780 



or pasture (Piper, Forage PL pp, 247-249 ; and see " Japanese Cane 

 for Forage/' Farmers' Bull, U.S. Dept. Agric. No. 457, 1911, 

 pp. 8-11). 



A spirit is distilled chiefly from the molasses in many countries 

 where the sugar-cane is grown; the production of rum is a 

 well-known leading industry in Jamaica (Cousins, Bull. Dept. 

 Agric. Jamaica, i. April 1909, pp. 57-65); "Natahte " — specially 

 adapted for use in combustion engines is prepared in Natal 

 Agric. News, Barbados, March 23rd, 1918, p. 88); and in general 

 the spirit is recommended as a convenient source of power and 

 as an illuminant in the tropics (Kew Bull. 1912, p. 122; West 

 India Comm. Circ. June 21st, 1904; Agric. News, Barbados, 

 July 16th, 1904, p, 226). Molasses in Madeira (imported from 

 the West Indies andDemerara) are employed in the manufacture 

 of neutral spirit for the treatment of Madeira wines (I.e. Oct. 24th, 

 1903, p. 348). 



A wax, obtained to the extent of 10 per cent, or more, from 

 the so-called " filter-dirt " — a waste product of the Java sugar 

 industry, is found when refined to closely resemble that of 

 '* Carnauba " {Copernicia cerifera, Mart.) of Brazil {see Wijnberg, 

 *' The Wax of the Sugar-cane and the Possibility of its Technical 

 Production"; Kew Bull. 1910, p. 355), It is reported that 

 a number of factories in Natal extract the wax from the sugar- 

 cane (chiefly " Uba " cane) press-cake by means of benzene, 

 commonly obtaining 14 per cent, and sometimes 17 per cent, 

 of wax. Experiments in Mauritius show that flip wax- fminrl 



m 



yield 



but 



yields of wax than " Tanna " varieties, and that virgin cane is 

 richer in wax than ratoons (Inter. Sugar Journ., 1916, pp. 18, 23; 

 Bull. Imp. Inst., 1916, p. 294). The manufacture of wax is on 

 an extensive scale in Natal, where the Natal Cane By-products 

 Co., Ltd., have a large factory, and several hundred tons have 

 been put on the London market at a remunerative price (Agric. 

 News, Barbados, March 23rd, 1918, p. 89). 



The '' Megasse " or " Bagasse," the refuse from the sugar-cane 

 factories is commonly used for fuel, for which purpose the 

 value may vary according to local conditions; it is often more 

 economical to burn it, and on many estates it may be the only 

 fuel available — ^taking the '' Lahaina ** cane referred to below 

 as an example, the thermal value of this has been found to be 

 7563 B.T.U. (British Thermal Units) as received, moisture 7-04, 

 and 8135 B.T.U. on a dry basis, and a further general calculation 

 is that Hawaiian bagasse, with an average of 45 per cent, of 

 water would have an effective heating value of 2909 B.T.U. per 

 lb. of green bagasse (Norris) and Cuban bagasse— 47 per cent. 

 of water, an effective heating value of 3848 B.T.U. (Meyers) 

 (Little, Inter. Sugar Journ., Sept. 1920, p. 505, and see the same 

 Journal, Jan. 1892, *' Combustion of Finely-divided Bagasse," 

 pp. 28-31; Jan, 1903, "Comparison of Fuel Values," including 



