The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-12-05
70 ARRANGE FOR CANE MILLS.
CAPT. PURSE AND THE PARTY
WHICH WILL GO TO LOUISIANA.

- AA[h W III W ~ LOUISIANA
Several wealthy GeOrgians and
FIOridians ia the Party Who Ex-
pect to Arrange for the Purchase
of Cane Mills TO Be Erected in
| Their States-Recent Analysis of
Georgia Cane by Prof. stubbs
Prove Very satisfactOry-The
Yield Per Acre AbOut the Same as
Louisiana and the Cost of Pro-
duction Much Less.
Capt. d. G. Purse and party will leave
for New Orleans this morning on tour
| Of practical Investigation through Louis
lana and for the purpose of securing in
| formation looking to the purchase of sugar
| mills to be erected in Georgia and Florida.
| Besides Capt. Purse, the party will con-
sist of Capt. T. J. James of Adrian, who
planted $50 acres of cane this year, end
is one OF the largest planters in Georgia;
| Capt. George R. Mckee, a wealthy planter
and mill man of Va.dosta; Prof. J. B.
| Wight of Cairo, president of the Georgia
Cane Growers Association; Mr.. w. w.
| GUNNER. a wealthy railroad and saw mill
man of jacksonville, and Mr.. C. E. Gar
ner, president OF the Board of Trade of
Jacksonville; Maj. w. L. G.essner, agri-
cultural commissioner of the Georgia
| Southern and Florida Railroad; Mr.. r. L.
Pritchard. real estate agent of the Cen
trail of Georgia Railway; Mr.. S. H. Nor
| gan, one of the owners of the syrup and
sugar refinery at Guyton, and Mr. b. F.
Finney, the well known analytical chemist
of Savannah
Capt. Purse received notification yester-
day from nearly every member of the
party that they would make the trip. AS
the gentlemen are widely separated over
Georgia and Florida they will not get to-
gether until they meet in New Orleans.
Capt. James viii start to-day and will be
accompanied by his wife and daughter.
The standing of the men who viii make
up the party shows that the trip will be
the reverse of a junket. and that their
object is purely a business one. Messrs.
Wight, McRee and James have all made
| preparations to engage largely in cane
planting next year, and as all three are
men of means and influence in their sec
TONS, movement headed by any one of
them to secure the erection of a cane mill
! at point of convenient location would
meet with almost certain success.
In Louisiana" said Capt. Purse "there
| Is general movement toward the use OF
larger mills. Many small mills are being
! abandoned and the business is being con-
centrated at the larger mills to which
| cane is largely transported by rail. This
means That mills which were erected a
few years ago at a cost of $150,O to $3.50, 900
| can now be obtained on favorable terms
! for half their original cost. am conf
F, dent that the result of this visit will be
that arrangements will be made for the
| erection of several mills in Georgia and
! Florida. I expect to bring back with me
the refusal of the largest mill in Louisiana
oifering for sale and to offer the oppor-
tunlty of securing it to Savannah or to
| some point in this vicinity"
Capt. Purse believes that the capacity of
georgia soil to produce sugar bearing cane
both as to quantity and quality, has been
demonstrated and that it only remains now
TO make an active beginning of the BUSH
| ness. Sixty samples of cane, gathered
! from as many different planters through
OUT TINS section, We're shipped by express
| Yesterday to Prof. W. B. Stubs at New
orleans for analysis. In all probability
200 samples will be sent for this purrose
| Ihls shows the wide interest which is he
| ing taken in the subject. Capt Purse has
| received three analyses from Prof Stubs
OF samples sent forward about ten DAYS
| ago. TWO of the samples were from Geor-
gia and one from South Carolina. The two
Georgia samples gave very good results.
one being remarkably fine
All three of the samples were obtained
from along the line of the Florida Cen
tral and Peninsular Railroad. The first TO
be analysed was from w. A. Zones Of
! dorchester, Liberty county OF this sam
pie Prof. Stubs says that it is a verv
sood one, containing as high as 1926 ~er
cent sucrose and only 1.04 per cent eIu-
cose, with a purity coefficient of 81 per
cent. This, he states, means over 70 ner
cent of sugar available in ordinary mills
a nor
be equivalent to $50 pounds, c P sugar TO
the ton of cane, or nearly 200 pounds of
commercial sugar as usually made in the
Louisiana sugar houses from firsts, Sec
onds and thirds. The second Georgia
sample analysed was from c. r Gna1n
OF Stillwell and must have been a reve-
iation even to the professor, as the analy-
! SIS shows l6.5 per cent sugar content and
only .96 glucose with a purity coeff1cient
OF S9.SS. The South Carolina sample was
not so good having only 1850 per cent
| available sugar. This may have been due
to the fact that it had been kept too long
after being as the cane deteriorates rapidly
for sugar purposes after being cut
The result of investigation and corre-
spondence," said Capt. Purse SHOWS that
we can count upon a yield of twenty 10
twenty-five tons per acre upon the better
grade of lands with ordinary cultivation
and fertilization Upon the same lands with
high grade Fertilization and cultivation
yield of thirty-five to forty tons per acre
can be obtained. These are not fanny
figures. Here is a statement from Capt
John Lawton, one of the most reliable
planters of South Carolina, in which he
states that he will average twenty-one and
one-third tons per acre from a very I'M
satisfactory crop and that he considers
thirty tons an acre a fair average in an
| average season. Capt. McReS, who lives,
near Valdosta. after hearing Prof. Stubs
and after making a careful estimate found
that he had thirty-three tons 10 the acre.
He had eighteen acres and at once de-
cided to cut every ton and bank it an for
seed next year. In Louisiana the normal
yield is twenty-three tons per acre though
of course there are lands which proiuee
much more heavily. Prof. Stubs analy-
sis have resulted in showing that the
Georgia cane contains a higher sugar con-
tent than that of Louisiana. He also