MANUFACTURE IN FORMOSA. 



Although red cane and wax cane arc more profitable 

 than bamboo cane for sugar manufacture, tlie latter serves 

 almost exclusively for that purpose, probably on account of 

 some other unfavourable properties of the former, as for instance 

 the great brittleness of the stems. 



The cane is raised in the first year from seed cane, but in 

 the following two years from tJie roots. The harvest takes 

 place between November and April ; the amount varies between 

 20 and 40 tons per acre near Daihoku. 



Attacks by insects and fungi occur usually to a certain 

 extent. Of the former, a kind of Hcmiptera and a larva of a 

 kind of Z?^)!'/^'m may be mentioned.*^^' But more serious damage 

 ;s caused by the larvae of Diatraea strialis, Sriell {Lcpidoptcra), 

 which corrode the pith of the cane. Diseases caused by fungi 

 are not so frequent, and the scrch disease so prevalent in Java 

 seems to be unknown/'^^ but some damage is done by a Sclcrotiinn 

 and Ccrcospora Kopkci, which latter causes red spots on tlie 

 cane leaves. 



Chemical Observations. 



The sample of sugar cane (bamoo cane) that served for my 

 investigations came from a plantation near Daihoku, I separat- 

 ed the juice merely by means of a small hand-roller, as is the 

 usual practice in Formosa ; hence the extraction was not 

 complete. The juice of the knots and internodes of the cane 

 were separately examined (equal weights) on the 24th February 

 (a) and 5th March (b), with the following results : 



Glucose. Coeffts. of purity. 



•33 78.3 



.42 86.5 



.19 87.6 

 .22 89.9 



From this we observe that internodes contain iTiuch more 

 sugar, and in a higher degree of purity, than knots; hence such 

 cane as has many knots is not favourable. The low lands near 

 Daihoku which arc frequently inundated are very fertile, as may 





Sp. gi-av. 



Sucrose. 



Knot. 



1.050 



9-79 



Internode. 



1.055 



11.28 



Knot. 



1.065 



13-13 



Internode. 



1.070 



14-39 



(1) Also some kinds of Colt'oplera occasionally do some damage. 



(2) It lias been recently asserted that this disease is not caused by fungi. 



