xii. ,\. c Ihlll and Tkurlow: Alcohol from Molasses 269 



Table I. — Fertilizer constituents of Philippine and of Hawaiian molasses. 



Constituent. 



Philip ' Hawai- 

 pine. i ian. 





Per cent. 



1.39 

 0.38 



0.21 



. 3.S9 

 0.21 

 0.G4 









The potash and nitrogen content are greater for Hawaiian 

 . molasses than for Philippine molasses. The Hawaiian cane 

 takes up more of these constituents, because the quantity avail- 

 able is greater due to the general use of fertilizers in the 

 Hawaiian Islands. In many cases no fertilizer is added to the 

 sugar lands of the Philippine Islands and no attempt is made 

 to return the fertilizer ingredients found in the ash of the 

 bagasse and in the molasses. Thus it is only a question of years 

 before fertilization must be practiced, or this land will become 

 exhausted and the planters' loss will be much larger than at 

 present on account of the smaller crops resulting. Therefore 

 it is expected that the fertilizer value will never be lower than 

 now. 



In practice about 1 ton of molasses is produced for every 5 to 6 

 tons of centrifugal sugar. During 1915, 211,012,817 kilograms 

 of sugar were exported from the Philippine Islands. Were 

 this exportation all centrifugal sugar, it would represent over 

 30,000,000 kilograms of molasses. If this molasses were con- 

 verted into alcohol and the fertilizer ingredients were re- 

 covered from the lees, they would be worth more than 125,000 

 pesos at the price quoted for the fertilizer ingredients in 

 Hawaiian molasses," while the alcohol would represent a value 

 of, approximately, 1,750,000 pesos calculated at 17.2 centavos, the 

 current (December 1, 1916) selling price per liter of 182 proof 

 denatured alcohol. 



A considerable portion of the Philippine discard molasses is 

 now being used for the manufacture of alcohol, and several con- 

 cerns are planning to extend their activities so that the waste 

 here is not greater than in many other sugar-growing countries. 

 The methods of fermentation are crude and capable of much im- 

 provement. For example, no well-directed effort is made to 

 keep an accurate control of the percentage yields by deter- 

 mining the sugar content of the molasses and by diluting the 

 wort to a definite strength. Care is seldom taken to keep the 

 vats and machinery clean or to sterilize the vats, and 'even com- 



Peck and Deerr, loc. cit. 



