drought, flood 

 or insect pest. 



Cane juice is a solution of sugar, glu- 

 cose and other solids and gums. Ripe cane 

 has but little glucose — freciuently less than 

 1 per cent, generally 2 to 2^/4 per cent. Un- 

 ripe cane has a much larger percentage of 

 glucose, sometimes as much as 50 per cent ; 

 the immature tops of cane are always high 

 in glucose and poor in sucrose, or sugar. 

 Evidently the starch in the cane (or what • 

 would be starch in corn, rice or potatoes) 

 is first formed in the immature part of the 

 cane. It is by the subtle chemistry of na- 

 ture changed into sugar, a chemical feat 

 the despair of the most eminent scientists. 

 To change a sugar into glucose is a daily 

 performance in the laboratory and fac- 

 tory; to remove the molecule of water and 

 change glucose to sugar has been the 

 dream of the chemists for years ; so far it 

 has not been accomplished. 



For sirup making, use considerable un- 

 ripe tops ; do not hurry the process at any 

 point. 



When cutting cane for sirup, top it high, 

 to leave two or three of the upper, unripe, 



immature joints; this immature cane juice 

 is largely glucose, or "invert" sugar, and 

 tends to prevent crystallization. 



In cutting cane for sugar-making, top 

 low, using only the fully matured or rip- 

 ened cane. 



A slight fermentation will not damage 

 cane for sirup-making, adding to the "in- 

 vert" sugar (glucose) and allowing the 

 sirup to be boiled thick without danger of 

 crystallizing. 



A very small amount of fermentation 

 will materially damage cane for sugar- 

 making, increase the 'invert" sugar — mo- 

 lasses, and decrease the crystals of sugar in 

 proportion to the amount of glucose pres- 

 ent. Fermented cane cannot be made into 

 sugar, though with proper care it may be 

 worked into fair sirup. 



At the present time it may be said that 

 we produce about one-third of all the sugar 

 we consume ; but still there is a vast for- 

 eign market, which we might supply with 

 a home product. 



There is no danger, therefore, of over- 

 stocking our own market with increased 

 sugar, productions, nor is there danger of 

 the beet sugar driving the cane sugar out 

 of the market. For many purposes — as, 

 for instance, the manufacture of sirup — 

 beet sugar is unsuitable, and there will 

 always be a demand for all the cane sugar 

 that can be made. — R. E. Rose, Florida 

 state chemist. 



LOS ARIETES HIDRAULICOS "RIFE" 



No exige atencion, ni gastos. Funciona de continue. Instalacion completa que 

 suple el Establo, Invernaculo, Prado, Fuentes y Jardin permanente. 



Funciona con caida de 18 pulgs. a SO pies, elevando el agua 30 pies por cada 

 pie de caida. Utiliza el 80 por ciento de la energia de caida. El « Central 

 Mexicano » empleala para llenar los tanques de su via ferrea. Tenemos plantas 

 grandes de poblado, tanques de ferrocarril y de riegos. 



Catdlogos y Presupuestos GRATIS 



RIFE PUMPING ENGINE COMPANY, ^f^ ?S'^''^ity"'eT£ 



