The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1902-07-23
SUGAR
NOTES ON SUGAR IN NEGRos.


NOTES ON SUGAR IN NEGROS.
(E.aito-,s note: Mr. ]. w. Gilmore.
who contributes this interesting article
to The Critic. was formerly in the gov
eminent experiment station in Hawaii
and probably knows more about sugar
care than any other man In the Phil
ippfnes. He came to the Philippines
nearly a year ago in government en-
ploy, expecting to pursue the same line
of work here, but as yet no experiment
station has been established and he has
carried on his Investigations at his own
expense. The result of Mr.. Gilmore's
work is of the highest Importance TO
investors and sugar growers. and con-
tributions from him will be frequently
printed in The Critic.)
The production of sugar in this prov
iilcc for this season has been diminish
ed by three principal causes. First.
the incendiary work of the ladrones in
s9 has caused a number of plantations
to be either abandoned entirely or
their output has been much decreased
because of direct damage or indirect
debt. Second, the large mortality OF
carabaos by the rinderpest Of 1soO-1s0i
considerably crippled the planters in
putting in this years crop so that
many fields which would have been
plowed up and replanted have been
ratooned at the expense of both quality
and quantity of sugar Third, the late
rains have not only delayed grinding,
but they were so abundant that the
cane juice was so charged with water
that there was not only a reduction in
quality and quantity of sugar, but an
increase in the expense of milling. The
rains have again begun and while
many plantations in the lowlands have
finished grinding, many of those near
the mountains have much In the fields
! yet
Labor has not been so abundant this
| year as formerly, but that is one of the
minor troubles. 1 believe more extend
| et cultivation of rice, coffee or cacao
would be a partial solution of the labor
| question, in that such industries would
! tend to help the laborers at work
| throughout a greater part of the year.
The death of the carabaos and the lack
| of laborers has hurried a number or
| planters to thinking of tramWayS and
better plows and harrows; SO there
| seems to be a Frightening outlook for
these equipments
| There is much complaint among the
| planters because of the falling price of
sugar. but, considering all. 1t is not TO
| be wondered at. AS whole this Sug-
ar is really poor. In the first place the
| varieties of cane planted are about as
| primitive as cane can be; and have
seen a number of instances where cane
of several years standing and too poor
| for milling was cut up and planted Tor
! the next years crop Many of the SOILS
| are acid and water-soaked, but instead
| of trying to improve the soil planters
ynlln
cane which will stand the. conditions,
but whose juice is hardly worth work
ing Without Instruments, it Is 1mpos-
sible to say what the standard or the
juice is; suffice 1t to say that 1t Is very
! low both in sugar and in purity, ano
it is highly acid. This necessitates the
addition of much lime, very little OF
which is afterwards removed.
Another item of loss to the planter Is
/ the poor grinding. 1t usually requires
a day of strong wind and sunshine t6
dry the bagasse sufficiently to be burn
He'd under the evaporators- never
| found more than rs per cent of the
Juice removed by the mills at present
in use, and it sometimes falls as low as
So per cent.
modern machinery would entirely oo-
yiate this loss. The best mills WouIc
work well, but the modern evaporators
grade of Juice than the cane and sol
here produce. Improvement must De
worked out along several lines; the IN
PRODUCTION of good machinery ana ap-
paratus, the substitution of better vari-
cites of cane and the Improvement OF
soil conditions. AS the problems along
these lines are worked out, Philippine
sugar will find it's place with the prod
ucts from other parts of the world
I give below a comparative state
ment of the industry here and In ma
wall: ,,,;
Cost per acre of raising
the crop and delivering oo. j..
Cost of milling and bag
ging, per acre .-...-- ~ % %
| Yield of cane per acre, tons 80 %
Purity OF juice present =. low 81
| Amount of cane to pro-
duce one ton of sugar. Ill O.
| Yield of sugar per acre,
Mill extraction, per cent. 10 $50