280 



The Supplement tn the Tropieal Agriculturint 



DEMONSTRATION IN SUGAR-MAKING. 



Bangalore, Feb. 8. — With a view to ins- 

 tructing the Indian manufactuiers of sugar 

 in this Province, Dr Coleman, the Myco- 

 logist and Entomologist of the Govern- 

 ment and acting Agricultural Chemist, ar- 

 ranged to give a demonstration on the subject 

 of sugar-making at the Government- Agricul- 

 tural Farm at Hebbal. The demonstration 

 commenced yesterday morning and there was a 

 large gathering of those interested in the deve- 

 lopment of the sugar-making industry to wit- 

 ness the experiments. 



The common practice prevailing at present 

 is to express the juice from the sugar-cane in 

 one of the old-fashioned mills by which, in the 

 first place, there is a considerable waste of the 

 material. Care is not taken to see that the 

 juice is properly limed to neutralise the acid in 

 the juice and then the process of boiling the 

 juice, and converting it >nto jaggery is very 

 antiquated. The method usually adopted is 

 to boil down the juice in an iron pan of circular 

 shape something like an inverted cone. By the 

 use of such a pan the heat from the furnace is 

 not evenly distributed to the contents of the 

 pan and the methods by which the boiling 

 liquid is "scummed" is most unsatisfactory, the 

 result being that besides the wasto in the pro- 

 cess of manufacture, the quality of the jaggery 

 turned out is very unsatisfactory and cannot 

 compete with the imported sugars. 



A brief description of the methods which 

 it is proposed to teach sugar manufacturers 

 to improve the quality and outturn of their 

 sugar will probably be of interest. In the first 

 place it is Dr. Coleman's idea that the people 

 should be shown that what is necessary is that 

 sugar-cane should be more largely grown in 

 close proximity to the centre of manufacture, so 

 that the sugar-cane may be treated in the mills 

 within a very few hours of it being cut. This is 

 to save the large waste that follows from driage 

 and by fermentation setting in in the canes. 

 The idea is that cane should be planted every 

 52 days and reaped at like intervals, so that 

 there may be a regular supply of sugar-cane 

 throughout the year. This is what has been 

 done at the Farm and a constant supply of 

 material is available. Having secured a steady 

 and adequate supply of sugar-cane, reaping takes 

 place at regular intervals and the canes are 

 broughttothe mills, which are chiefly known as 

 the "Kickie" class, a machine working with 

 horizontal rollers. A maximum of juice having 

 been obtained from the canes, the following 

 procedure is gone through : — The juice is first 

 "limed,'' that is to say that sufficient lime is 

 added to thoroughly neutralise the acid in the 

 liquid, which is judged by the change of colour 

 on introducing litmus paper. Bone charcoal 

 filtration and treatment with sulphur is not 

 resorted to. The next process is the boiling. 

 To ensure that this is done properly and in a 

 manner that will secure the best results, a new 

 kind of apparatus is employed. This consists 

 of three iron pans of cylindical shape which are 

 connected each with the other by a pipe. Two 

 of these are heated by a furnace and the third 

 by means of the smoke that is made to pass 



from the two furnaces by means of flues under 

 it, the heat caused thereby being sufficient 

 to boil but not scorch the juice. The cane 

 juice is first introduced into the first pau 

 where it is boilod till it reaches a certain con- 

 sistency, the scum as it rises on the surface 

 being removed and passed into a bucket where 

 it is filtered and the clear liquid returned 

 to the pan. The first boiling being over, the 

 juice is run into the second pan, again boiled to 

 a certain consistency and again "scummed" 

 when it finally reaches the third pan after which 

 it is poured into vessels and allowed to crysta- 

 lise as jaggery. The next process is the treat- 

 ment of the jaggery in a centrifugal machine, 

 driven by bullock power, and by this process is 

 produced a very clean and marketable sugar as 

 near as possible free from the smell or taste of 

 molasses as a process short of refining can make 

 it. If this method of making sugar on economi- 

 cal lines is taken up by the native grower there 

 is every hope for the success of the industry in 

 Mysore. Some years ago the Mysore Govern- 

 ment had some idea of building a large su^ar 

 factory in a suitable centre, but the matter 3id 

 not assume a definite shape and 1 understand 

 that it is doubtful whether such a plan would 

 now be coneidered within the range of the pre- 

 sent Government's intentions. — M. Mail. 



COPRA IN THE GO LD COAST. 



The production of copra is an industry well 

 suited to the taste of natives, yet it is one that 

 does not appear to succeed on the Gold Coast. 

 All along the Coast there is only a very small 

 area devoted to coconut cultivation and that 

 principally in the extreme east of the Eastern 

 Province. Attempts have been made to develop 

 this industry, but they do not appear to have 

 met with much success. In 190i2 the Govern- 

 ment tried to establish a Coconut Plantation of 

 about 300 acres in the vicinity of Accra, but this 

 attempt has met with utter failure— only a few 

 palms now remain and none of them look 

 healthy. Although the atmosphere of the Coast, 

 generally speaking, is humid, the rainfall is not 

 excessive, and Accra is probably the driest part 

 of the Coast, so the ill sUCces of the experi- 

 ment may be partly accounted tor by excessive 

 drought, although beetle pests were also very 

 destructive. In those countries where coconuts 

 are extensively grown and the produce ex- 

 ported, they also form an important part of 

 native diet, whereas on the Gold Coast the 

 natives do not appear to indulge in them beyond 

 quenching their thirst with the water contained 

 in the green coconut. The fact, too, that a 

 coconut tree takes so long in coming into bea- 

 ring, even though it was proved to be a suc- 

 cessful crop on the coast, militates against the 

 rapid development of plantations among so in- 

 dependent and conservative a people. There is 

 obviously money in the cultivation after it has 

 become properly established, and as there would 

 appear to be a considerable area alongside the 

 rivers and certain parts of the sea coast suitable 

 for this crop, I propose to make an attempt to 

 establish a small plantation on the Agricultural 

 Station at Assuantsi in the Central Province 

 next year.— Official Report for 1908, by W S 

 Tudhope, Director of Agriculture. 



