THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. 
[Feb. 1, 1901. 
in a flistilleiy, and the i^pirit sold at 1 
anna profit per gallon proof, eqnal tea 
selling price on the spot of, say 8 annas. 
(6) (Supposing there is no distillery, and that 
the treacle can be, and is, thrown away. 
(CI) {b) 
1.3.083 eds. sugar at K14 Kl,8.'3,190 Rl, 8.3,190 
216, 000 gals f roof spirit at 1 auna 13,500 
Less value of 7,500 cds. treacle 
credited .., ... ... 4.v300 
K 1,95 690 R 1,37 ,8.30 
On capital of 6^ lakhs^SO 2% 5=27 5% 
2 Taking the superior cane with its contained 
jaggery of 74 refining value, and supposing that 
tlie treacle is worked by the Steffeti process 
described : — 
(a) Paying R16"8 for the jaggei y in the cane. 
\b) PjyingR2l-6 7 for the jaggery in tlie cane. 
(a) (b) 
15,540 cds. sugar at K19-65 R.3.01,491 R3,0I,491 
Profit of the Steffen process ... 11,006 ,, 11,086 
3,12,577 3,12,577 
Less R4-14 7 more paid 
on3!,0C0cds. ... ... 1,03,181 
R3, 12,557 R2.09„396 
On a capital of R6,30,000 ... 49 6% „ .33-2% 
It is a question whether, in regard to the 
profits shown in working the Steffen process, if 
the treacle ultimately left wfuld not have a con- 
siderable value for mannrial purposes, and cer- 
tainly the lime .'kludges (and wash waters) under 
favourable conditions of elevation of factory in 
respect to neighbouring cultivation would have 
such a value beyond the cost of their distribution. 
All said and done, however, no ]iroces3 for 
the profitable absorption of treacle can beat that 
of the human stomach and it would be of iia- 
niense value to the sugar industry of India ; 
and to the working classes of India, if 
the popular consumption of treacle could be 
brought about ; Cane treacle at 5 pies a ,seer 
(J 05 lbs) on the spot, would be a remarkably 
cheap food stuff, and would give a realisation to 
the sugar works of R6-8 per 500lbs. for its 
treacle, - The Indiaii Aqriculturist. 
ARROWROOT. 
The plant is propagated by division of the tubers, 
or by means of seeds. The sets aie planted in 
rows 3 feet or 4 feet ajiart and 3 feet apiiii't in 
rows ; the drills 6 inches deep. The crop matures, 
say, in ten months. The bulbs may, however, 
be left in the ground for a moderate time with- 
out losing their qualities, but if to left too long, 
especially if rain has fallen, the plants begin to 
grow, and from that time onwards the quantity 
aad quality of the arrowroot obtainable frcru 
btnbs then usrd may be expected to diminish. 
The land should be ploughed and subsoiled and 
thoroughly tilled, for though veiy easily grown, 
like many other economic plants, the better the 
treatment it receives the better are the eventi;al 
results. The manner of treating the tubers is 
to firstly place them in a large revolving washer 
so constructed that the tubers are always 
gradually passing onwards to a grater, from 
^vllence tlie .material passes into a long shoot, 
the bottom of which is practically a lent; sieve, 
being constructed of line wire rrreshes. As the 
material passes alorrg with the running water, 
the starch or arrowroot is gr adually falling through 
this sieve on to a slopmg wooden shoot below, 
whereby it is gradually run ofl' into wooden 
troughs and allowed to .settle. As the anowroot 
settles, the dirty water is run (dl, ami fresh, clean 
water run into the tioiighs, in whi^h the arrow- 
root is again stirred up. This process is repeat- 
ed several tirires until the arrowruot is sutliciently 
(^lean and white. It is then taken froiir the 
troughs and laid out «n calica dryers in the strn- 
light, and here it remains irn;il completely dry 
and lit to bag as marketable arrowroot. Ordi- 
narrly, it lakes two dtiys of good sunshine and 
wind to dry the product, which ia not .spread 
too thickly on the dryers. Troughs of galvanised 
iron should not be used if b'iglrt, white, market- 
able arrowroot is desired. On 2Gch August, 1897, 
a small area was plarrted with Canna edulis, 
at fariir in New South Wales. The plants ap- 
peared above ground on 18th September, 1897, 
and grew vigorously from that tinte until har- 
vested on the 8th August, 189S. The crop raised 
was e(iuivalent to a returtt of 33 torrs per acre 
of tubers. One ton of these tnbers was taken 
to the nrill and there treated, the result l)eing 
2401b. of good, c'ean, white arrowroot. Some 
growers of arrowroot do not atteirrpi any deep 
cultivation for the arrowroot plant. In the case 
of the experiment nieniioned, the land was sub- 
soiled and deeply ploughed, and the bulbs were 
cleaner, heavier, and larger than tubers ever 
seen elsewhere locally, and contained trrore starch, 
judging by the amount of arrowroot abtained. 
Probably, it is a satisfactory and payable crop 
where the methods are modern and complete, itot 
crude makeshifts, especially in the matter of wash- 
ing and drying the ar rowroot. The result of this 
e.vperimental crop would work out as follows : — 
33 tons tubers to the acre. One ton of tiibei-s 
gave under treatment, 2 cwt. Oqrs. 161L-. 
33 tons of tubers equal 3 tons 10 cwt. 2qrs. 
24lb. , which, at £14 per ton, is equal to the sum 
of £49 lOs. per acre. 
So far as Jamaica is concerned, it would all lie in 
the making of a fine enough and white enough arrow- 
root that people might try as being at least as good 
as St. Vincent or any other arrowroot inr ported here 
Journal of tk& Jamaica Aqricidtuarl Society. 
Extraction of Rubber. — A novel process 
was described recently before the Society of 
Civil Engineers of France for the extraction of 
india-itibber from the tree. The bark and roots 
are cut up and soaked in dilute sulphuric acid. 
The effect of this is to deconrpose the woody 
port'ons without afi'eoting the india-rubber. In 
this way a division is irrade between the valuable 
rubber and the rest of the bark and roots, and 
it is clainred that the rubber so produced it 
quite pure. It was stated by the author that 
1 lb. of india-rubber could be produced by the 
pr-ocess at a cost of about 2J 1. — Enqineer. Two 
French chemists have discovered a process by 
which rubber may be obtained from Landolfia vine, 
which grows wild and luxuriantly in all parts 
of Africa The process of tapping the Landolfia 
is in)practicable, as the flow of rubber hardens too 
quickly. By the process ofpi, M, Arnand andVer- 
neuil, the vine] isj crushed in hot water, by which 
means all the rubber which it contains is extracted 
— Queensland Agricultural Jotirnal, 
