Miscellaneous. 



68 



[July, 1E08. 



8.784:6., an increase of 60,700 gals., and 

 2,239Z. over the preceding year. The 

 bulk of these products comes to London 

 and sells readily. The production of 

 West Indian concentrated juice and 

 calcium citrate is particularly interest- 

 ing at present, in view of the condition 

 of the citric-acid market. The West 

 Indian juice does not command the price 

 compared with Sicilian juice that its 

 citric content warrants, it being SI. to 4Z. 

 per hogshead lower than the Sicilian. 

 The West Indian juice usually contains 

 large quantities of pulp, foreign matter, 

 and carbonished matter arising from 

 excessive concentration. These objec- 

 tionable matters can be avoided, for the 

 Hon. J. C. Macintyre, of Dominica, who 

 is a regular shipper of juice to London, 

 has produced a concentrated juice quite 

 equal to the Sicilian ; and in reporting 

 on samples of a large shipment Messrs. 

 Ogston & Moore said : " We do not think 

 concentrated lime-juice can be better 

 made." At the West Indian Conference 

 last -year Mr. Macintyre told planters 

 how they can turn out high-quality con- 

 centrated juice, and stated that efforts 

 at improvement have usually taken the 

 direction of attempts to clear the raw 

 juice, and have invariably resulted in 

 failure, for the following reasons :— 



1. Raw juice takes long to settle, and 

 therefore very large storage capacity is 

 necessary, which is impossible on most 

 estates. 



2. Subsidence is never complete, it 

 being only possible to draw off as clear 

 juice 60 to 65 per cent, of the entire 

 quantity, and the residue, a thick mass 

 of pulp and oil, defies every effort at 

 economical treatment. The best results 

 are obtained by distillation, which re- 

 moves the oil, and if the juice is then 

 run into subsiding vats, the pulp as well 

 as a good deal of the gummy matter in 

 the juice rapidly settles to the bottom 

 along with heavier impurities. The 

 supernatant liquid can after the lapse of 

 a few hours be drawn off perfectly clear, 

 and the remaining juice recovered from 

 the sludge, with which it is mixed, by 

 pressure in brewers' filters (canvas bags 

 enclosed in an outer casing of loosely 

 woven twine). 



At Mr. Macintyre's works the juice is 

 pumped from the mill into vats placed 

 high up in the boiling-house, thence it 

 flows into the still, and from that into 

 the subsiding vats, which are fitted with 

 taps 8 in. above the bottom for drawing 

 off the clear juice, and a plug-hole in 

 the bottom for removal of the sludge. 

 After the subsidence the clear juice is 

 run into the " tachye " and the sludge 

 thrown up into filter-tanks, from which 

 the filtered juice also finds its way to 



the "tachye." That it pays the planter 

 to be careful with his concentration may 

 be judged from the fact that one of the 

 leading firms of London importers were 

 able to obtain 30s. per hogshead more 

 for juice which was thin and clear, and 

 which contained less than 115 oz. of citric 

 acid per gal. This, Mr. Macintyre main- 

 tains, would be equal to a net gain of 28s., 

 after deducting discount and charges, 

 based on the value of the product. The 

 question as to whether planters should 

 manufacture calcium citrate or ship the 

 concentrated juice is of even great im- 

 portance. Citric-acid makers much prefer 

 the citrate, and pay more for it pro rata 

 than for juice. There is also a con- 

 siderable saving in freight, casks, and 

 loss by leakage, while there is no 

 chance whatever of the demand for 

 citrate falling off and returning to con- 

 centrated juice. It is also stated that 

 more citric acid can be saved in mak- 

 ing citrate than in making concen- 

 trated juice. The consumption of citrate 

 for making citric acid is estimated at 

 about 6,000 tons per annum, valued at 

 about half a million sterling. On the 

 other hand, the manufacture of citrate 

 demands greater skill than the concen- 

 tration of lime-juice. Chalk has to be 

 imported, driers erected, and the con- 

 sumption of fuel in drying the citrate is 

 considerable ; yet in spite of this the 

 manufacture is rapidly developing in the 

 West Indies, and now that a successful 

 start has been made it is to be hoped 

 that all the lime juice intended for citric- 

 acid makers will be exported in the form 

 of citrate. Dr. Francis Watts, the 

 Government Chemist, is fully alive to 

 the possibilities of the industry for the 

 West Indies, and has published much 

 information and given valuable advice 

 on the manufacture of commercial 

 citrate. Much has to be learned in re- 

 gard to the marketing of the produce, 

 and, although the price may be right 

 and the quality uniform, most of the 

 shipments come on the market at a time 

 which citric-acid makers are in no imme- 

 diate need, they having contracted for 

 the Sicilian citrate from January to 

 April. Moreover, it comes on to the 

 market in small lots at irregular periods, 

 and the makers only buy it because it is 

 cheap. This is a matter that should be 

 remedied by the appointment of a 

 suitable agent on this side who would 

 devote his interests to pushing citrate 

 and juice, endeavouring to obtain con- 

 tracts for definite quantities at fixed and 

 better prices than are now obtained. 

 With regular shipments of uniform high 

 quality at the seasonable periods, there 

 is no reason why West Indian citrate 

 should not command the same price as 

 Sicilian, and in course of time become a 



