17, 2 
Carsten: Millable Cane 
141 
In the process' of manufacturing alcohol from molasses the 
waste from the distillery still contains potash, as well as nitro- 
gen and phosphoric acid, which can be returned to the field, 
either in liquid form by irrigation or in solid form after drying 
the material in the sun. 
Assuming a factory production of 10,000 tons of sugar per 
year from a juice with 19° Brix and 80 per cent purity, the 
molasses produced would be 4.5 per cent of the weight of the 
cane. Therefore, assuming the potash content of the molasses 
to be 2.5 per cent, the potash would represent (the cane weighing 
91,400 tons) 102.825 tons with a value of about 200 pesos per 
ton (pre-war price), or a total value for the crop of 20,565 
pesos. The alcohol would be worth 205,900 pesos; the sugar 
at say 200 pesos per ton, 2,000,000 pesos; total value of the 
crop, 2,286,465 pesos. If the molasses were sold as such, we 
should have: 
Pesos. 
Value of crop at 200 pesos per tqn 2,000,000 
Value of molasses 40,900 
Total value 2,040,900 
Therefore, the difference in value is 245,565 pesos in favor 
of working up the molasses into alcohol and potash. In this 
case I have calculated values at pre-war market prices. Each 
factory can figure out for itself whether or not it would pay to 
work up this material. As I have pointed out in another paper, 
not yet in print, the alcohol could be used in tractors or motors 
on the plantation ; and the carbon dioxide coming from the fer- 
mentation vats could be employed in making plantation white 
sugar and, where there is access to cool well water, in making 
ice. The value of the potash is a paper value, since it should 
be returned to the field as a fertilizer, so as to keep the field 
in proper condition. 
If the molasses is converted into alcohol so little of the former 
will be wasted that I cannot see how this use of it could fail to 
yield an excellent profit, and the question of profitable utiliza- 
tion of low-purity cane would seem to be answered. 
For convenience I am adding Table 3, showing values at the 
same purities as in Table 2, giving approximate values of the 
potash per ton of cane at 200 pesos per ton for the potash. 
In Table 4 are given values per hectare (the crop estimated 
at 50 tons of cane per hectare), showing the difference in value 
when the product is sold as sugar and molasses, as is done now, 
and its value when sold as sugar, alcohol, and potash. With a 
