and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society. —June, 1912. 



573 



SUGAR INDUSTRY IN MADRAS. 



EXPERIMENTAL CENTRAL FACTORY. 



Mr A Chatterton wrote as follows to the 

 Madras Government on May 10th : — 



In the Noyel valley to the south and east of 

 Coimbatore sugarcane cultivation is more con- 

 centrated than in almost any other part of the 

 Presidency, and I propose that this plant should 

 be established in the village of Singanallur on 

 some land close to the main road at a point: 

 about five miles trom Coimbatore. I have re- 

 cently made a careful inspection of the various 

 possible sites at which the plant can be erected, 

 and I find that it is impossible to locate the plant 

 in the centre of the tracts covered with sugar- 

 cane owing to the fact that during the crushing 

 season the land is more or less under water and 

 being black-cotton soil it is quite impassable for 

 carts. The site sele3ted is close to the main 

 road and easy transport is possible fov the sugar 

 cane grown on the garden lands of Oppilipala- 

 yam and for all the cane grown in Singanallur 

 near the road. The land is a piece of stony-waste 

 of extremely little agricultural value, and I 

 think it will be possible to obtain as much as we 

 want for a small annual rental. If the experi- 

 ment proves isuccessful and it is desirable to 

 make the experimental station a permanent one, 

 steps can be taken to acquire the land perma- 

 nently. I have been unable to make any definite 

 agreement with the man, as at prosent he is away 

 on a pilgrimage. Should any difficulties arise, 

 which however I do not anticipate, in respect to 

 obtaining a lease of the land, 1 would request 

 that Government will allow me to acquire an area 

 of about two acres, thi land compensation for 

 which will not, I imagine, exceed Rs. 300. 



Under the present system of 



MANUFACTURING JAGGERY., 



the ryot sets up his mill and an evapora- 

 ting pan in a corner of the sugarcane field 

 and the lead to the mill is consequently a very 

 short one. I think there is no doubt that with 

 the plant which it is proposed to erect we shall 

 beable toobtaina better class of jaggery, because 

 I intend to put that operation in charge of the 

 most skilled jaggery boiler I can find, and I am 

 already in communication with the officers of 

 the Agricultural Department in respect to this 

 point. The experiment will be designed to as- 

 certain from what distance it would pay ryots 

 to bring their sugarcane to the mill to have it 

 made into jaggery in preference to employing 

 bullock driven mills in their own fields. The 

 system on which I propose work should be con- 

 ducted i3 that the ryot should bring his cane 

 to the mill and that the juice should be ex- 

 tracted and manufactured into jaggery and the 

 jaggery minus a certain percentage should be 

 returned to him, a sufficient portion being re- 

 tained to cover the working cost of the plant, 

 I propose, in the first instance, to deduct 20 per 

 cent of the jaggery manufactured. This is pos- 

 sibly more than is necessary, but it is difficult to 

 get accurate data regarding the cost of carrying 

 on the work. I propose that the jaggery re- 

 tained should be sold and, if at the end of the 

 working season we find that we have taken too 

 iarge a percentage of the product, I would then 



make to each ryot a pro rata distribution of the 

 surplus available. These proposals have already 

 been explained to the ryots of Singanallur and 

 a number of them have agreed to try the ex- 

 periment. During the first year's working a 

 considerable amount of experimental work will 

 have to be done and I would suggest that the 

 cost of this should not be charged against the 

 ryots as it may possibly unduly delay the devel- 

 opment of the system. 



Mr Ohatterton's Suggestions. 



The estimate I submit amounts to R10,000 and 

 provides for the purchase of a 12 horse-power 

 oil engine and a 18 in. by 12 in. sugar mill 

 which I think will be capable of dealing with 1J 

 tons of sugarcane per hour. It will be most con- 

 venient to explain the necessity for the various 

 items in the estimate by describing the process 

 of working which it is proposed to adopt. The 

 juice from the .mill will be ran into a small 

 sump from which it will be pumped by a dia- 

 phragm pump worked off the axle of the mill 

 into one or the other of the two measuring 

 tanks. In this way, it will be possible to deter- 

 mine exactly the quantity of juice obtained 

 from the cane brought by a particular ryot. At 

 the outset, each ryot's juice will be boiled down 

 separately so that we may accurately ascertain 

 the quantity of jaggeryjproduced from the juice 

 yielded by the cane. A weighing machine is 

 also provided which will enable us to weigh the 

 cane when necessary and to weigh the jaggery 

 after it is made. From the measuring tanks 

 which will be fixed in position the juice will be 

 drawn off into large buckets carried on wheels 

 and by this means transferred to the boiling 

 pans, of which it is proposed id the first instance 

 to erect twenty of the ordinary circular type and 

 one set of four boiling pans in series. The 

 engine will require a shed with a galvanised iron 

 roof, but over the rest of the plant I only pro- 

 pose to use a thatched roof as cheaply construc- 

 ted as possible. Till the experiment has been made 

 we cannot say with absolute certainty that it 

 will prove a success. Unforeseen difficulties may 

 possibly occur and at the outset I wish to avoid 

 as far as possible incurring any expenditure on 

 permanent work. Assuming that we do not 

 meet with success as anticipated at Singanallur, 

 it might be desirable to shift the plant to some 

 other place, and if this has to be done it will, 

 with the arrangements proposed prove a com- 

 paratively simple business. A considerable 

 quantity of water will be required to work the 

 plant and keep the pans clean. There is no 

 well within about 200 yards of ttie site of the 

 proposed installation and, to start with, I pro- 

 pose carting the water, but if at the outset the 

 experiment promises well it will be well to have 

 borings made on the site and sink a small well 

 for the purpose of obtaining the water required. 

 The estimate provides a lump sum of R980 for 

 working expenses. These are estimated at 

 about R30 a day and it is impossible to say how 

 many days' work will be done during the season. 

 If the plant is kept fully at work for sixty days, 

 its earnings may be expected to amount to a very 

 considerable sum, as I think we ought to count 

 on a net profit of at least R20 per working day. 



As the cane crushing season begins at 

 Singanallur on the 1st July and continues 



