Datasets:
Tasks:
Text Generation
Sub-tasks:
language-modeling
Languages:
English
Size:
10K<n<100K
ArXiv:
License:
Produced by Jeroen Hellingman and the Online Distributed | |
Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net/ for Project | |
Gutenberg (This file was produced from images generously | |
made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) | |
The Philippine Agricultural Review | |
Vol. VIII FIRST QUARTER, 1915 No. 1 | |
SPECIAL ARTICLES | |
CITRUS FRUITS IN THE PHILIPPINES | |
By P. J. Wester | |
BY-PRODUCTS OF SUGAR MANUFACTURE | |
By C. W. Hines | |
A QUARTERLY PUBLICATION | |
ISSUED IN ENGLISH BY THE | |
BUREAU OF AGRICULTURE | |
The Government of the Philippine Islands Department of Public | |
Instruction | |
MANILA | |
BUREAU OF PRINTING | |
1915 | |
(Entered at the post office at Manila as second-class matter.) | |
CONTENTS. | |
Page. | |
Editorial 3 | |
Citrus Fruits in the Philippines 5 | |
By-products of Sugar Manufacture 29 | |
Coffee in the Philippines 39 | |
Cane-juice Clarification 47 | |
Book Review: "La Fabricacion de Azucar Blanco en los Ingenios" 56 | |
Current Notes: First Quarter--Shield Budding the Mango; | |
Experiments in Shield Budding; Improvement of Tropical Fruits in | |
the Philippines; Petioled vs. nonpetioled Budwood; New Sugar | |
Industry; World's Sugar Supply; Progress in Sugar Manufacture 57 | |
ILLUSTRATIONS. | |
Plate I. Plant propagation shed at Lamao Experiment | |
Station Frontispiece. | |
Facing page-- | |
II. Citrus Fruits: (a) Talamisan; (b) Tizon; | |
(c) Philippine Pomelo 16 | |
III. Herbarium Specimens of Citrus: (a) Talamisan; | |
(b) Alemow; (c) Limao 16 | |
IV. Citrus Fruits: (a) Canol; (b) Cabuyao; (c) Limao 16 | |
V. Herbarium Specimens of Citrus: (a) Canci; | |
(b) Cabuyao; (c) Biasong 16 | |
VI. Citrus Fruits: (a) Tihi-tihi; (b) Biasong; | |
(c) Alemow 16 | |
VII. Herbarium Specimens of Citrus: (a) Colo-Colo; | |
(b) Samuyao; (c) Balincolong 16 | |
TEXT FIGURE. | |
Fig. 1 Seedling of C. histrix DC 18 | |
EDITORIAL. | |
THE SUGAR INDUSTRY. | |
It is supposed that the sugar cane (Saccharum officinarum) was | |
originally found in India, probably in the region of the Ganges. There | |
is no sugar cane known anywhere to-day in the wild state although there | |
are several species of mammoth grasses closely akin to this plant. | |
As various portions of the earth's surface were explored and finally | |
settled the sugar industry was extended until to-day one finds it | |
flourishing in practically all tropical countries and many subtropical | |
countries as well. Perhaps the last semitropical region to attempt | |
this industry in a commercial way was the State of Arizona, U. S. A., | |
where the desert wastes were turned into flourishing beet and cane | |
fields by the aid of irrigation from the Government storage dam. | |
During the reign of Napoleon in France trade in the sugars from | |
British and other foreign possessions was destroyed by the war with | |
England but this decline in the cane-sugar trade served only as an | |
impetus to the new beet-sugar industry then being started. In the | |
meantime there was such a dearth of sugar and such a fabulous rise in | |
prices, that attempts were made to secure sugar from various plants | |
and fruits growing in France, such as beets, sorghum, maize, grapes, | |
apples, pears, figs, etc. | |
At that time the manufacture of a kind of sugar from grapes | |
became quite important so that during the period from 1811 | |
to 1813 considerable quantities of this class of sugar were | |
made. Simultaneously with this new venture the beet root was gaining in | |
importance year by year, especially in France, and to a certain extent | |
as well in other European countries, until after extensive experiments | |
in plant breeding it was learned that the sucrose value of the root | |
could be very much improved. From this work varieties of beets used | |
to-day have evolved which often contain as high as 20 to 25 per cent | |
sucrose. Another obstacle in the way was the bad taste and odor of | |
the low-grade sugars from the beets and the difficulty of making a | |
high-grade sugar. To-day the heavy liming and the carbonation process | |
give a sugar equal in all respects to the best grade of granulated | |
cane sugar, and one finds a great deal of beet sugar either mixed | |
with cane sugar or marketed alone under the name of cane sugar. | |
At the present time the beet-sugar industry has become so important | |
that more than eight million tons, or about one-half of all the sugar | |
produced, comes from this source. | |
There is a greater consumption of sugar each year which necessitates | |
greater production either through larger areas, heavier yields, or | |
its manufacture from other sacchariferous plants. The maximum in both | |
area and yield have by no means been reached, while in recent years | |
a large number of sacchariferous plants have attracted the attention | |
of various investigators throughout the sugar world, and this will in | |
all probability lead to a new source of supply. The most promising | |
of these plants is the sugar palm (Arenga saccharifera). Extensive | |
work was conducted on this palm by this Bureau and reported in the | |
May, 1914, number of the Philippine Agricultural Review. During the | |
above-mentioned year an entirely new method of juice clarification | |
was elaborated which is applicable to the juices of various other | |
palms as well as to that of the sugar cane. | |
In Bengal the wild date palm (Phoenix silvestris) has produced a low | |
grade of molasses sugar for consumption by the natives for a great | |
number of years. The main obstacle encountered in making a good | |
grade of sugar from this palm has been caused by the difficulty of | |
clarification and the susceptibility of the juice to fermentation. It | |
is thought that the above-mentioned process may bring this palm into | |
greater prominence in the sugar world. | |
There are also the Palmera (Borassus flabelliformis) of Southern India, | |
and the Nipa (Nipa fructicans) of the Philippines. Either of these | |
could undoubtedly be made profitable sugar producers. The latter is | |
used commercially only as a source of alcohol. | |
There is practically no limit to the number of sacchariferous plants | |
one might name in the Tropics and subtropics, but many of these do | |
not contain a sufficient percentage of sucrose, or else they contain | |
such a high percentage of impurities that the low yield of sugar and | |
the high cost of manufacture make their use unprofitable. | |
CITRUS FRUITS IN THE PHILIPPINES. [1] | |
By P. J. Wester, Horticulturist in Charge of Lamao Experiment Station. | |
PRELIMINARY REMARKS. | |
De Candolle, in his "Origin of Cultivated Plants," discusses 5 species | |
belonging to the genus Citrus: The pomelo, C. decumana L.; the citron, | |
lemon, and lime, here considered as distinct species, which he includes | |
under the one species, C. medica L.; the sweet orange, C. aurantium | |
L., which he separates from the sour orange and which is also by him | |
considered as a distinct species, C. vulgaris Risso; and finally the | |
mandarin, C. nobilis Lour. Of these, the pomelo, orange, mandarin, | |
lemon, lime, and citron are important pomologically, the sour orange | |
being grown principally as stock for the other species. | |
The pomelo is by the same author considered to be indigenous to the | |
Pacific Islands east of Java, the citron and affiliated species to | |
have originated in India, and the sour orange east of India, and all | |
to have been in cultivation for over two thousand years. The antiquity | |
of the orange and mandarin is less, both species being from China | |
and Cochin China. | |
All these species have been introduced into the Philippine Archipelago, | |
and are well distributed excepting the sour orange, which is rarely | |
seen. The discussion of all species refers to them as found in the | |
Philippines except when otherwise stated. | |
No very distinct types are found among the oranges or mandarins; | |
the variation in the pomelo is considerable, although, so far as | |
the writer has noted, scarcely enough to warrant the distinction of | |
separate varieties. Both the white and red-fleshed types occur with | |
many gradations, but no studies have been made to note which other | |
correlative characters, if any, are identified with these different | |
forms. The very primitive pomelos (Pl. II, c) that are not infrequently | |
seen in cultivation might indicate that this species is indigenous | |
to the Philippines, though so far as the writer knows the tree has | |
never been seen in the virgin forest. Closer observations have been | |
made on the general type represented by the citron, including the | |
lemon and lime, and several distinct forms have been recognized. | |
The calamondin, C. mitis Blanco, is well known to be indigenous, | |
as well as the cabuyao and related plants that have been referred to | |
C. histrix DC. In the first-named species there seem to be no very | |
marked variations. | |
C. histrix was described by De Candolle, flowers and fruits excepted, | |
from a plant growing in Montpellier, being recognized principally by | |
its long broad-winged petioles and free stamens. The writer has not | |
had the opportunity to see the original description of C. histrix | |
or examine the type specimen, but Swingle refers to it in Jour. of | |
Agri. Research, Vol. I, No. 1, page 10, 1913, as having broadly winged | |
petioles, often larger than the blades, the wings being more gradually | |
narrowed toward the base and usually more abruptly truncate at the | |
tip than C. ichangensis Swingle, making then somewhat triangular | |
in outline. | |
Within these broad limitations a number of otherwise remarkably | |
distinct forms may be recognized some of which were illustrated | |
in a previous publication, Bureau of Agriculture Bulletin No. 27, | |
Citriculture in the Philippines, 1913, and referred to C. histrix | |
with the statement that "some of these forms unquestionably will be | |
recognized as subspecies on closer study, or possibly as separate | |
species." Since then several plants of this type in the citrus | |
collection assembled at Lamao by the Bureau of Agriculture have bloomed | |
and fruited, affording an opportunity for fuller observations, and | |
these have been further complemented during a trip to Bohol and Cebu | |
in May, 1914, and by the fruits forwarded by Mr. E. F. Southwick. | |
However, assuming that C. histrix (or some of its subspecies) is the | |
C. histrix of De Candolle, there still remain, on one hand the limao, | |
and on the other the biasong, balincolong, samuyao, samuyao-sa-amoo, | |
as widely different from each other and the cabuyao and its subspecies | |
as for instance the orange, and pomelo, or the mandarin and the | |
calamondin. A very interesting characteristic has been discovered in | |
several of the citrus fruits that have free stamens in the form of a | |
more or less distinct nucleus in the juice cells; this, so far as the | |
writer knows, has not been previously recorded in a citrus fruit. The | |
fact that the presence of these nuclei is not here referred to in | |
some species with free stamens does not necessarily mean that they | |
are absent, considering that fruits of these particular species have | |
not been examined since the first nuclear cells were discovered. The | |
writer is inclined to believe that these nuclei are correlative to | |
those species having free stamens. | |
To the student in the citrus-growing sections of the United States | |
the characterization of the citron, lemon and lime as given herein is | |
no doubt satisfactory, but in the Philippines various forms called | |
"limon" will appear that do not agree with this and it would then | |
be necessary either to make the descriptions more general so as | |
to cover the additional forms or to classify these as species or | |
subspecies. If the barely margined petioles, comparatively small | |
leaves, the green, tender growth and the white corolla are insisted | |
upon for the lime, for instance, it is difficult to know where to | |
place the purple-growthed, thorny, wide-winged, purplish-petaled, | |
subglobose limes with wide-winged leaves of the Philippines. They | |
cannot well be placed with the lemons, and still less with the citron, | |
though they of course show strong relationship to each. The citron | |
group of the genus perhaps more than any other shows the need of | |
further study and systematization of the entire genus. | |
Attention should be called to the presence in the Philippines of the | |
extremely primitive types of the citron and the lemons; for instance, | |
the fruit illustrated in Bulletin No. 27, Plate XVI (c), and colo-colo, | |
as well as the lombog, referred to C. pseudolimonum in this paper. | |
Of all the plants here discussed, C. micrantha var. microcarpa is | |
botanically furthest removed from the cultivated citrus fruits. | |
Each considered as a separate species and constituting perhaps the | |
most complete description of these species published in English, | |
Mr. H. H. Hume's characterization of the orange, sour orange, mandarin, | |
pomelo, citron, lemon, and lime in his "Citrus Fruits and Their | |
Culture," is here reproduced without alteration. Some writers have | |
grouped several of these as subspecies under one great comprehensive | |
species, but, as Mr. Hume aptly says: "What advantage is there in | |
throwing the sour orange, sweet orange, pomelo, kumquat, and a few | |
other distinctly different trees into one conglomerate species * * * | |
and then placing each of the aforementioned plants under this species | |
as subspecies and varieties. Such a procedure is more likely to result | |
in further confusion than order." | |
The species of the genus Citrus that have come under the observation of | |
the writer, with two exceptions, seem naturally to divide themselves | |
into two groups,--(1) those with more or less united filaments and | |
hypogeal cotyledons, and (2) those with free filaments, and (in all | |
instances where there has been an opportunity for observations) with | |
supra-terraneous, distinct cotyledons (fig. 1). In so far as these | |
characteristics have been observed in the Philippine citrus fruits, | |
long and broad-winged petioles are a third correlative feature | |
distinguishing group No. 2; C. ichangensis recently described by | |
Swingle from China also possesses this last feature, but has connate | |
filaments. The alsem and alemow seem to be intermediate between these | |
forms, the alsem being most closely related to those in the first | |
division, the filaments being connate, while the cotyledons in some | |
lots that have been propagated appeared above ground. The alemow is | |
most closely related to group No. 2, the filaments being nearly always | |
free. The general character of the talamisan together with the presence | |
of hypogeal cotyledons tends to the belief that this species has more | |
or less united filaments and thus would belong to the first group. | |
All descriptions have been made from living plant material either | |
during tours of collection by the writer, or from plants grown | |
at the Lamao experiment station from material sent to the Bureau | |
of Agriculture from time to time since April, 1911. Also, all the | |
material has been collected from plants growing in the yard of some | |
Filipino and so may lay claim to having been domesticated. While | |
this statement may not be altogether reliable it is interesting to | |
note that in Bohol the Filipinos stated that the following trees grew | |
wild in the forest: Among-pong, amontay, balincolong, biasong, canci, | |
colo-colo, limoncito, limao, lombog, and samuyao. | |
While it is believed that the species described in this paper include | |
most of the more distinctive Philippine citrus fruits, and several | |
hitherto unknown even to the botanist, they do not by any means | |
exhaust the Philippine forms of this genus. Several other forms have | |
been noted, and constitute a part of the citrus collection at Lamao | |
but are not here referred to, for the reason that the material on | |
hand is too incomplete to warrant their description at this time. | |
Acknowledgements.--The writer is greatly indebted to | |
Mr. E. F. Southwick, superintendent of the demonstration station at | |
Cebu, for his untiring zeal in repeatedly forwarding sets of citrus | |
fruits and budwood from Bohol and Cebu, and for his most valuable | |
assistance during a collection trip made by him and the writer to Cebu | |
and Bohol in May, 1914, without which it would not have been possible | |
to obtain much of the data and material collected. All the species | |
and varieties credited to Bohol were first called to the attention | |
of the Bureau by Mr. Southwick. Mr. G. W. Weathersbee, formerly | |
agricultural inspector of this Bureau, first called attention to the | |
alemow and has also assisted in the collection of citrus material | |
in Cebu. Mr. A. M. Burton, formerly superintendent of the Trinidad | |
garden, Benguet, has forwarded fruits and budwood of the cabugao | |
and other fruits. Mr. D. B. Mackie, entomologist of the Bureau, | |
first called attention to a variety of alsem in Bontoc of superior | |
quality. M. G. B. Mead sent the first specimens of Panuban. | |
DESCRIPTIONS AND COMMENTS. | |
Citrus aurantium L. Orange. | |
A tree 7.5 to 12 meters in height, with a compact, conical head; bark | |
grayish brown; thorns generally present, 12 to 50 millimeters long, | |
sharp, stout; leaves oval or ovate oblong, 7.5 to 10 centimeters | |
long, smooth, shining, somewhat lighter below than above, margins | |
entire, or very slightly serrate; petiole 12 to 25 millimeters | |
long, slightly winged (occasionally with quite a broad wing); | |
flowers axillary in clusters of one to six, white, sweet scented, | |
smaller than those of C. vulgaris; calyx cupped; sepals four to five, | |
awl-shaped, thick, greenish, persistent; petals usually five, oblong, | |
25 to 31 millimeters long, thick, fleshy, recurved; stamens twenty | |
to twenty-five, hypogenous, filaments flattened, united in groups, | |
shorter than the petals; pistil distinctly divided into stigma, style | |
and ovary; stigma knob-like; style long and slender; ovary rounded, | |
10 to 14 loculed; fruit globose to oblate, light orange to reddish; | |
rind smooth; pulp juicy, subacid; juice sacs spindle shaped, sometimes | |
larger than those of C. vulgaris; seeds few or many, oblong ovoid, | |
planoconvex, generally broad, wedged or pointed at the micropylar end, | |
marked with oblique ridges surrounding one or two plain areas. Native | |
to China or Cochin China. | |
While the orange is nowhere planted in orchards it is fairly well | |
distributed. Judging from the prevalence of the citrus fruits | |
in the markets in the various parts of the Archipelago it ranks | |
fifth in production, as compared with the mandarin, pomelo, lime, | |
and calamondin, the only citrus fruits beside the orange that may | |
claim to be of any economic importance even from a Philippine point | |
of view. Excepting a few budded trees of recent importation or | |
distribution by the Bureau of Agriculture all trees are seedlings | |
and nearly always the fruit is poor in quality. | |
So far as noted, there are no variations worthy of notice. | |
Citrus vulgaris Risso. Sour Orange. | |
(Seville orange, Bigarade orange.) | |
A small tree, 6 to 9 meters in height, with a dense compact head; | |
young shoots light green, thorny; thorns alternate, small, sharp | |
and pointed, on older wood larger, strong, stiff; leaves unifoliate, | |
evergreen, alternate, ovate, pointed, strongly and peculiarly scented; | |
petiole 12 to 18 millimeters long, broadly winged; flowers in small, | |
axillary cymes, white, strongly sweet scented, somewhat larger than | |
those of C. aurantium; calyx cupped, segments 4 to 5, blunt; petals | |
linear oblong, conspicuously dotted with oil cells; stamens 20 to 24; | |
filaments united in groups; pistil club shaped, smooth; ovary 6 to 14 | |
loculed; fruit orange or frequently reddish when well matured, | |
inclined to be rough; rind strongly aromatic, bitter; pulp acid; juice | |
sacs spindle shaped, rather small; seeds flattened and wedged toward | |
the micropylar end, marked with ridged lines. Native to southeastern | |
Asia, probably in Cochin China. Hardier than the sweet orange. | |
Samples of what seems to be the sour orange have been received from | |
Davao, Mindanao. | |
Citrus nobilis Lour. Mandarin. | |
A small tree 3.6 to 6 meters in height, with a dense head of upright | |
or willowy, drooping branches; bark dark brownish or streaked with | |
gray; branchlets light green or dark in color, small, slender, | |
round or angled, thornless, or provided with small sharp spines; | |
leaves small, lanceolate to oval, slightly crenate; petioles short, | |
wingless, or with very small wings; flowers terminating the branchlets | |
or axillary, sometimes clustered, 18 to 25 millimeters across, sweet | |
scented; calyx small, shallow, cupped, the petals small; petals white, | |
fleshy, recurved; stamens 18 to 23 in number, shorter than the petals; | |
pistil small, resembling that of C. aurantium; ovary 9 to 15 loculed; | |
fruit distinctly oblate, orange to reddish in color; pulp sweet | |
or subacid; juice sacs broad and blunt; seeds top shaped, beaked, | |
cotyledons pistache green; embryos one or more; sections separating | |
readily from each other and from the rind; rind thin, oil cell somewhat | |
balloon shaped or oval. Native to Cochin China. Generally admitted | |
to be somewhat hardier than the sweet orange. | |
The mandarin is the only species in the genus Citrus that has been | |
at all systematically planted and cared for, even though this mostly | |
consists in the planting the trees, now and then the clearing away of | |
the weeds with cutlasses and the harvesting of the fruit. Nevertheless | |
the quality of the fruit is uniform and very good. | |
The mandarin district of the Philippines is confined to a small | |
area principally around Santo Tomas and Tanauan, in the Province of | |
Batangas, and, excepting imported fruit, all mandarins marketed in the | |
Philippines are grown in the above-mentioned region. Scattered trees | |
are found in most parts of the Archipelago. Aside from the tizon, | |
which is described later, and which it is believed may be referred | |
to this species, there are no well-defined varieties of the mandarin. | |
Citrus nobilis var. papillaris Blanco. Tizon. | |
(Plate II, b) | |
A spreading, small tree, attaining a height of 6 meters or more, in | |
habit similar to the pomelo; spines small, or wanting; leaves 10 to | |
14 centimeters long, 5 to 6 centimeters broad, ovate to elliptical | |
oblong, crenate, dark-green and shining above, crinkly, base broadly | |
acute, apex narrowly acute to almost acuminate and caudate; petioles | |
17 to 20 millimeters long with narrow wing margin; flowers not seen; | |
fruit large from 6 to 10 centimeters in diameter, 170 to 580 grams in | |
weight, somewhat compressed at basal half, usually ending in a more | |
or less conspicuous nipple which, however, is sometimes wanting; apex | |
flattened, or even depressed; surface smooth, pale greenish turning | |
to orange yellow; skin medium thin; locules 10 to 11, separable from | |
each other and the skin like the mandarin; pulp yellowish, subacid, | |
very juicy, and of good flavor with marked "quinine" taste; juice | |
cells large; seeds very few, rarely more than 7. | |
The tizon is extremely rare and only a few trees are found in | |
cultivation, confined to the citrus district of Batangas, Luzon. The | |
trees are said to be quite prolific, and the fruit matures from | |
September to December. This fruit, on account of its scarcity, is of | |
no commercial importance. However, it would be an acceptable dessert | |
or breakfast fruit, being a little more acid than the orange. It is | |
said to be an introduction from Spain. The tizon is without doubt | |
the C. papillaris described by Blanco in "Flora Filipinas." | |
The tizon is believed to be a natural hybrid between the mandarin | |
and the pomelo. It has inherited the loose-skinned character, large | |
juice cells, and partial absence of spines, and leaf character of the | |
first-named species to which it is (without the writer having had the | |
opportunity to examine the flowers) unquestionably more closely related | |
than to any other species in the genus. The tizon is represented in | |
the citrus collection at the Lamao experiment station under Bureau | |
of Agriculture No. 744 and 745. | |
Citrus decumana L. Pomelo. | |
A tree 6 to 12 meters in height, with a rounded or conical head, and | |
a trunk upwards of 45 centimeters in diameter; bark smooth, grayish | |
brown; young leaves and shoots sparsely pubescent, light green; | |
leaves ovate, blunt, pointed or rounded, emarginate, smooth, dark, | |
glossy green, leathery, margin crenate; petioles articulated, broadly | |
winged; flowers produced singly or in cymose clusters of 2 to 20, | |
sweet scented; calyx cupped, large; sepals 4 to 5, pointed; corolla | |
white, 37 to 43 millimeters across; petals 4 to 5, slightly reflexed, | |
fleshy, oblong; stamens 20 to 25; anthers large, abundantly supplied | |
with pollen, proterandrous; pistil stout; stigma when ripe covered with | |
a sticky, milky fluid; ovary 11 to 14 loculed; fruit large, oblate, | |
globose or pyriform, light lemon or orange ; flesh grayish or | |
pink; juice sacs large, spindle shaped; flavor a mingling of acid, | |
bitterness and sweetness or subacid; seeds large, light , | |
wedge shaped or irregular, with prominent ridges surrounding broad, | |
flat areas. Native to the Polynesian and Malayan Archipelagos. | |
The pomelo is the most widely distributed species in the genus, | |
but here as in the orange the quality of practically all the fruit | |
is wretchedly poor, dry and insipid with a very thick skin. With the | |
exception of the panuban, described below, there are no variations | |
worthy of notice in this genus. | |
Citrus decumana L. Pomelo, var. Panuban. | |
A spiny tree, 3 to 4 meters tall of robust growth; young growth | |
pubescent; leaves 12 to 17 centimeters long, 4.7 to 8 centimeters | |
wide, oblong ovate, crenate, coriaceous; base rounded; petiole 15 | |
to 23 millimeters long, wing margins narrow, at most 18 millimeters | |
broad, and cuneiform; flowers not seen; fruit 5.7 centimeters long, 7 | |
centimeters in transverse diameter, oblate, with shallow apical cavity; | |
surface smooth, lemon yellow; skin very thin; pulp contained in 11 to | |
12 locules, yellowish, fairly juicy, subacid, acidity and sweetness | |
well blended, aromatic and well flavored; seeds large, polyembryonic. | |
The panuban is said to bloom about New Year and the fruit ripens in | |
September to November; the trees are reported to be very prolific. The | |
panuban has been reported only from Lias, Bontoc, where half a dozen | |
trees are said to grow. Possibly the panuban may be an accidental | |
hybrid between the pomelo and the orange or mandarin; if it is | |
simply a mutation it is certainly one of the most striking in this | |
species. However this may be, the pomelo character is strongly dominant | |
in both the foliage and the fruit. Very well flavored, the fruit is | |
too dry to be acceptable to a discriminating public, but it is not | |
improbable that under cultivation the juiciness would increase. In | |
such a case the panuban might become a fruit of commercial importance. | |
B. A. No. 5160 (Lias, Bontoc). | |
Citrus mitis Blanco. Calamondin. | |
A small, somewhat spiny tree, 4 to 6 meters tall; young growth | |
greenish; leaves elliptic oblong, 4 to 9 centimeters long and about | |
4 centimeters wide, crenulate; base acute; apex usually emarginate; | |
petiole scarcely winged, 10 to 15 millimeters long; flowers axillary, | |
solitary, rarely in pairs, 21 millimeters in diameter, fragrant; | |
petals white, reflexed; stamens 18 to 20, unequal; filaments united | |
into groups; ovary globose, 6 to 8 loculed; style slender, distinct; | |
stigma knoblike; fruit globose, orange yellow, 2 to 4 centimeters | |
in diameter; skin smooth, thin, brittle, separable from the flesh; | |
pulp orange , juicy, acid, with distinct aroma; juice cells | |
rather large, short, and blunt; seeds comparatively large, smooth, | |
plump, sometimes beaked; polyembryonic. | |
The calamondin is widely distributed in the Philippines and occurs wild | |
as well as cultivated. The plant makes an attractive, ornamental, | |
small tree and the fruit may be made into marmalade or utilized | |
in making ade. There are no particularly distinct forms of this | |
species. The trees are almost invariably very prolific and almost | |
everbearing. In Bohol the species is known as "limoncito." | |
B. A. No. 2332 (Tanauan, Batangas). | |
Citrus webberii. Alsem. | |
A shrubby tree with small, sharp spines; leaves averaging 95 | |
millimeters in length, and 32 millimeters in width, oblong-ovate, | |
crenulate, dark green and shining above; base broadly acute; apex | |
emarginate, petiole 27 millimeters long; wings rarely exceeding 12 | |
millimeters in width; flowers terminal, rarely axillary, solitary, | |
20 millimeters in diameter, sweet scented; calyx small; petals white, | |
reflexed; stamens 19 to 21, about equal; filaments united into groups | |
of several; ovary small, obovoid, 7 to 11 loculed; style distinct, | |
slender; stigma small, club shaped; fruit sometimes attaining a weight | |
of 165 grams, form oblate, 58 millimeters long to 65 millimeters long | |
to 66 across, to roundish oblate, sometimes compressed and wrinkled | |
toward base ending in a pronounced nipple; apex a shallow depression, | |
or mammilate with the circular depression more or less pronounced; | |
surface smooth to fairly smooth; color greenish yellow to lemon yellow, | |
lenticels few, depressed; skin thin, the "kid-glove" character more | |
or less pronounced; flesh whitish to grayish, very juicy, aromatic; | |
juice cells variable, from short and blunt to medium slender and | |
tapering to one end; seeds ovate, flattened, smooth, sometimes beaked. | |
Plants of the alsem have never been seen by the writer in the | |
provinces, the description of the plant having been made from | |
budded plants growing at Lamao, propagated from material collected | |
in Bulacan. The trees have a long flowering season, as fruits are | |
offered in Manila throughout the summer to late in autumn. The | |
variation in the fruit is very great, some being of little value, | |
while others are extremely thin skinned, well flavored, juicy, | |
aromatic, with less rag than perhaps any citrus fruit that has been | |
examined by the writer. The floral characters correspond closely to | |
those of the mandarin, which the fruit in some forms also resembles | |
in appearance and in its loose-skinned character. Flavor and aroma | |
place the alsem in close relationship with the cabuyao, C. histrix, | |
and it is a curious fact that the Tagalogs always call it "cabuyao." In | |
common with the cabuyao it is frequently infested with the rindborer, | |
Prays citri, while the mandarin is practically immune to this pest. | |
An analysis made by the Bureau of Science in November, 1912, of alsem | |
fruits purchased by the writer in Manila gave the following results: | |
Weight of-- Grams. | |
Fruit 56.5 | |
Peel 15 | |
Seed 1.5 | |
Pulp (rag) 13.5 | |
Juice 26.5 | |
Analysis of juice. | |
Per cent. | |
Acidity (citric) 5.41 | |
Sucrose None. | |
Sugar 2.41 | |
Protein .33 | |
Ash .39 | |
Analysis of pulp. | |
Per cent. | |
Acidity (citric) 2.73 | |
Protein 1.03 | |
Ash .58 | |
The alsem was considered a variety of the mandarin in Bulletin No. 27, | |
Plate IV, but a closer study of the plant and fruit shows that it | |
differs so greatly from all other Philippine species of the genus as | |
to be entitled to specific rank, and it has been named in honor of | |
Dr. H. J. Webber, director of the citrus experiment station, Riverside, | |
California, the association with whom, in connection with his citrus | |
and pineapple breeding work, more than any other cause influenced | |
the writer to take up the improvement of tropical economic plants. | |
The Bontoc local name "alsem" is here proposed as the vernacular name | |
for C. webberii. In previous publications by the writer it was called | |
the "mandarin lime," which is hardly suitable, however, since while | |
it has certain resemblances to the mandarin yet is distinct from it, | |
and again, its only resemblance to the lime lies in its acidity and | |
ade-making qualities; moreover the name "mandarin lime" is too long | |
for popular use. | |
B. A. No. 853 (Bulacan), 2275 (Manila), 4292 (Bontoc). | |
Citrus webberii var. montana. Cabugao. | |
A shrubby tree with slender branches and small, weak spines, sometimes | |
absent; young growth green; leaves 8.5 to 14 centimeters long, 3 to | |
3.5 centimeters broad, ovate to ovate oblong, crenate, dark green | |
above, shining; base broadly acute to rounded; apex blunt pointed, | |
usually retuse; petiole 24 to 38 millimeters long, with narrow wing | |
margin, in large leaves sometimes 17 millimeters broad; flowers not | |
seen; fruit roundish oblate, about 45 millimeters across, somewhat | |
corrugate, 8 loculed. | |
Budwood and fruits of the cabugao were forwarded to the Bureau by | |
Mr. A. M. Burton, from the Mountain Province. The writer did not | |
have the opportunity of examining the fruit, of which, however, an | |
excellent photograph was made, and, to date of writing the plants | |
at Lamao not having bloomed there has been no chance to examine | |
the floral characters. The general character of the plant and fruit | |
indicates that the cabugao is a form of the alsem. | |
Through a typographical error in Bulletin No. 27, Plate XVI (a), | |
the cabugao is credited to Bohol. | |
B. A. No. 2266 (Benguet, Mountain Province). | |
Citrus longispina. Talamisan. | |
(Pls. IIa, IIIa.) | |
An arborescent, very thorny shrub about 5 meters tall, with numerous | |
suckers and interlocking branches, the spines on the stems frequently | |
10 centimeters long; young growth bright green, nearly always angular; | |
leaves 6.5 to 10 centimeters long, 3 to 4.8 centimeters broad, ovate | |
to broadly elliptical, crenate; base obtuse to broadly acute; apex | |
acute to rounded, usually emarginate; petioles 19 to 25 millimeters | |
long, rather narrowly winged, though in large leaves the wings are up | |
to 18 millimeters broad; flowers not seen; fruit roundish, somewhat | |
flattened at apex, 58 millimeters in diameter, smooth, deep lemon | |
<DW52>; skin thin; locules 11 to 15; pulp very juicy, mildly acid, | |
with a tinge of orange yellow, aromatic and pleasantly flavored; juice | |
cells large, plump, blunt or pointed at one end; seeds rather few, | |
of medium size, fairly plump, more or less reticulate, polyembryonic, | |
and of poor germinating qualities. | |
The talamisan is exceedingly rare, and is found in cultivation in Bohol | |
(one plant has been seen in Cebu) and is fairly productive. Excepting | |
the mandarin, which is also of rare occurrence, it is much superior | |
to all other citrus fruits grown in these two islands, and is eaten | |
by the inhabitants; it is nevertheless very rare and of no economic | |
importance at present. The fruit ripens in January and February, and is | |
a poor keeper. Introduced into cultivation, the fruit of the talamisan | |
could to advantage be used as an ade fruit, and with a little sugar | |
it would make a good breakfast fruit. The dense growth of the plant, | |
with numerous suckers, armed also with formidable spines, would make | |
it a good live fence. | |
The talamisan, or tamisan as it is also called, is one of the | |
most interesting citrus fruits that has come to the attention of | |
the writer. Its angular growth, formidable spines, broad, sometimes | |
almost orbicular, distinct leaves and fruit easily distinguish the | |
talamisan from all other species in the genus. | |
B. A. No. 2529, 4833 (Bohol). | |
Citrus macrophylla. Alemow. | |
(Pls. IIIb, VIc.) | |
A tree attaining a height of 6 meters, of upright growth, and rather | |
long, stout, sharp spines; leaves 14 to 18 centimeters long, 6 to | |
8 centimeters wide, elliptical to ovate, crenate to serrate; base | |
rounded; apex acute; petioles 18 to 40 millimeters long, broadly | |
winged, wings frequently exceeding 35 millimeters in width; flowers | |
4 to 7, in compact cymes, sessile, 18 to 22 millimeters in diameter; | |
calyx cupped; petals 4 to 5, oblong; stamens 26 to 30; filaments nearly | |
always free; ovary small, 13 to 16 loculed; style distinct; stigma | |
club shaped, small; fruit 85 to sometimes exceeding 100 millimeters in | |
length, attaining a weight of 500 to 800 grams, subglobose to roundish | |
oblong, more or less compressed towards base, which is nippled and | |
with stem inserted in a shallow cavity; apex flattened with a circular | |
depression around the raised stigmatic area; surface greenish lemon | |
yellow, rather rough, with transverse corrugations; oil cells small, | |
sunken; skin comparatively thin; pulp grayish, rather dry, sharply | |
acid, lemon flavored; juice cells rather slender, long, and pointed; | |
seed medium large, short and plump, smooth, sometimes beaked. | |
The alemow is a very rare fruit occurring in cultivation in Cebu, | |
and considered inedible even by the natives. The description of the | |
flowers was made from fresh specimens collected in May. The tree is | |
said to bloom later in the year during the rainy season having then | |
larger flowers. Partly grown fruit was then seen on the tree and since | |
mature fruit has been examined by the writer from December to late | |
in February the alemow is evidently nearly if not quite everbearing. | |
The principal distinguishing features in this species are the large, | |
broad leaves, the comparatively short but quite broad-winged petioles, | |
the free rarely united filaments, and the quite large, peculiarly | |
shaped fruit; it is thus apparently one of the links between the two | |
branches of the genus, one of which has the filaments more or less | |
united and the other the filaments free, being in the first group | |
most closely related to the pomelo. | |
The alemow was first forwarded to the writer under the name of colo: | |
Bulletin 27, Plate XIV. | |
B. A. No. 2510, 2377, 3677, 4820 (Cebu). | |
Citrus southwickii. Limao. | |
(Pls. IIIe, IVc.) | |
A thorny tree, with dense head and drooping branches, attaining | |
a height of 6 meters; spines small but sharp, leaves 9.5 to 14 | |
centimeters long, 36 to 53 millimeters broad, ovate to roundish | |
ovate, conspicuously crenate, dark green and shining above, leathery; | |
base acute; apex acute to obtuse, frequently emarginate; petioles | |
35 to 70 millimeters long, the wings 25 to 30 millimeters broad in | |
large leaves, the average wing area somewhat less than half of the | |
leaf blade; flowers 2 to 6, in compact axillary or terminal cymes, | |
sometimes solitary, 14 to 20 millimeters in diameter, white, with | |
trace of purple on the outside; calyx very small; stamens 22 to | |
28, free; ovary globose to oblate; locules 15 to 19; stigma almost | |
sessile; fruit 45 to 55 millimeters long, 55 to 65 millimeters in | |
equatorial diameter, oblate, with shallow cavity at apex, smooth, | |
with slight longitudinal corrugations; lenticels sparse, small; oil | |
cells usually raised; skin thin; pulp fairly juicy, sharply acid, | |
bitter, with distinct aroma from C. histrix; juice cells short, plump, | |
granulate, small, containing a small, greenish nucleus; seeds numerous. | |
The limao, though rare, is not uncommon in Bohol, where it is | |
cultivated and has also been collected by the writer in Baganga, | |
Mindanao. The flowers appear late in April and during the early | |
part of May, with the fruit ripening in January and February; a few | |
fruits nearly full grown were collected in May. No. 2049 has flowered | |
irregularly from May to December. The fruit is not eaten, but used | |
in washing by the Boholanos and is of no economic importance. The | |
tree is evidently quite drought resistant, and succeeds well in very | |
scanty soil underlaid with limestone. | |
The limao belongs in that group of the citrus fruits having free | |
filaments, the most conspicuous characters being the compact growth | |
of the crown, the dark-green, thick, and distinct leaves, the almost | |
sessile stigma, and the attractive, oblate, regular-shaped fruit | |
with its many locules, exceeding in number those in all other citrus | |
fruits known to the writer. This species has been named in honor of | |
Mr. E. F. Southwick, elsewhere referred to in the paper. | |
B. A. No. 2049 (Baganga, Mindanao), 2504, 4823 (Bohol). | |
Citrus histrix DC. Cabuyao. | |
(Pl. Vb; fig. 1.) | |
A thorny tree, sometimes exceeding 6.5 meters in height; spines | |
medium large and sharp; leaves 13.5 to 18 centimeters long, 4 to 6 | |
centimeters broad, ovate to oblong ovate, coriaceous, dark green and | |
shining above, crenate; base rounded to broadly acute; apex acute, | |
sometimes emarginate; petiole 5.5 to 8 centimeters long, broadly | |
margined, sometimes 4.5 centimeters wide, wing area inferior or | |
equal to sometimes exceeding leaf area; flowers 4 to 7, in axillary or | |
terminal, compact cymes, 17 to 28 millimeters in diameter; calyx small, | |
not cupped; petals 4 to 5, oblong ovate, white, with trace of purple | |
on the outside; stamens 30 to 36, equal, free, with abundant pollen; | |
ovary rather large, globose, 13 to 18 loculed; style short and stout; | |
stigma knob like; fruit subglobose to short pyriform or turbinate, | |
attaining a length of 9 centimeters and a diameter of 7 centimeters; | |
surface smooth; color greenish yellow to lemon yellow; rind medium | |
thick; pulp greenish, juicy, sharply acid, aromatic; juice sacs rather | |
short and blunt, usually containing a more or less distinct nucleus; | |
seeds usually many, flat, reticulate. | |
This fruit, commonly called cabuyao by the Tagalogs in central Luzon, | |
is without question the "copahan" of Bohol. Near Manila the tree | |
has been found in flower in September, while in Bohol flowers were | |
collected in May. The fruit may be used in making ade, but is inferior | |
to the lemon or lime. The native inhabitants eat it together with fish, | |
and also use the fruit in washing. It is of practically no importance. | |
The "amongpong," found in Bohol, and considered a distinct fruit from | |
the copahan by the native inhabitants, differs chiefly in having only | |
26 to 30 stamens, and a large oblate ovary with a short and slender | |
style. The first has not been examined by the writer and is said to | |
be smooth and short, pyriform, 10 centimeters in diameter. Flowers | |
examined in May. | |
"Calo-oy" is another fruit also found in Bohol considered by the | |
inhabitants as distinct from the "copahan" and "amongpong." The leaf | |
characters in the calo-oy scarcely differ sufficiently to entitle | |
it to rank even as a subspecies; the flowers were just gone when the | |
visit was made to Bohol. The fruit is said to be globose, smooth and | |
about 8 centimeters in diameter. | |
"Amontay" (Pl. IVb) is still another form of C. histrix found in | |
Bohol. This plant was also out of its flowering stage at the time | |
of the visit. The fruit, forwarded to the writer in February by | |
Mr. Southwick, is about 88 millimeters in diameter, irregularly | |
globose, with flattened or depressed base, and rounded apex, smooth, | |
lemon yellow; oil cells mostly raised; skin thick; the pulp, contained | |
in 10 to 12 locules, juicy, and rather pleasantly aromatic; juice | |
cells medium large, short and plump, containing a minute, greenish | |
nucleus; cotyledons supraterraneous, distinct. | |
So far as observed, the amongpong, amontay and the calo-oy are not | |
sufficiently distinct from the cabuyao to entitle them even to rank | |
as subspecies. | |
The various forms above referred to are in the Bureau of Agriculture | |
citrus collection at Lamao, represented as follows: Cabuyao, No. 739 | |
(Lamao); copahan, No. 2570, 4835 (Bohol); amongpong, No. 2496, 4831 | |
(Bohol); calo-oy, No. 4822 (Bohol); amontay, No. 2501, 4830 (Bohol). | |
Citrus histrix var. boholensis. Canci. | |
(Pls. IVa, Va.) | |
A small tree, rarely exceeding 4 meters in height, with compact | |
crown and small, sharp spines; leaves 9 to 12 centimeters long, | |
30 to 45 millimeters broad, ovate to elliptical ovate, crenulate, | |
coriaceous; base broadly acute; apex acute to acuminate; petioles | |
35 to 45 millimeters long, 25 to 30 millimeters wide, wing area less | |
than one-half of leaf area; flowers 2 to 6 in compact axillary cymes; | |
petals white, with purplish tinge outside; stamens 20 to 23, equal, | |
free; ovary quite large, oblate; locules 11 to 14; style short, | |
distinct; stigma knob like; fruit 39 millimeters long, 46 millimeters | |
in transverse diameter, oblate, smooth, lemon yellow; oil cells | |
numerous, uniform, raised; skin medium thick; pulp quite juicy with | |
very pronounced acidity; juice cells short, plump, and granular; | |
seeds many, wedge shaped, monoembryonic; cotyledons supraterraneous. | |
The canci is found in cultivation in Bohol and is rather rare. Flowers | |
were collected in May, and ripe fruits have been examined in | |
January. The fruit is eaten with fish by the Filipinos, but is really | |
so little grown that it has no economic importance. The fruit makes | |
a fairly good ade. | |
While the canci undoubtedly belongs to C. histrix yet an examination of | |
its parts shows that it is very distinct from that species as already | |
described. In the leaves, the comparatively short petioles with small, | |
cuneiform wings, as compared with the oblong-spatulate, broad-winged | |
petioles in the cabuyao, etc., is very noticeable; the stamens are | |
20 to 23 only in the canci, while the locules are 11 to 14, and the | |
fruit is shorter than broad unlike that in C. histrix. Everything | |
considered the plant is apparently an intermediate type between | |
C. histrix and C. webberii. | |
B. A. No. 2525, 4824 (Bohol). | |
Citrus histrix var. torosa Blanco. Colobot. | |
A spiny tree, attaining a height of 6 or more meters; young growth | |
green with a tinge of purple; leaves 9 to 13 centimeters long, 3.5 to | |
5.5 centimeters broad, ovate to short ovate, bicrenate, dark green and | |
glossy; base rounded, apex emarginate; petiole 4 to 7.5 centimeters | |
long, 2.9 to 5 centimeters wide, oblong, with a broadly acute to | |
obtuse base; wing area nearly equal to or frequently exceeding the | |
leaf area; flowers 20 millimeters across, in axillary clusters of 2 | |
to 6; pedicel slender; calyx small, not cupped; petals 4 to 5, white, | |
with a tinge of purple on the outside; stamens 21 to 26, free, equal; | |
ovary subglobose, 3 millimeters long, 11 to 14 loculed; style short, | |
1 millimeter long, distinct; fruit 48 to 55 millimeters long, and | |
about 50 millimeters in transverse diameter, irregularly globose to | |
oblate, usually compressed towards base, ending in a small nipple, | |
more or less wrinkled, greenish lemon yellow; pulp greenish, fairly | |
juicy, acid, scarcely edible; juice cells small, short, containing | |
a small greenish nucleus; seeds small, oblong, reticulate. | |
This plant is the C. torosa of Blanco, which has been considered a | |
synonym of C. histrix, and here raised to the rank of a subspecies. A | |
comparative study of C. histrix and the variety torosa shows | |
considerable differences between the two. C. histrix is generally | |
larger in all parts; the wings of C. h. torosa are oblong, maintaining | |
an almost equal width over a large part of the petiole, ending in a | |
rounded to a broadly acute base, while in C. histrix, and in fact in | |
all the species herein described with free stamens, the wings are more | |
or less cuneate to elongate cuneate or oblong-spatulate, ending usually | |
in an acuminate, sometimes an acute base, the one closest approaching | |
the C. h. torosa in this respect being the "balincolong," referred | |
to C. micrantha. The flower of C. h. torosa corresponds with that of | |
C. histrix except that the former has 21 to 26 stamens as compared with | |
30 to 36 in C. histrix, which also averages more locules to a fruit. | |
B. A. No. 3665, 3666 (Batangas). | |
Citrus micrantha. Biasong. | |
(Pls. Vc, VIb, VIIc.) | |
A tree attaining a height of 7.5 to 9 meters, with comparatively | |
small but sharp spines; leaves 9 to 12 centimeters long, 27 to 40 | |
millimeters broad, broadly elliptical to ovate, crenate, rather thin; | |
base rounded or broadly acute; apex acutely blunt pointed; petioles | |
35 to 60 millimeters long, broadly winged, up to 40 millimeters wide; | |
wing area sometimes exceeding leaf area; flowers small, 12 to 13 | |
millimeters in diameter, white, with a trace of purple on the outside, | |
2 to 5, in axillary or terminal cymes; petals 4; stamens free, equal, | |
15 to 17; ovary obovoid, locules 6 to 8; style slender, distinct; fruit | |
5 to 7 centimeters long, 3 to 4 centimeters in transverse diameter, | |
averaging 26 grams in weight, obovate to oblong-obovate, somewhat | |
compressed towards base; apex blunt pointed; surface fairly smooth | |
or with transverse corrugations, lemon yellow; skin comparatively | |
thick; pulp rather juicy, grayish, acid; aroma similar to that of the | |
samuyao; juice cells short and blunt to long, slender and pointed, | |
sometimes containing a minute, greenish nucleus; seeds many, flat, | |
pointed, more or less reticulate. | |
The biasong has been collected in Cebu, Bohol, Dumaguete, <DW64>s, and | |
in the Zamboanga and Misamis Provinces in Mindanao, in all of which | |
it is sparingly cultivated. The flowers were described from material | |
collected in Bohol in May. Ripe fruit has been obtained in May, June, | |
August, November, and February, indicating that the species is more | |
or less everbearing. The fruit is used by the native inhabitants as | |
a hair wash, is not eaten, and is of no economic importance. | |
Particularly noticeable in the biasong are the small flowers, | |
with less stamens than any other species, and the oblong-obovate, | |
few-loculed fruits. | |
The "balincolong," by the Filipinos regarded as quite a different | |
fruit, found in Bohol and in Misamis, Mindanao, is a more robust tree | |
attaining a height of 12 meters, and has longer wings and thicker | |
leaves, with smoother fruits which sometimes are almost round, but | |
these differences scarcely justify this form to rank as a subspecies | |
even. Beginning in May, the balincolong (1982) has bloomed continuously | |
at Lamao until date of writing (Dec. 18). | |
Biasong, B. A. No. 2502, 4829 (Bohol), Balincolong, No. 4834 (Bohol), | |
1981, 1982 (Misamis, Mindanao). | |
Citrus micrantha var. microcarpa. Samuyao. | |
(Pl. VIIb.) | |
A shrubby tree, 4.5 meters tall, with slender branches and small, weak | |
spines; leaves 55 to 80 millimeters long, 20 to 25 millimeters broad, | |
ovate to ovate-oblong or elliptical, crenulate, thin, of distinct | |
fragrance, base rounded to broadly acute; apex obtuse, sometimes | |
notched, petioles 20 to 30 millimeters long, broadly winged, about 14 | |
millimeters wide, wing area somewhat less than one-half of the leaf | |
blade; flowers in compact axillary or terminal cymes, 2 to 7, small, | |
5 to 9 millimeters in diameter, white, with trace of purple on the | |
outside; calyx small, not cupped, petals 3 to 5; stamens 15 to 18, | |
free, equal; ovary very small, globose to obovate; locules 7 to 9, | |
style distinct; stigma small, knob like; fruit 15 to 20 millimeters | |
in diameter, roundish in outline; base sometimes nippled; apex an | |
irregular, wrinkly cavity; surface corrugate, greenish lemon yellow; | |
oil cells usually sunken; skin very thin; pulp fairly juicy, acid, | |
bitter with distinct aroma; juice cells very minute, blunt, containing | |
a small, greenish nucleus; seeds small, flattened, sometimes beaked. | |
The samuyao occurs sparingly in cultivation in Cebu and Bohol. Flowers | |
were collected in May, partly grown fruits were also obtained, and | |
ripe fruits have been collected in June, and from November to February, | |
showing that the plant is more or less everbearing. The fruit is used | |
by the Filipinos as a hair wash, and is of no economic importance. | |
Throughout, the samuyao gives an impression of dwarfness, by its | |
small size, weak spines, small, and thin leaves; the flowers are even | |
smaller than in the biasong and the fruit is in all probability the | |
smallest in the genus. | |
In Bohol a somewhat more vigorous variety of samuyao was found which | |
is named "samuyao-sa-amoo." The fruits of samuyao-sa-amoo are a little | |
larger, and smoother, and longer than broad, otherwise similar to | |
the samuyao. | |
Samuyao, B. A. No. 2371, 2509 (Cebu), 2530, 4821 (Bohol); | |
Samuyao-sa-amoo 2533, 4832 (Bohol). | |
Citrus medica L. Citron. | |
A shrub or small tree, about 3 meters high, with a short, indistinct | |
trunk and short, thick, irregular, straggling, thorny branches; bark | |
light gray; thorns short, sharp, rather stout; young shoots smooth, | |
violet or purplish, stiff; leaves large, 10 to 15 centimeters | |
long, oval oblong, serrate or somewhat crenate, dark green above, | |
lighter beneath; flowers small, axillary, in compact clusters of 3 | |
to 10, often uninsexual; calyx small, cupped; corolla white within, | |
tinged with purple on the outside; petals oblong, the tips incurved; | |
stamens short, irregular in length, 40 to 45 in number; pistil small; | |
[2] ovary 9 to 12 loculed or occasionally more; fruit lemon yellow, | |
large, 15 to 22 centimeters long, oblong, rough or warty, sometimes | |
ridged; apex blunt pointed; rind thick, white, except for the outer | |
rim; pulp sparse; juice scant, acid, and somewhat bitter or | |
sweetish; juice sacs small, slender; seeds oval, plump, light , | |
smooth. Probably native to India, or it may have been introduced there | |
from farther east, China or Cochin China. Extremely sensitive to cold. | |
The citron is the rarest of all the old cultivated citrus in the | |
Philippines and is very seldom seen in the markets. | |
Citrus medica var. odorata. Tihi-tihi. | |
(Pl. VIIa.) | |
A small, thorny shrub, seldom exceeding 2.5 meters in height, with | |
sharp, stout spines; young growth bright green; leaves 7.5 to 11 | |
centimeters long, 4.3 to 6.5 centimeters broad, elliptical, rather | |
thick and leathery, serrate, of distinct fragrance; base rounded; | |
apex notched; petioles very short 4 to 6 millimeters long, not winged; | |
flowers 1 to 4 in axillary compressed cymes, sessile, rarely exceeding | |
38 millimeters in diameter; calyx large, prominently cupped; petals | |
4 to 5, fleshy, white, with a tinge of purple on the outside; stamens | |
36 to 42, unequal, shorter than stigma; filaments united in groups of | |
4 to 6; pollen abundant; gynoecium frequently aborted; ovary elevated | |
on a bright green disk, large, 4 millimeters long, 13 to 14 loculed; | |
style tapering from ovary, scarcely more slender, rather short; | |
stigma large, knob like, and cleft; fruit 60 to 65 millimeters long, | |
7 to 10 centimeters in transverse diameter, weighing 300 to 475 grams, | |
oblate, with a shallow basal cavity, and sometimes a mammilate apex, | |
more or less ridged longitudinally, fairly smooth, clear lemon yellow; | |
lenticels scattered, depressed; oil cells large, equal or a trifle | |
raised; skin rather thick; pulp grayish, rather dry, sharply acid, | |
of lemon flavor; juice cells long and slender; seeds many--sometimes | |
125 in a single fruit--short, broad, and flattened. | |
The tihi-tihi is a rare plant found in cultivation in Cebu and Bohol; | |
one plant has been seen in Misamis, Mindanao. The plant is very | |
precocious, fruiting as early as the third year from seed, everbearing, | |
and is used by the Filipinos in washing the hair. It is not eaten, | |
and is of no commercial importance. | |
The tihi-tihi differs from the citron in its green, tender, highly | |
aromatic growth, the leaves having been found to contain 0.6 per | |
cent essential oil as analyzed by the Bureau of Science. The fruit | |
is strikingly different from the citron. | |
B. A. No. 19 (Cebu). | |
Citrus medica var. nanus. | |
A small, thorny shrub, rarely exceeding 2 meters in height, with small, | |
sharp spines; leaves 7 to 11 centimeters long, 2.5 to 4.5 centimeters | |
broad, narrowly oblong ovate to elliptical oblong, serrate, darker | |
above than beneath; base rounded; apex frequently notched; petiole | |
5 to 7 millimeters long, wingless; flowers 2 to 10, in axillary or | |
terminal, rather loose cymes, 3 to 4 centimeters in diameter; calyx | |
large, cupped; petals linear oblong, with tips slightly incurved, | |
white, with trace of purple on the outside; stamens 36 to 50, unequal; | |
filaments usually united into groups, sometimes free; gynoecium | |
sometimes wanting; ovary large, oblong, 10 to 12 loculed; style | |
not distinct, of nearly the same thickness as ovary; stigma large, | |
superior to anthers, knob shaped; fruit 65 or more millimeters long, | |
55 millimeters in diameter, ellipsoid to almost roundish, pointed | |
at apex, lemon yellow, smooth; rind medium thick; pulp grayish to | |
greenish, acid, rather dry; juice cells long and slender, almost | |
linear; seeds many, rather small, flattened, smooth. | |
The plant is rather common in the Archipelago, and has been noted in | |
Tarlac, Pampanga, Bulacan, Laguna, and Cebu. It is frequently grown | |
and fruited in small pots, and is probably the smallest species in | |
the genus. It is surprisingly productive and precocious, fruiting as | |
early as the second year from seed, and is practically everbearing. The | |
fruit is eaten by the Filipinos but is too dry to be cultivated for | |
the flesh and the skin is too thin for utilization as citron peel. | |
B. A. No. 27 (Cebu), 2384 (Laguna). | |
Citrus limonum Risso. Lemon. | |
A small tree 3 to 6 meters in height, with rather open head of | |
short, round or angular branches, thorny; bark grayish; young shoots | |
purplish, smooth; leaves evergreen, alternate, 50 to 75 millimeters | |
in length, ovate oval, sharp pointed, light green, margin serrate; | |
petioles entirely wingless; flowers solitary, occasionally in pairs, | |
axillary, on distinct peduncles; calyx persistent, segments 4 or 5; | |
corolla large, 38 to 50 millimeters across, white inside, purplish | |
outside; petals oblong, spreading, strongly reflexed; stamens 20 to 26, | |
separate, or more or less united in small groups; ovary considerably | |
elevated on a prominent disk, 7 to 10 loculed; fruit ripening at all | |
seasons, ovoid or oblong, and pointed at both base and apex, about | |
75 millimeters long, smooth or rough, light yellow in color; rind | |
thin, flesh light ; pulp acid; juice sacs long and pointed; | |
seeds oval, pointed at the micropylar end, quite smooth. Native of | |
the same regions as the citron. | |
The true lemon is very rarely cultivated in the Philippines and all | |
lemons used are imported from California, Australia and Spain. | |
Citrus pseudolimonum. Colo-colo. | |
(Pl. VIIa.) | |
A thorny shrub, 3 meters tall, with interlocking branches, and short, | |
sharp spines; leaves 8 to 11 centimeters long, 40 to 45 millimeters | |
broad, elliptical to oblong-ovate, crenulate to serrulate; base | |
rounded; apex obtuse, frequently slightly notched; petioles 18 to | |
25 millimeters long, with narrow wing margin, rarely exceeding 10 | |
millimeters in width; flowers 1 to 5, in terminal or axillary short | |
cymes, 28 to 35 millimeters in diameter, white, purplish outside; | |
calyx cupped; stamens 30 to 37, nearly always free, unequal; ovary | |
broadly obovoid, 14 to 18 loculed; style distinct; fruit roundish | |
to pyriform, small, usually compressed at base; apex irregular; | |
surface greenish lemon, more or less corrugate; oil cells raised; | |
skin comparatively thick; pulp acid; juice cells small, short and | |
plump; seeds undeveloped and sterile. | |
The colo-colo is another of these peculiar Philippine species with | |
more or less winged petioles affiliated to the lemon, etc. Flowers | |
were collected in May, and ripe fruit has been examined in January | |
and February. The nearly always free stamens in a plant belonging to | |
the same general group as the lemon is of interest. | |
Near the colo-colo is the "lombog," considered a distinct fruit, also | |
found in Bohol. This variety is less vigorous than the colo-colo and | |
also differs from the plant in having narrower wing margins and 21 | |
to 28 stamens and 9 to 11 locules. The fruit is said to be about 4.5 | |
centimeters in diameter and similar in shape to that of the colo-colo. | |
The "kunot" is a third variety considered distinct by the Boholanos | |
that also may be referred to C. pseudolimonum. | |
To C. pseudolimonum may perhaps also be referred a thorny, arborescent | |
shrub, attaining a height of 4.5 meters, found in Siquijor, a little | |
island south of <DW64>s. Material of this was collected in August, | |
1912, by the writer, at which time the tree bore partly grown, oblong, | |
rough, small fruits. The plants at Lamao have flowered during the last | |
two months but have not set fruit. The principal difference in this | |
variety from the colo-colo and lombog is in the number of stamens, | |
here 36 to 41. | |
The fruits of C. pseudolimonum have no economic value. | |
Colo-colo, B. A. No. 2535, 4825; Lombog, No. 2498, 4827 (Bohol), 1953 | |
(Siquijor). | |
Citrus limetta Risso. Lime. | |
A shrub or tree of straggling habit, with small, stiff interlocking | |
or drooping, thorny branches, the thorns small, sharp, numerous; bark | |
grayish brown; young branchlets light green, becoming darker with age; | |
leaves elliptic-oval, glossy green in color, margin slightly indented; | |
petioles margined; flowers small, produced in axillary clusters of 3 | |
to 10; calyx small, four to five pointed; corolla white on both inner | |
and outer surfaces; petals 4 to 5, oblong, fleshy; stamens small, 20 | |
to 25, united in a number of groups; ovary about 10 loculed; fruit | |
rounded or oblong, frequently mammilate, light yellow; rind thin; | |
pulp greenish, acid; juice sacs small, slender, pointed; seeds small, | |
oval, pointed. Native to India and southeastern Asia. | |
The lime, in Luzon known as "dayap," ranks third in importance among | |
the citrus fruits cultivated in the Philippines, and now and then | |
excellent fruit is found in the market, showing what could be done in | |
growing first-class fruit if pains were taken to do a little selection | |
work and plant budded trees. | |
Citrus limetta var. aromatica. | |
A spiny shrub, with rather slender, willowly, drooping branches, | |
and sharp spines; young growth light green, of pleasant and distinct | |
odor when bruised; leaves 7.5 to 10 centimeters long, 3.5 to 5 | |
centimeters broad, ovate oblong to elliptical, serrate to crenate, | |
dull green above; base rounded to broadly acute; apex frequently | |
notched; petiole 6 to 19 millimeters long with a narrow wing margin; | |
flowers solitary or in cymes to 4, terminal or axillary, 28 to 35 | |
millimeters across; calyx rather large, cupped; petals 4 to 5, white | |
with a trace of purple on the outside; stamens unequal, 28 to 32, | |
more or less united; ovary large, oblong, 12 to 13 loculed; style not | |
distinct as in C. aurantium but rather similar to that in C. medica, | |
a trifle more slender than the ovary; fruit 5 centimeters long, 4 to | |
4.5 centimeters across, roundish to roundish oblong, lemon yellow, | |
smooth; skin thin; pulp pale green, juicy, sharply acid, sometimes | |
almost bitter; juice cells long, slender and pointed; seeds very | |
numerous, small and plump, polyembryonic. | |
This form seems to be fairly well distributed and material has been | |
propagated at Lamao from such distinct points as Mindoro, Palawan and | |
Benguet. Unquestionably a lime, it is quite distinct from the ordinary | |
lime in habit, and in the aromatic tender foliage and purplish-petaled | |
flowers on the outside, which are larger than those in the lime, | |
the number of stamens also exceeding those of the lime. | |
B. A. No. 741 (Palawan), 1749 (Mindoro), 2182 (Benguet). | |
Citrus excelsa. Limon Real. | |
A thorny, tall shrub of vigorous growth, straggly habit and | |
interlocking branches, with stout, long, sharp thorns; young growth | |
purplish; leaves 9.5 to 16 centimeters long, 4.5 to 7 centimeters | |
wide, elliptical oblong to ovate oblong, crenate to serrate, thick and | |
leathery; base rounded; apex retuse; petiole 19 to 37 millimeters long, | |
quite broadly winged, in large leaves the wings frequently exceeding | |
2 centimeters in width; flowers 3 to 7, in axillary, rather loose | |
cymes, 36 millimeters in diameter; calyx medium large, cupulate; | |
petals showing trace of purple on the outside; stamens 34 to 35, | |
unequal; filaments occasionally free, usually united into groups of 2 | |
to 6; ovary roundish, 10 to 14 loculed, 4.5 millimeters across; style | |
distinct, 5 millimeters long; stigma large; fruit 5 to 7.3 centimeters | |
long, 5.5 to 7.5 centimeters in equatorial diameter, weight 115 to 225 | |
grams; form subglobose; base rounded; apex flattened; surface smooth, | |
greenish to clear lemon yellow; skin thin; pulp greenish to grayish, | |
in good varieties very juicy, mildly acid, and of excellent flavor; | |
juice cells long, slender and pointed. | |
Plant material of the limon real has been collected in Tarlac, Bontoc, | |
and Bohol, and the fruit is at rare intervals offered for sale in | |
small quantities in Manila. | |
The name of the plant, "Royal lemon," indicates the esteem in which the | |
fruit is held by the people, and while it is unfortunately true that | |
most fruits tested have been too dry to be of any value, yet in the | |
best types the fruits in quality and aroma surpass all lemons and limes | |
that the writer has had the opportunity to sample. With its robust, | |
thorny growth, large leaves and broad-winged petioles and considering | |
its affinity to the lime and lemon together with the roundish oblate | |
fruit with 34 to 35 stamens as against the 20 to 26 in those species | |
and with its 10 to 14 locules, this plant is apparently as distinct | |
from the lemon and lime as these species are from each other. | |
B. A. No. 1727 (Bontoc?). | |
Citrus excelsa var. davaoensis. | |
A thorny, arborescent shrub of straggly habit, with interlocking, | |
drooping branches, and of vigorous growth; young growth green | |
with tinge of purple; leaves 8.5 to 13.5 centimeters long, 3.8 to | |
5 centimeters wide, ovate to oblong ovate, crenulate to serrulate; | |
base rounded; apex sometimes retuse; petiole 16 to 30 millimeters long, | |
with wings ordinarily narrow, in large leaves sometimes 15 millimeters | |
wide; flowers not seen; fruit 6.4 centimeters long, 8 centimeters | |
in equatorial diameter, weighing 317 grams, oblate; base rounded; | |
apex flattened to depressed, wrinkled, with a circular depression | |
around the raised stigmatic area; surface otherwise fairly smooth, | |
lemon yellow; skin thin, central cavity large; pulp contained in | |
about 13 locules, light , quite juicy, sharply acid, and of | |
good flavor; juice cells long and slender. | |
Ripe fruit of this species has been received from Davao, Mindanao, | |
in December and January. The fruit is perhaps too large for retail | |
trade, but might possibly be utilized in the manufacture of lime | |
juice and allied products. | |
Full-grown plants of C. excelsa or the variety above described have not | |
been seen, but C. e. davaoensis appears to be smaller than C. excelsa | |
in all respects, the fruits excepted. There has been no opportunity | |
for an examination of the flowers but so far as observed the plant | |
appears more closely related to C. excelsa than any other species | |
herein described. | |
B. A. No. 1009 (Davao, Mindanao). | |
Economic Value of the New or Little Known Species. | |
The horticulturist and plantbreeder, ever on the alert for new plant | |
material that may enhance his profits, extend the cultivable area of | |
his crop, or be used in making new cross combinations, will naturally | |
ask himself of what value are these new plants and fruits. Briefly | |
stated, it may be said that the "Tizon" is a dessert or breakfast fruit | |
of high, if not perhaps the highest, order, its main defect being | |
the unsightly basal projection. Then, as stated elsewhere, the best | |
"limon real" is unsurpassed in quality for "ade" making. Perhaps third | |
in importance are the better types of the alsem for the manufacture | |
of citric acid, etc., and it might find a sale in competition with | |
the lemon and lime, depending to a great extent upon its keeping | |
qualities. The juicy, thin-skinned, and few-seeded talamisan may find | |
lovers as a breakfast fruit and is also of the right size for an ade | |
fruit. If cultivation would increase the juiciness of the panuban, | |
this fruit may find favor with many. A good marmalade may be made of | |
the calamondin. The above species or varieties have more or less of a | |
future on account of their pomological merits, and the plant breeder, | |
by crossing them and the cabuyao and canci with old cultivated species, | |
might obtain valuable results. | |
There is also the prospective value of the new species as stocks. To | |
determine the congeniality of these species and the old cultivated | |
citrus fruits and their value as stocks under various soil conditions | |
would of course require the labor and close observations of many years. | |
The calamondin is quite drought resistant and would probably dwarf | |
the scion. One year old buds of the pomelo, lime, mandarin and orange | |
at Lamao have made satisfactory growth, the buds taking without | |
difficulty. The cabuyao is a very vigorous tree and is also drought | |
resistant. It has recently been budded with the cultivated citrus | |
fruits, the buds "taking" very well. The orange has been budded on | |
the alsem, resulting in a good growth, being now (December, 1914) | |
nine months old. During the trip to Bohol in May, the limao, growing | |
in a coraline lime-stone formation overlaid with a little humus, | |
the exact counterpart of the Bahama Islands or the "hammock lands" | |
in southeast Florida, impressed the writer as one of the best examples | |
of drought resistance among citrus fruits under such conditions. The | |
talamisan also appeared quite drought resistant, and is furthermore | |
of value as a live fence because of its large spines. | |
The "limon real" is of great vigor and hence may be a desirable stock | |
for certain varieties and under certain conditions. | |
BY-PRODUCTS OF SUGAR MANUFACTURE. | |
By Cleve. W. Hines, M. S., Station Superintendent. | |
In various lines of manufacturing there are certain by-products which, | |
years ago, constituted a waste and great loss, but which now under | |
modern methods have become in many cases of considerable importance. | |
This is especially true with the sugar industry. Extreme care and | |
attention is required to keep the balance on the right side of the | |
ledger, and often the proper handling of the by-products forms the | |
deciding factor between success and failure. In order to build up a | |
great sugar industry in these Islands, more attention must be given | |
to the details of the work, and many of the present losses must be | |
turned into profits before great progress can be expected. | |
Cane Tops and Trash. | |
First in the series of by-products in the manufacture of sugar, comes | |
cane tops. The amount of this material produced per hectare will depend | |
upon various factors, including the variety of cane, its stage of | |
maturity, etc. The less of these tops, of course, that may be produced | |
for a given amount of cane, the better it will be for the growers, | |
nevertheless they have a good feeding value if properly handled. | |
Professor Dodson, [3] director of the Louisiana Experiment Station, | |
states that he found cane tops to have the following composition: | |
Per cent. | |
Protein 1.53 | |
Fat 0.41 | |
Carbohydrate 15.62 | |
Fiber 8.87 | |
Water 71.50 | |
Ash 2.07 | |
The fiber content would be slightly higher and the water content lower, | |
for tropical cane, since maturity is completely reached before harvest | |
begins. It may be seen from the above analyses that this makes a most | |
excellent feed for work animals. Certainly greater advantage should | |
be taken of this feeding stuff than is usually done, since there is | |
a scarcity of pasturage near the end of the harvest season and the | |
animals become needlessly thin on account of lack of feed. At present | |
very little of this material is utilized, but instead is burned on | |
the field with the rest of the trash. If the tops are removed and | |
used as a stock feed, only the leaves and pieces of stalk remain, | |
and these make a good fertilizer for cane lands. | |
It is the general custom in these Islands to burn all of this material | |
as soon as the crop is harvested. The object of this burning is to | |
destroy any insects that may be present, as well as to facilitate | |
subsequent cultivation. In the writer's opinion neither of these | |
reasons is sufficiently well based, since in this country large numbers | |
of troublesome cane insects are not found. If they were present in | |
sufficient quantities, the trouble could be handled by placing the | |
trash between the rows and properly treating it before plowing it | |
under. This should be the method of disposing of the trash at all | |
times. In this manner the waste material could be utilized, and the | |
organic matter would be even more valuable than that contained in | |
many of the commercial fertilizers. The nitrogen contained, which | |
amounts to from 0.5 to 2 per cent, would be practically all saved, | |
while with the burning method this is completely lost. | |
In Louisiana, cotton-seed meal forms one of the principal nitrogenous | |
fertilizers for cane lands. This material costs from P50 to P75 per ton | |
and Dr. Stubbs, [4] in his research, found that the trash burned from | |
each ton of cane caused a loss of nitrogen equal to that contained | |
in 27 pounds of cotton-seed meal. Besides this loss of nitrogen | |
encountered in the burning of the trash, the organic matter which | |
would later form humus is completely destroyed. Soils would retain | |
moisture better during the dry season and be more easily handled if the | |
conservation of organic matter were given greater attention. There is | |
also a great injury done to the remaining stumps and top roots by this | |
burning which is very detrimental when the field is to be used for a | |
ratoon crop. Where cane is badly infested with destructive insects, | |
it is quite another thing. This again brings up the fact that the cane | |
points should be treated with chemicals before planting, in order to | |
complete the work of destroying these insects. | |
Use of Ashes. | |
The ash of sugar cane constitutes the mineral matter that has been | |
taken out of the soil. This usually runs about 0.48 per cent of the | |
total weight, according to Payson's classical analyses. Chemically | |
this contains the following: silica, iron, aluminum, lime, magnesia, | |
potash, sodium, phosphorus, sulphur, chlorine, oxygen, water, | |
etc. Of these various elements, the phosphorus and potash are the | |
most valuable to the planter. Lime is also useful for many soils in | |
correcting the acidity, and occasionally in supplying that element, | |
when it happens to be lacking in a particular soil. | |
The cost of different fertilizers is governed by the percentage of | |
these plant-food elements contained. Phosphoric acid is worth $0.05 | |
per pound (P0.22 per kilo) in crude fertilizers. At this rate the | |
value of this element recovered from a crop of 75 tons of cane per | |
hectare would be from P10 to P12. | |
Potash is valued at about P0.26 per kilo and that removed with a crop | |
of 75 tons would cost about P25. The lime contained is a cheaper | |
element but will not act as a detriment on any soil, while on many | |
it will be found very helpful. | |
In spite of the great deficiency in these elements in the cane | |
lands here, and the high cost of commercial fertilizers, this waste | |
material is not only neglected at the majority of the factories but | |
is actually thrown away, yet the same elements that command a high | |
price in commercial fertilizers are contained in these ashes. | |
Filter-press Refuse. | |
In the defecation of cane juice, certain chemicals are often used | |
to precipitate the impurities, which are removed from the subsiders | |
after the clear juice has been drawn off, and sent to the filter | |
presses, where it is filtered through heavy cloths. This material | |
contains coarse particles of bagasse together with other impurities | |
including the lime and phosphoric acid which were used in this | |
work. The composition of the material depends upon the original | |
composition of the juice and the amount of the different chemicals | |
that has been used in the clarification. In any event, it makes a most | |
valuable fertilizer because of the organic matter, nitrogenous bodies, | |
phosphoric acid, and lime that it contains. This organic material is | |
an ideal substance to be applied to the worn-out cane lands (which | |
consist almost entirely of mineral substances) since it induces | |
bacterial action, and during its decomposition certain acids are | |
freed, such as carbonic, nitric, and organic acids. These have the | |
power to act upon the mineral constituents and thus liberate other | |
plant-food elements. The filter-press mud can very well be mixed with | |
the bagasse ashes, and scattered about the cane rows as an almost | |
complete fertilizer for sugar cane, the only element lacking being | |
nitrogen, which was lost in the burning of the bagasse. | |
It will be remembered that in the synthesis of sucrose, which consists | |
of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, there are none of the plant-food | |
elements used which are sought for in commercial fertilizers. These | |
are used only in building the fibrous stalk of the cane and they may | |
all be recovered in the bagasse and cane-juice impurities. The carbon, | |
hydrogen, and oxygen which are used practically all come from the | |
air and water. | |
It is a custom to-day to cart this ash to piles or depressions some | |
distance from the factory. In some places it is thrown into the river, | |
or cast into the sea--an absolute loss. | |
Planters must not depend upon commercial fertilizers for their supply | |
of plant-food material, when there is such an abundance of natural | |
fertilizer being wasted. The cost of the artificial fertilizers in | |
many cases is considered prohibitive and often unnecessary. In order | |
to build up a great sugar industry here, the material at hand must be | |
used, while money should be spent for modern apparatus and equipment. | |
Molasses. | |
The dark- viscous substance remaining after the large crystals | |
of sucrose have been removed is called molasses. This contains small | |
crystals of sucrose, which has passed through the perforations of | |
the centrifugal screens, sucrose in solution, glucose, fructose, | |
and other organic substances, such as pectin bodies, albumenoids, | |
coloring substances, etc., besides the inorganic matter constituting | |
the ash upon incineration of the molasses. | |
The composition of the molasses varies with the working of each | |
factory, also with the condition of cane, time of harvest, etc. The | |
juice from green cane and that which has reached ultramaturity will | |
contain a higher percentage of invert sugar and organic non-sugars than | |
a properly matured cane. Then factories that have ample boiling-house | |
provision, and crystallizers as well as magma tanks, will be able to | |
send out a molasses with lower purity, thus recovering more of the | |
crystallizable sugar. | |
In any case there will be some molasses produced, and this constitutes | |
a valuable sugar-house by-product, if properly cared for. It may | |
be disposed of in one of several forms, namely, as a human food, | |
a stock feed, a source of alcohol, factory fuel, and a fertilizer. | |
Cane molasses as a human food.--For many years low-grade cane molasses | |
has been used as a human food in the United States. It was originally | |
sold under the name of New Orleans molasses, but in recent years a | |
number of companies have employed clarifying and bleaching agents and | |
thus turned out a very fancy article, under various trade names, for | |
baking purposes. With the boiling at low temperatures practiced to-day, | |
there is little or no caramel formed during this work, and consequently | |
it is only necessary to clarify and bleach the organic non-sugars, in | |
order to make a salable molasses. The bleaching is usually accomplished | |
by the use of a hydrosulphite, either in the form of sodium or calcium, | |
but sometimes only the sulphurous acid gas is used. | |
The bleaching effect of none of these reagents is permanent, especially | |
when the product is exposed to the air and light. Such chemicals must | |
therefore be used with great caution, and as late in the process as | |
possible. Care must be exercised too that an excessive amount is not | |
employed, since an undesirable tint is liable to result as well as | |
an excessive amount of the sulphites to be admitted, which is not | |
permitted by the Pure-Food Law. It is astonishing how much of this | |
low-grade molasses is thus manufactured and used in the United States | |
for cooking purposes, and what a high price this product commands. | |
Cane molasses as a stock feed.--Perhaps more of the exhausted molasses | |
is used for this purpose in these Islands than for any other. | |
Ordinary molasses contains from 30 to 35 per cent of sucrose and almost | |
as much glucose. These being purely carbohydrates, it is necessary to | |
combine them with some protein-bearing feed in order to make a perfect | |
ration. Many leguminous plants, such as alfalfa, cowpeas, peanut vines, | |
etc., may be cut fine and used as an absorbent for molasses. This makes | |
a most excellent feed as it contains a sufficient amount of roughage, | |
and at the same time offers a balanced ration if properly composed. In | |
this country there is a great amount of exhausted cake from the | |
coconut-oil factories, which is exported to Europe each year. There | |
is no good reason why this should not be used as an absorbent for the | |
molasses in making a concentrated feed, which could be transported | |
to various parts of the Islands or exported abroad for stock. | |
To-day the Philippines are dependent upon Australia and other countries | |
for many thousand head of cattle each year. The by-products from | |
sugar factories are thrown into the rivers or flushed away from the | |
factories through drains, and the leaves and tops of the cane are | |
burned on the ground in order to facilitate cultivation. In the attempt | |
to grow our own beef, these feeds should be an important factor. | |
Cane molasses as a source of alcohol.--Alcohol can be made from a | |
great variety of substances containing the necessary constituents, | |
viz, carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. | |
Of the numerous alcohols possible, ethyl alcohol is the one ordinarily | |
sought and the easiest produced. This alcohol is represented by the | |
following chemical formula: C2H5-OH. | |
While glucose is the substance which may be easily transferred into | |
alcohol by fermentation, sucrose may also be used, providing it is | |
first changed into glucose or invert sugar. Even cellulose and starch | |
may be used after being transferred into reducing sugars. | |
The process of changing glucose into alcohol and carbon dioxide is | |
called fermentation and is accomplished by a minute organism. Sucrose | |
will not directly ferment, consequently it must first be changed into | |
glucose. This is usually accomplished by an enzyme which is secreted | |
by a ferment. | |
The following chemical formula will serve to show the steps necessary | |
to pass from sugar to an alcohol: | |
C12H22O11 (sucrose) + H2O (water) Presence of an | |
342 M. W. | |
enzyme --> Invert sugar | |
------------------------------------------ | |
(C6H12O6 (dextrose) C6H12O6 (levulose)) | |
180 M. W. 180 M. W. | |
--> C2H5-OH (ethyl alcohol) + 4CO2 (carbon dioxide) | |
184 (2 M. W.) 176 CM. W. | |
The theoretical yield then of alcohol from sucrose would be 53 per | |
cent and from invert sugar 51 per cent. In practice, however, this | |
yield would not be experienced on account of the yeast converting | |
some of the sugars into substances other than alcohol and carbon | |
dioxide. These will consist mostly of glycerine and succinic acid | |
and will amount to 4 or 5 per cent. | |
Since the working conditions determine to a very great extent the | |
yield of alcohol, it is obvious that a thoroughly efficient person | |
should be in charge of this work. In the selecting of cultures | |
for the fermenting, the manufacturer should use only the purest, | |
otherwise acetic acid and other foreign substances will be formed | |
during fermentation, thus decreasing the yield of the alcohol as well | |
as lowering its purity. | |
Where the percentage of sucrose and glucose of a molasses is known, | |
it is a simple matter to calculate the theoretical amount of alcohol | |
to be recovered and by knowing the efficiency of the factory, a factor | |
may be obtained which multiplied by the theoretical yield will give | |
the true amount of alcohol to be expected. In this manner it is easy | |
to determine the price that may be paid for any molasses. | |
The separation of the alcohol from the water and dirt (lees) is | |
accomplished in an apparatus termed a "still." In this the liquor is | |
heated by steam which causes the alcohol to evaporate. Since ethyl | |
alcohol boils at a temperature of 78 deg. or a little higher, depending | |
upon the percentage present, it may be separated from the water and | |
impurities during the evaporation, and recovered from the coils of | |
the condenser in a fairly pure state. | |
There is always, however, more or less water vapor escaping with the | |
alcohol and consequently it is impossible to secure absolute alcohol | |
without after-treatment, although in the modern still a very high | |
grade is often recovered in the first distillation. | |
In this connection the strength of alcohol is usually determined by | |
referring it to "proof," which is an old English system used before | |
modern methods of testing spirits were available. In its original | |
application, gunpowder was moistened with the spirit and the mixture | |
subjected to the flame of a match. When just enough alcohol was present | |
to set fire to the powder, it was said to be "proof spirit." If not | |
enough alcohol was present to accomplish this, it was said to be | |
"under proof," and when the gunpowder was lighted easily by it, | |
it was said to be "over proof." | |
By an act of the English Parliament, the term "proof spirit" was | |
fixed as one which contains exactly 12/13 of an equal volume of water | |
(distilled) at 51 deg. F., which represents 57.1 per cent of alcohol by | |
volume, or 49.3 per cent by weight. | |
The simplest method of determining the percentage of alcohol is by | |
the use of a gravity spindle for liquids lighter than water, and by | |
referring to the accompanying table for this purpose, the percentage | |
of alcohol may be ascertained. | |
Table for calculating the percentage of alcohol. [5] | |
=================================================================================================== | |
|Specific gravity| |Specific gravity| |Specific gravity| |Specific gravity | |
| at-- | | at-- | | at-- | | at-- | |
Volume.|----------------|Volume.|----------------|Volume.|----------------|Volume.|---------------- | |
| 15.56 deg. 25 deg. | | 15.56 deg. 25 deg. | | 15.56 deg. 25 deg. | | 15.56 deg. 25 deg. | |
| 15.56 15.56 | | 15.56 15.56 | | 15.56 15.56 | | 15.56 15.56 | |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |
| | | | | | | | |
P. ct.| | P. ct.| | P. ct.| | P. ct.| | |
1 | 0.9985 0.9970 | 26 | 0.9698 0.9655 | 51 | 0.9323 0.9246 | 76 | 0.8745 0.8665 | |
2 | .9970 .9953 | 27 | .9691 .9646 | 52 | .9303 .9225 | 77 | .8721 .8641 | |
3 | .9956 .9938 | 28 | .9678 .9631 | 53 | .9283 .9205 | 78 | .8696 .8616 | |
4 | .9942 .9922 | 29 | .9665 .9617 | 54 | .9262 .9184 | 79 | .8664 .8583 | |
5 | .9930 .9909 | 30 | .9652 .9603 | 55 | .9242 .9164 | 80 | .8639 .8558 | |
6 | .9914 .9893 | 31 | .9643 .9594 | 56 | .9221 .9143 | 81 | .8611 .8530 | |
7 | .9898 .9876 | 32 | .9631 .9582 | 57 | .9200 .9122 | 82 | .8581 .8500 | |
8 | .9890 .9868 | 33 | .9618 .9567 | 58 | .9178 .9100 | 83 | .8557 .8476 | |
9 | .9878 .9855 | 34 | .9609 .9556 | 59 | .9160 .9081 | 84 | .8526 .8444 | |
10 | .9869 .9846 | 35 | .9593 .9538 | 60 | .9135 .9056 | 85 | .8496 .8414 | |
11 | .9855 .9831 | 36 | .9578 .9521 | 61 | .9113 .9034 | 86 | .8466 .8384 | |
12 | .9841 .9815 | 37 | .9565 .9507 | 62 | .9090 .9011 | 87 | .8434 .8352 | |
13 | .9828 .9801 | 38 | .9550 .9489 | 63 | .9069 .8989 | 88 | .8408 .8326 | |
14 | .9821 .9793 | 39 | .9535 .9473 | 64 | .9047 .8969 | 89 | .8373 .8291 | |
15 | .9815 .9787 | 40 | .9519 .9456 | 65 | .9025 .8947 | 90 | .8340 .8258 | |
16 | .9802 .9773 | 41 | .9503 .9438 | 66 | .9001 .8923 | 91 | .8305 .8223 | |
17 | .9789 .9759 | 42 | .9490 .9424 | 67 | .8973 .8895 | 92 | .8272 .8191 | |
18 | .9778 .9746 | 43 | .9470 .9402 | 68 | .8949 .8870 | 93 | .8237 .8156 | |
19 | .9766 .9733 | 44 | .9452 .9382 | 69 | .8925 .8846 | 94 | .8199 .8118 | |
20 | .9760 .9726 | 45 | .9434 .9363 | 70 | .8900 .8821 | 95 | .8164 .8083 | |
21 | .9753 .9719 | 46 | .9416 .9343 | 71 | .8875 .8796 | 96 | .8125 .8044 | |
22 | .9741 .9706 | 47 | .9396 .9323 | 72 | .8850 .8771 | 97 | .8084 .8003 | |
23 | .9728 .9692 | 48 | .9381 .9307 | 73 | .8825 .8746 | 98 | .8041 .7960 | |
24 | .9716 .9678 | 49 | .9362 .9288 | 74 | .8799 .8719 | 99 | .7995 .7914 | |
25 | .9709 .9668 | 50 | .9343 .9267 | 75 | .8769 .8689 | 100 | .7964 .7865 | |
=================================================================================================== | |
Molasses as a fuel.--Many experiments have been made, using this | |
substance as a sugar-house fuel, and while ordinarily it may be | |
better employed in some other manner, at the same time where no other | |
provision is made for the use of this material, and where there is | |
a scarcity of fuel as well, satisfactory results may be secured in | |
its combustion if it is properly handled. | |
Waste molasses consists mainly of gums, sucrose, glucose, albuminoids, | |
other organic compounds, water, and a small amount of ash. | |
Sucrose has the chemical formula of carbon 12 (atoms), hydrogen 22 | |
(atoms), and oxygen 11 (atoms). The burning of carbon consists | |
in uniting oxygen to that element, forming carbon dioxide. When | |
hydrogen burns, the oxygen combines with it, forming water. During | |
this oxidation, two atoms of hydrogen combine with one of oxygen, | |
but in the molecule of sugar, these two elements are already present | |
in this proportion, consequently only the carbon may be oxidized | |
and thus give off heat. This is found to be true also of sucrose, | |
reducing sugars, and many organic compounds. | |
An instrument called a calorimeter is used to determine the amount | |
of heat a substance will give off upon oxidation. Tests may be made | |
on molasses in order to determine its value as a fuel, and thus a | |
comparison may be obtained of a pound of this material and one of | |
coal having a standard value. | |
The ash from the molasses contains a great deal of potassium and some | |
magnesium, consequently care must be exercised in the burning of the | |
molasses so that this material does not come in direct contact with | |
the tubes of the boiler, since a heavy coating will be formed that | |
will greatly lower the coefficient of heat transmission. | |
On account of the high potash content, these ashes make a valuable | |
fertilizer, which should be mixed with the bagasse ashes and mud cake, | |
and applied to the cane lands. | |
Molasses as a fertilizer.--While molasses is not used to any great | |
extent as a fertilizer, there is no good reason why exhaustive | |
experiments should not be carried out with this by-product on | |
Philippine soils, when it is now being thrown into drains or wasted, | |
until a better use is provided for the molasses. | |
Experiments have been made in Hawaii, Mauritius, and other places | |
with this form of fertilizer, and very encouraging results were | |
reported. The plant-food elements themselves contained in molasses | |
are small in amount, since they are contained in the low percentage | |
of ash after burning, except, of course, nitrogen, which will be | |
entirely saved. Its main value, however, lies in the power to induce | |
bacterial growth, which is so necessary in worn-out soils. | |
Among the organisms induced by these organic matters may be included | |
certain azotobacter species, which contrary to other forms of plant | |
life, have the power of using nitrogen from the air. Carbohydrates | |
form especially good mediums for their development, and it has been | |
found that the activities of these organisms are increased by an | |
increased amount of this substance. | |
While excellent results have been attained by the use of low-grade | |
molasses for fertilizer in other countries yet it remains for the | |
planters here to determine results under Philippine conditions, and | |
the best method of handling their material. In some places where | |
irrigation water is applied, the molasses is mixed with the water | |
and applied in the usual manner. | |
The plant-food material contained in molasses will vary somewhat with | |
the methods of its production, clarifying agents previously used, etc. | |
The following table will indicate the composition of ash from different | |
molasses: [6] | |
================================================================================== | |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |
| Mill | Diffusion | Open |Carbonitation. | |
|sulphitation.|sulphitation.| kettle. | | |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |
| Per cent. | Per cent. |Per cent.| Per cent. | |
Potash | 49.48 | 52.20 | 51.48 | 50.16 | |
Soda | .89 | .80 | 1.11 | .32 | |
Lime | 6.47 | 6.78 | 6.58 | 8.53 | |
Magnesia | 4.29 | 3.09 | 3.99 | 2.66 | |
Iron oxide | .35 | .33 | .15 | .47 | |
Alumina | .30 | .22 | .13 | .30 | |
Silica | 4.12 | 4.59 | 2.83 | 4.10 | |
Phosphoric acid | 3.71 | 3.80 | 2.12 | .91 | |
Sulphuric acid | 10.79 | 6.72 | 10.94 | 11.18 | |
Carbonic acid | 7.49 | 11.19 | 13.06 | 15.78 | |
Chlorine | 14.00 | 11.95 | 9.10 | 4.59 | |
----------------------------------------------------- | |
| 101.89 | 101.67 | 101.49 | 99.00 | |
Deduct O minus Cl. | 3.16 | 2.70 | 2.05 | 1.04 | |
----------------------------------------------------- | |
| 98.73 | 98.97 | 99.44 | 97.96 | |
----------------------------------------------------- | |
Undetermined (carbon, etc.) | 1.27 | 1.03 | 0.56 | 2.04 | |
Alkalinity (cc. tenth normal | | | | | |
per gram ash) cc. | 80 | 93 | 95 | 109 | |
================================================================================== | |
In order to make a wise selection of the method of handling the | |
different by-products the manufacturer must take into consideration | |
many factors. Among them will be the quantity of his output, the | |
facilities for handling it in any specified manner, the demand for | |
different finished products to be made therefrom, etc. All of these | |
and many other points must receive due consideration by a manager | |
who expects to attain success in his work. | |
COFFEE IN THE PHILIPPINES. [7] | |
By P. J. Wester, Horticulturist in Charge of Lamao Experiment Station. | |
Preliminary Remarks. | |
While it cannot be said that the Philippines have ever grown coffee | |
on a scale that made it an important factor in the world's market, | |
yet, before the advent of the coffee blight, coffee growing, from a | |
Philippine point of view, was an industry of considerable magnitude | |
and unquestionably of great promise. However, in the Philippines as | |
in other parts of the eastern Tropics, the blight destroyed the coffee | |
industry, and while in the last few years previous to the appearance of | |
the blight there was an average annual export of about 7,000 tons of | |
coffee, valued at P4,000,000, in 1913 the Philippines produced only | |
113,031 kilograms of Arabian coffee with an average production of | |
174 kilograms per hectare, the coffee imports during the same period | |
amounting to 1,138,781 kilograms, valued at P816,744. The leading | |
coffee-producing provinces of the Archipelago were, during 1913, the | |
Mountain, 42,066 kilograms; Moro, 31,040 kilograms; Nueva Vizcaya, | |
5,792 kilograms; and Batangas, 5,319 kilograms. Varying quantities | |
of coffee, less than 5,000 kilograms in any one, were produced in | |
each of the remaining provinces, excepting Agusan, Bataan, Batanes, | |
Ilocos Sur, Leyte, Pampanga, and Surigao, where coffee is not grown. | |
From a study of the coffee situation in the Eastern Hemisphere it is | |
evident that Arabian coffee will never again become of importance in | |
this part of the world, including of course the Philippines. However, | |
it seems that a satisfactory substitute has been discovered in the | |
robusta coffee. This variety, while not immune to the blight, is so | |
resistant to the effects thereof that the disease ceases to affect | |
the profits of the crop, or at least very slightly. | |
This and other reasons, which will be explained later, have resulted | |
in the planting of robusta coffee on a very large scale in Java | |
and adjacent Dutch possessions, and the reports relative to this | |
variety are such as to recommend it to the serious consideration | |
of Philippine planters. The present paper has been prepared with a | |
view of meeting the almost daily requests that reach this Bureau for | |
information on the subject of coffee, and particularly to give some | |
information relative to the robusta coffee, with which practically | |
all planters in the Archipelago are unfamiliar. It might perhaps be | |
well to state that propagation, handling of the plants from the seed | |
bed to the plantation, culture, etc., are the same for both Arabian | |
and robusta coffee, except where so stated. | |
Arabian Coffee. | |
The decrease in the cultivation of coffee and the present status | |
thereof in the Philippines show conclusively that Arabian coffee cannot | |
be profitably grown here below an altitude of 800 meters. At and above | |
this elevation the climate is so favorable for the growth of the plant | |
that when kept in good condition it is capable of resisting the attack | |
of the blight sufficiently to yield a profitable crop. Nevertheless, | |
the planting of Arabian coffee on a large scale is not recommended | |
even here, because the disease is everywhere present, waiting for | |
a favorable opportunity to spread, and a drought, typhoon, or in | |
fact anything that would devitalize the plants, would be sure to | |
render them liable to a severe attack that might wipe out an entire | |
plantation or district. | |
It is true that Arabian coffee grows below an altitude of 800 meters; | |
in fact, coffee bushes are found at sea level, but a prospective | |
investor should always remember that there is a very great difference | |
between being able to merely grow coffee and to produce it in such | |
quantities that its cultivation becomes profitable. This cannot be done | |
at a low elevation. It is perhaps well to state here that exhaustive | |
experiments have so far failed to yield a fungicide or spray by which | |
the coffee blight can be satisfactorily controlled in the field. | |
Everything considered then, only in certain districts of the Mountain | |
Province and on the table lands of Mindanao may Arabian coffee be | |
successfully and profitably cultivated to any considerable extent. | |
Robusta Coffee. | |
Robusta coffee in Java.--When the blight appeared in Java, coffee | |
growing was one of the most important industries in that island, and | |
after the plantations had been destroyed by the disease, the Dutch | |
Government, having failed to control the blight by repressive measures, | |
instituted investigations with a view of discovering a blight-resistant | |
coffee, in the course of which work several species were introduced and | |
tested. Among these were Liberian coffee (Coffea liberica) and robusta | |
coffee, considered by Wildeman to be a variety of Coffea canephora. | |
Robusta coffee was discovered in the Belgian Congo, and seeds were sent | |
to Brussels, Belgium, and propagated, where plants were first offered | |
for sale in 1901. Some of these plants found their way to Java. Like | |
most new introductions the robusta coffee was at first looked upon | |
rather askance, but as its greater climatological range as compared | |
with that of Arabian coffee, and its productivity, precocity, and | |
resistance to the coffee blight (Hemileia vastatrix) became apparent, | |
it rapidly gained popularity--so rapidly in fact that the Javanese | |
coffee plantations today consist almost entirely of robusta coffee. The | |
fact that in 1909 the total crop of robusta coffee was only 183,000 | |
kilograms, and that in 1911 9,650,000 kilograms were produced, with | |
an estimated yield of 16,000,000 kilograms for 1912, and that during | |
the period from 1907 to 1911, 24,521,000 robusta coffee plants were | |
planted, is ample proof of its popularity in the Dutch East Indies. | |
Introduction into the Philippines.--Robusta coffee has not been | |
introduced into the Philippines to any extent. Bearing trees are | |
reported from Basilan, near Zamboanga, and a few plants are also | |
growing at the Lamao experiment station in Bataan. The latter are in | |
good condition with no indication of blight. | |
Soil and climate.--Robusta grows well from sea level to an altitude | |
of 1,000 meters, doing best at an elevation ranging from 450 to | |
750 meters. | |
Less particular than Arabian coffee, the robusta thrives well | |
on both light and heavy soils provided they have the necessary | |
fertility. However, good drainage is essential for a good growth and | |
therefore robusta should not be planted on sticky and very heavy, | |
water-holding soils. Poor and sandy soils should also be avoided. This | |
variety is also somewhat sensitive to drought and should be planted | |
only where the rainfall is fairly evenly distributed, and where the | |
dry season is of comparatively short duration. Generally speaking, | |
where the soil conditions are favorable, the cacao, abaca, and coconut | |
growing districts of the Archipelago are perhaps better adapted than | |
other sections to the culture of robusta coffee. | |
Culture. | |
Propagation.--The place selected for seedbed and nursery should be | |
well drained, with a loamy soil, the richer in humus the better. A | |
light bamboo frame should be erected above the nursery plot about | |
2.5 meters high, and covered with grass or split bamboo to provide | |
about half shade. The land should be spaded thoroughly to a depth of | |
30 centimeters, and all stones, roots, etc., removed. One meter is | |
a convenient width for seed and plant beds. | |
The seeds should be sown broadcast, not too thick, covered with not | |
more than 1 centimeter of earth, and then watered thoroughly. Hereafter | |
the seedbed should be well watered from time to time whenever the | |
soil appears dry. Frequent light sprinklings that do not allow the | |
water to penetrate more than a few millimeters below the surface are | |
harmful rather than beneficial both in the seedbed and the nursery, | |
in that they encourage a shallow root formation. | |
As soon as the first leaves are fully expanded the seedlings should | |
be transplanted to the nursery beds, which should be prepared like | |
the seedbed. If the land is poor it is well to spade in a liberal | |
quantity of well-decayed manure or compost. The plants should be taken | |
up carefully, the taproot nipped off with the thumb nail, and then | |
transplanted with the aid of a pointed stick or small dibber spacing | |
them 10 to 15 centimeters apart each way. In doing this care should | |
be taken that the roots are not doubled up in the hole and that the | |
soil is well packed around them. More plants should never be removed | |
at one time from the seedbed than can be conveniently transplanted | |
before they show signs of wilting, and the dug plants should not be | |
left exposed until the roots dry out. The plants should be thoroughly | |
watered before and after transplanting, and the beds kept free from | |
weeds and watered as often as necessary. | |
Clearing and planting.--Wherever possible, the land to be planted | |
in coffee should be stumped, and plowed once or twice, so that after | |
the plants have been set out animal-drawn cultivators can be used to | |
keep down the weeds. Thus the cost of weeding is lessened during the | |
early years of the plantation while the plants are small. If plowing | |
is not feasible holes 1 meter in diameter and at least 30 centimeters | |
deep should be grubbed where the plants are to be set. | |
On moderately rich land robusta coffee should be planted 2.1 meters | |
apart each way, 2,265 plants to the hectare; on very fertile land | |
the distance may be increased to 2.5 meters, or 1,600 plants to | |
the hectare. | |
Arabian coffee should be spaced from 2 to 2.5 meters apart or on poor | |
lands even closer. | |
When the plants are 4 to 5 months old they should be about 20 | |
centimeters tall and ready for transplanting. About one-half of the | |
foliage should now be cut off; a trench should be dug at the end | |
of the nursery bed about 20 centimeters or more deep; then a thin, | |
sharp spade or bolo (cutlass) should be passed through the soil, | |
underneath and around the plant, neatly severing all straggling roots, | |
and leaving the plant in the center of a ball of earth. The plants | |
should be set out in the field at the same depth at which they grew | |
in the nursery, great care being taken not to break the ball. If the | |
soil is so loose that it falls away from the roots in the removal | |
from the nursery, great care should be exercised in not allowing the | |
roots to dry out and in setting out the plant so that the roots fall | |
in a natural position. In the course of the planting the soil should | |
be firmly packed about the roots. | |
The sowing of the seed in a given locality should be so timed that the | |
plants are ready for transplanting at the beginning of the rainy season | |
in order to avoid the expense of artificial watering. If transplanted | |
during the dry season the plants necessarily would have to be watered | |
by hand from time to time until they are established. | |
Plants for shade.--As a temporary shade and cover crop of rapid growth | |
while the coffee trees are small, perhaps no plant can compete with | |
the cadios (Cajanus indicus). The plants may be cut down to serve as | |
mulch whenever they grow too high, and may be expected to grow from | |
the stubble twice before the plants die, provided they are not cut | |
off too close to the ground. | |
In Java, where robusta coffee is more extensively planted than anywhere | |
else, permanent shade is considered advisable. Malaganit (Leucaena | |
glauca), a leguminous shrub which grows everywhere in the Philippines, | |
seems to be preferred there to other plants for shade. It is planted | |
alternately with the coffee plants and, as is the case with all plants | |
utilized for shade, thinned out later according to need. Madre de cacao | |
(Gliricidia maculata) and dapdap (Erythrina indica and E. subumbrans) | |
are other leguminous trees readily obtainable in most localities and | |
are adapted for shade. | |
Madre de cacao should be planted at the same distance as the | |
malaganit while the dapdap should be planted one plant to every two | |
coffee trees. All these plants are readily propagated by cutting | |
off limbs or branches 1 to 1.2 meters long and inserting them 20 to | |
30 centimeters deep in the ground during the rainy season. (This is | |
most conveniently done by the aid of a crowbar.) In a limited way | |
fruit trees, such as the soursop, custardapple, breadfruit, and jak | |
may also be used as shade, and these should be planted from 6 to 12 | |
meters apart according to size. The necessary shading between these | |
trees while they are small may be provided by planting malaganit, etc. | |
Robusta coffee has also been successfully interplanted with | |
coconuts. In this case the palms and coffee should of course be | |
planted at the same time, the palms perhaps not closer than 9 to | |
10 meters apart, the coffee to be used as a "filler" between the | |
coconuts. In this connection it is perhaps well to state that in | |
Java robusta coffee is very frequently planted as a "catch crop" | |
in the Hevea rubber plantations. Among the shade plants available to | |
the Philippine planter, malaganit, dapdap, and "guango," or raintree | |
(Pithecolobium saman), have given the best results in Java for the | |
robusta with the following ratio yield of coffee: 4.75, 4.10, and 3.06. | |
Cultivation.--On level and well-cleared land, close attention should | |
be paid to keeping the coffee plantation free from weeds during | |
the first year or two by means of animal-drawn shallow cultivators, | |
supplemented with hand-hoeing. Where the topography of the land or | |
the presence of stumps renders this impossible the weeding must of | |
course be done by hand. All weeds should be left in the field where | |
they serve both as a mulch in preserving the moisture and to enrich | |
the soil. As soon as the plants begin to shade the land they thereby | |
aid in the weed eradication, and weeding then becomes less expensive. | |
Pruning.--If the trees are allowed to grow without pruning they become | |
too tall (robusta coffee attains a height of 6 meters or more), and | |
the topmost berries are then difficult to pick. Furthermore unpruned | |
coffee trees (including robusta), have the peculiar habit of bearing | |
their branches near the ground and at the top, leaving the middle bare | |
or nearly so which decreases the producing capacity of the plant. On | |
this account up-to-date planters have generally adopted a system of | |
pruning by which the coffee trees are headed low, giving a maximum | |
yield coupled with easy access to the berries. | |
The pruning consists of topping the robusta trees when they are from | |
2 to 2.5 meters tall and of subsequent pruning to keep the trees at | |
this height. This work should preferably be done while the plants | |
are of the proper height and the green shoots easily broken off, | |
and not after the trees have exceeded the height limit by several | |
decimeters. The plant, if allowed to do so, usually sends up a large | |
number of suckers from the base, which constitute a drain on the | |
vitality of the plant. Therefore, all superfluous suckers should be | |
removed and not more than 2 to 3 stems to a plant should be permitted | |
to develop. | |
Occasionally robusta plants appear that are more than ordinarily | |
subject to blight, and these should be at once pulled up and burned. | |
Yield.--The yield of robusta coffee is quite variable, much depending | |
upon the fertility of the soil. On the more fertile soils in Java the | |
yield per hectare in the third year was approximately 540 kilograms, | |
and in the fourth and fifth years, 1,400 and 1,830 kilograms, | |
respectively. In old coffee or cacao fields the yields were 325, | |
540 and 850 kilograms per hectare, respectively, during the third, | |
fourth, and fifth years after planting. It is perhaps well to recall | |
the fact that the average yield of Arabian coffee in the Philippines | |
is 174 kilograms per hectare, which is of course much less than it | |
should be, and it is not believed that the Philippine planter with | |
his present methods of cultivation could equal with robusta coffee | |
the yields quoted from Java. | |
The immense superiority of the robusta as a cropper over the ordinary | |
Arabian coffee is best illustrated in a table published by the | |
Department of Agriculture, Java. We learn here that in Java, under | |
identical conditions, the yield per plant was of Arabian coffee, 53 | |
to 97 grams; of robusta, 992 grams; and of quilloi (a new very rare | |
coffee) 1,020 grams. The Maragogipe hybrid on its own roots yielded | |
14 to 18 grams, while grafted on robusta the yield was 156 grams, a | |
larger crop than any Arabian coffee has given in Java. This would tend | |
to show the possibilities of robusta as a stock. Further, comparative | |
studies by Cramer have shown that 4 to 5 kilograms of fresh robusta | |
berries make 1 kilogram of coffee while of the Arabian coffee 5 to | |
6 kilograms of fruit are required to make 1 kilogram of coffee. | |
Owing to the fact that the pulp on the robusta coffee (though smaller | |
in amount) is more difficult to remove than that on the Arabian, | |
robusta needs at least two and one-half days of fermentation. The | |
bean requires rapid drying in order to loosen the silver skin and | |
the drying is therefore done in an artificially heated shed. | |
Quality and marketability.--Relative to the quality of the robusta | |
coffee Doctor Hall says: | |
The appearance of the average marketable robusta is not very | |
beautiful; the beans are small and irregular, and the average | |
product shows little uniformity. There are, however, great | |
differences between the many different types of robusta. Some of | |
them have comparatively large beans, larger even than arabica, | |
others again have very small ones. As regards the quality, though | |
being inferior to Java-arabica, the taste is generally considered | |
to be good and superior to the ordinary arabica sorts, as Santos. | |
Doctor Wildeman states: | |
It is objected that the berries of the robusta group and of | |
other African coffees are small in size and inferior in flavor; | |
but the continually increasing quantities of these coffees sold | |
in Holland, and the satisfactory prices they fetch show that the | |
public is beginning to appreciate them. No objections will be made | |
to the size of the berries when by means of careful cultivation | |
and especially of right preparation, a coffee is obtained equal | |
in flavor to the (old) Java and Arabian coffee. | |
Summary. | |
Arabian coffee cannot be successfully grown in the Philippines below | |
an altitude of 800 meters, and even at this elevation, due to its | |
susceptibility to the coffee blight, extensive planting of Arabian | |
coffee cannot be recommended. | |
Success with Arabian coffee is obtainable only by keeping the | |
plantations clean of weeds and the plants in the best possible | |
condition. | |
For the rehabilitation of the Philippine coffee industry robusta | |
coffee appears more promising at present than any other kind. | |
The advantages of robusta coffee are that it thrives under more | |
varied conditions than Arabian coffee, that it is an earlier and a | |
more prolific bearer and that it is resistant to the blight. | |
Blight resistance in robusta coffee does not mean that it is immune, | |
but that notwithstanding the presence of the blight it grows well | |
and produces abundant crops. | |
Robusta coffee is by some authorities regarded as inferior in quality | |
to Arabian coffee. Nevertheless, considering the optimism with which | |
robusta coffee is regarded by conservative European experts in tropical | |
crops, coupled with the results obtained in Java, it is confidently | |
believed that robusta coffee is worthy of extended planting in the | |
Philippines. | |
From the Dutch department of agriculture in Java the Bureau of | |
Agriculture has imported seed of the best robusta coffee available | |
for distribution, as well as a considerable quantity of seed of | |
the ordinary robusta cultivated in that island. All readers who | |
are interested in planting robusta coffee are cordially invited to | |
communicate with the Bureau of Agriculture. | |
CANE-JUICE CLARIFICATION. | |
By Cleve. W. Hines, M. S., Station Superintendent. | |
The clarification of the juice forms one of the most important | |
operations in sugar manufacture, since the higher the purity of the | |
juice to be concentrated, the greater the percentage of sucrose that | |
will crystallize, and the easier it will be to make a marketable | |
sugar. If a high-grade sugar, or even yellow clarified sugar is to | |
be made, this work should receive still greater attention. | |
Before considering the methods to pursue and the reagents to use, | |
it is well to decide first upon the grade of sugar it is desirable to | |
make. If ordinary centrifugal sugar testing 96 deg. is desired, it will | |
usually be practical to use only lime in the clarification, since in | |
these Islands cane reaches full maturity, and consequently the purity | |
of the normal juice will be quite high, sometimes as high as 90 deg. | |
or 92 deg. (apparent purity). If, however, it is desired to make a white | |
plantation sugar, or granulated sugar, it will be advisable to subject | |
the juice to an acidifying or bleaching treatment, as well as to the | |
lime treatment. Usually sulphurous acid is used for this purpose, | |
but sometimes phosphoric acid, or a form of it, is employed. It | |
is generally best to administer the acidifying agent before the | |
application of the lime, since this raises the acidity and permits a | |
larger amount of the lime to be used. However, this process is reversed | |
by some manufacturers, and very good results are often reported. | |
In the acidifying of any cane juice, care must be exercised that too | |
high an acidity is not reached, since acids have an inverting effect | |
upon sucrose, thus causing a noticeable loss. This of course depends | |
upon the degree of acidity carried, the temperature maintained, | |
and the methods followed during the time the juice remains acid. | |
When it is desired to make a high-grade crystal for granulated sugar, | |
the clarification must be more complete, and a water-white thick liquor | |
should result, without subsequent treatment by bleaching agents and | |
other chemicals, except the neutralizing of the slightly yellowish | |
tint, which will be mentioned later. | |
Reagents Used in Clarification. | |
There is a great variety of reagents at the command of the sugar | |
manufacturer, each of which has certain merits over others, and all | |
are valuable in their place when properly used. It will therefore | |
be the duty of the operator to select those which best meet his | |
individual conditions. | |
It is the purpose of this article to give a brief survey of the | |
more common reagents which, under certain conditions, may be used to | |
advantage in these Islands. | |
Lime.--This is perhaps one of the most common and most widely used | |
of all the reagents. Since the object in view is to increase the | |
purity of the juice, it is obvious that the purest rock obtainable | |
should be used in the preparation of the lime. Another reason why | |
a good lime should be employed, is that one of the main impurities | |
of the lime rock is magnesium, which, when mixed with cane juice, | |
becomes very troublesome in the incrusting of the evaporator tubes, | |
thus greatly lowering the coefficient of heat transmission. | |
Much of the lime on the market in the Philippines has been made | |
without any attempt to select pure clean limestone or shells. This is | |
not suitable for putting into cane juice, and will result in a great | |
deal of trouble whenever used in modern evaporating plants. There is, | |
however, an abundant supply of limestone found in various parts of the | |
Philippines, which analyses show to be almost free from impurities, and | |
which will make a most excellent lime for clarifying purposes if burned | |
properly. At present there is no modern plant for burning this rock | |
on a large scale and consequently much of the work is done in a very | |
crude and unsatisfactory manner. Most of the lime for clarification, | |
in modern sugar factories, is imported, and constitutes a very heavy | |
expense. If a lime kiln were installed in conjunction with some of | |
our sugar factories, fresh and well-burned lime might be made as | |
needed. The carbon dioxide could be used in the juice clarification, | |
as is done in Java, and thus a good grade of plantation sugar could | |
easily be manufactured. Any excess of burned lime might very readily be | |
sold to other factories, which now use only high-priced imported lime. | |
The lime used should be of the unslaked type, and should be protected | |
from the air until a short time before using. The process of preparing | |
this consists of heating lime rock to a very high temperature, in | |
a kiln for that purpose, whereby the limestone is broken into two | |
component parts, expressed by the following chemical equation: CaCO3 | |
(limestone) heated to high temperature-->CaO (calcium oxide) + CO2 | |
(carbon dioxide). This calcium oxide, commonly known as "quick lime," | |
is the substance desired in clarification. It should be slaked by | |
being placed in water just before it is desired for use. This milk | |
of lime should not be used until after the high temperature caused | |
by the violent chemical action has subsided. On account of the heat | |
involved and the high alkalinity in local portions, it is never safe to | |
apply crude lime to the juice without previously slaking it in water, | |
nor is it advisable to use a quantity of juice to mix this lime, as | |
is quite often practiced in these Islands, since in this case there | |
may be a loss of sucrose, with a resulting dark- product, | |
which will impair the color of the clarified juice. The following | |
chemical equation will express the reaction when this lime is slaked: | |
CaO (calcium oxide) + H2O (water)-->Ca(OH)2 (calcium hydroxide). | |
This calcium hydroxide is a substance which is very caustic, and | |
care must be exercised in handling it. Like all bases, it has a | |
great affinity for acid, and consequently its first action is to | |
neutralize part of the acids present. It then coagulates albumins | |
and albuminoids, which form a part of the impurities, and throws | |
down insoluble salts of sulphates, carbonates and phosphates, and of | |
the bases iron and aluminum. These act as mechanical precipitants, | |
assisting in bringing down other impurities. The compounds of calcium | |
are practically insoluble in cold cane juices, and may be readily | |
filtered, or settled, and the supernatant liquor drawn off. In the | |
addition of lime, as well as in the application of other reagents, | |
much care must be observed that the proper amount is added. If too | |
little is used, there will be poor clarification and settling of the | |
precipitate, while if too much is used, so that alkalinity is reached, | |
and the juice heated to a high temperature, there will be a darkening | |
of the juice caused by the decomposition of the reducing sugars by the | |
calcium, and the formation of dark- compounds, which are very | |
hard to remove. If the juice is limed to three-tenths or four-tenths | |
cubic centimeter acidity against N/10 NaOH, using phenolphthalein as | |
an indicator, there will be little or no chance of trouble. With the | |
above dangers in view, it is not safe to employ the haphazard methods | |
of liming usually practiced here, but the milk of lime should always | |
be made of stated density and a measured or weighed amount should be | |
supplied to each clarifier of juice, corresponding to prevailing | |
conditions. | |
Sulphur dioxide.--Where a better grade of sugar than 96 deg. test | |
is desired, it is often advisable to subject the juice to further | |
treatment, one reason for which is to increase the acidity so that a | |
larger amount of lime may be added to effect the clarification. In | |
addition to this the sulphur acts to some extent directly as a | |
clarifying agent, by precipitating some of the impurities. It also | |
acts as a bleaching agent by extracting the oxygen from the impurities | |
and lastly it acts as a disinfectant. It is formed by burning crude | |
sulphur in a stove made for that purpose. S (sulphur) + O (oxygen | |
heat)-->SO2 (sulphur dioxide). | |
Sometimes bombs filled with liquid sulphur dioxide are purchased | |
for this purpose. These are inconvenient to use, and this method is | |
ordinarily more expensive than the usual one of burning the sulphur | |
and producing the gas directly at the factory. | |
Sulphur dioxide is a heavy gas which is very readily absorbed in water, | |
and at a temperature of zero C. nearly 80 per cent by volume of the | |
gas will be taken up. | |
At 40 deg. C. only about 18 per cent by volume of the gas will be | |
absorbed. It may readily be seen that the percentage of gas contained | |
in the juice when saturated will be determined by the temperature. | |
The following equation expresses the absorption of sulphur dioxide | |
in water at ordinary temperature: | |
SO2 (sulphur dioxide) + H2O (water at low temperature)-->H2SO3 | |
(sulphurous acid). | |
Another thing of very great importance is the cooling of the gases | |
to condense any water that may be present so that no hot gas will | |
reach the juice to be treated or combine with water in the pipes. The | |
equation represented when high temperatures are used is as follows: | |
SO2 (sulphur dioxide) + H2O (water) + O (high temperature)-->H2SO4 | |
(sulphuric acid). | |
This last-named acid is very corrosive and a powerful investing | |
agent. It therefore has the property of rapidly destroying sucrose, | |
especially at a high temperature. | |
In the burning of sulphur it is well that as thorough a combination | |
as possible be obtained, else there will be a loss of sulphur, | |
which will deposit in the tubes and choke them, and more time will | |
be required for the process. The fumes from a well-regulated sulphur | |
furnace should contain from 15 to 16 per cent sulphurous acid. The | |
theoretical percentage obtainable is about 21 per cent of the acid. | |
Carbon dioxide.--In recent years carbon dioxide gas has found a very | |
useful application in the cane-sugar factories, where a good grade | |
of plantation sugar is desired. | |
Java factories have been the foremost in elaborating a system, through | |
their eminent technologists, so that today one may find the bulk of | |
the sugars they turn out from certain factories of a very satisfactory | |
grade and color. The method they use requires a great deal of skill | |
and attention in order to yield results that are satisfactory. It is | |
patterned after the process used in beet-sugar factories, with some | |
distinct modifications, which make it applicable to a juice containing | |
glucose, as is always the case with cane juices. | |
The object of applying any clarifying material is to effect a rise in | |
purity, and it is especially desirable to remove, in all cases, the | |
substance added, since this itself would tend to act as an impurity | |
and thus give a lower coefficient, if not properly removed. The | |
lime, which has been added previously, may be partly removed, as | |
the original precipitate formed, and any free lime or compound which | |
may be easily decomposed will combine with carbon dioxide, forming | |
calcium carbonate or limestone, which is quite insoluble and may be | |
very easily filtered off. | |
Ca(OH)2 (calcium hydroxide) + CO2-->CaCO3 (calcium carbonate) + H2O | |
(water). | |
Whether single or double carbonation is used, the same general methods | |
are employed, and results are expressed by the same chemical equation. | |
As stated before, the carbon dioxide may be recovered from the kilns | |
during the burning of lime, as is commonly done in the beet-sugar | |
industry, or it may be purchased in the form of liquid CO2 contained | |
in heavy iron containers. It is also feasible to use flue gases for | |
this purpose, where a good combustion is obtained, and after they | |
have been properly treated. | |
Phosphoric acid.--It is sometimes advisable to apply a form of | |
phosphoric acid as a clarifying and precipitating agent after the | |
lime. This may be used in various forms depending upon the individual | |
desires of the operator. | |
The compound usually found on the market may consist of one of the | |
following (or a combination of them): | |
H3PO4 (ortho phosphoric acid). | |
CaH4(PO4)2 (mono-calcium phosphate). | |
Ca2H2(PO4)2 (dicalcium phosphate). | |
Na2HPO4 (sodium phosphate). | |
The sodium phosphate contains very little acidity, and the main | |
purpose of its use is based on the principle that the sodium is | |
readily given up for any soluble calcium that may be present. This | |
forms the insoluble calcium phosphate, which is easily removed as | |
a precipitate or filtered off. The "Reserve Factory" in Louisiana | |
has been using this reagent in their clarification for a long time, | |
where a very good grade of granulated sugar is made. | |
Besides these forms of phosphorous, various compounds may be found | |
on the market, under trade names, which have as their base the above | |
acid. "Clariphos" is one of these compounds, which has found extensive | |
use in many of the Louisiana sugar factories. | |
Another is known as "phospho-gelose," which is a combination | |
of dicalcium phosphate Ca2H2(PO4)2 and infusorial silica. It is a | |
patented preparation and is made by the absorption of phosphoric acid | |
by a powdery compound known as "Kieselguhr." After the absorption, | |
the compound is heated to expel the water, and then resaturated. This | |
work is repeated several times until the finished product, which is | |
very hydroscopic, contains about 25 per cent of phosphoric acid. | |
Kieselguhr.--This is a fine light powder containing a high percentage | |
of silica. It is used purely for its mechanical effect in forming | |
particles upon which the impurities may collect, and thus be more | |
readily carried to the bottom. This material often prolongs the | |
workings of the filter presses by collecting the gummy material, | |
which would otherwise gather on the filter cloths. Kieselguhr was | |
used in the beet-sugar industry of Europe many years ago, and is | |
extensively used now for the same purpose in the United States. | |
Hydrosulphites.--These are preparations of great bleaching power, | |
found on the market under various trade names. One of these, widely | |
used in the United States, in both the beet and cane-sugar industries, | |
is known as "Blankit." This is dehydrated sodium hydrosulphite with | |
the chemical formula, Na2S2O4. It has a much greater bleaching and | |
reducing action than sulphurous acid, and oxydizes very readily in | |
combination with moisture, forming sulphate. On this account it is | |
well to purchase the reagent in small parcels for this climate, and | |
to carefully guard the stored material from moisture. This substance, | |
which is a white powder, dissolves very easily in water, forming an | |
alkaline liquid, although this point is sometimes hard to distinguish | |
on account of hydrogen atoms liberated. | |
There is a bleaching preparation made in France known as "Redo," | |
which is simply calcium hydrosulphite (CaS2O4). This is used in the | |
sugar industry to some extent, but it is claimed by many that the | |
results obtained are not as good as those obtained from the sodium | |
compound and that it deteriorates more easily. | |
Hydrosulphites, unlike sulphurous acid, will bleach equally as well in | |
alkaline or neutral medium, as in an acid medium. There is therefore | |
less danger from loss of sugar by inversion when they are used, while | |
the permanency of their effect is about the same. In any case where | |
juices have been bleached by sulphites, the result may be considered | |
as but temporary, since upon exposure to air and light the product | |
assumes a darker color. Hydrosulphites should therefore be introduced | |
as late in the process as possible. Where the material in the vacuum | |
pan is to be bleached, it is well to introduce this reagent just | |
before striking grain, thus furnishing a bright clear material which | |
will act as film over the nucleous of sucrose in the grain. | |
The chemical equation representing the change which takes place with | |
this reagent is as follows: | |
Na2S2O4 (sodium hydrosulphite) + O (oxygen) + H2O (water)-->2(Na H | |
S O3). | |
The amount to be used will depend absolutely upon individual | |
conditions, which may be ascertained only by experimentation. The | |
manufacturers of this product state that the amount of the material | |
used to that of dry sugar should be as 1 is to 10,000. In the writer's | |
experience, two or even three times this amount will usually be | |
required to give maximum results. As stated before, since there is | |
such a variance in the material to be treated, each operator will | |
be required to judge this to a great extent from the condition of | |
his product. | |
In these Islands where a very low grade of open-kettle sugar is still | |
made, which sells very cheaply, attempts are often made to bleach | |
it and recrystalize in order to make a centrifugal sugar. | |
While ordinary clarifying agents help to a great extent, if the melted | |
sugars are very dark from caramel and the decomposition products | |
of calcium glucosate, these reagents can not be expected to give a | |
light- juice. While they may improve conditions somewhat, the | |
only solution to such a problem is the use of the boneblack process. | |
Bluing.--In the production of plantation clarified sugars, and | |
sometimes of refinery crystals made from low-grade sugars, there is | |
a thin film surrounding each sugar crystal, which has a yellowish | |
tint. It is this that gives rise to the different grades of white | |
sugars, when color test only is considered. Since this yellowish | |
tinge will give way to a lighter color when neutralized with the | |
proper shade of blue, it is a very common practice to use some form | |
of bluing--usually that known as ultramarine--for this purpose. | |
The action of this reagent is only mechanical and great care must be | |
exercised that the proper quantity is used. This must be determined | |
by trials with the different amounts of the reagent, since the density | |
of the yellowish tint is different in each case. | |
The place of application will also depend very much upon | |
conditions. Some operators apply it only at the centrifugals and | |
others apply it in the pan just at the graining point. Again others | |
use a quantity at both the pan and in the last charge of water at the | |
centrifugals. In any case, a good grade only of the reagent should be | |
used. This must be thoroughly dissolved in clear water, condensed steam | |
being preferred, and passed through cloth or felt filters in order to | |
remove any trace of lumps which would tend to produce uneven bluing, | |
or bluish streaks. | |
While this is an excellent reagent in its place, it must not be | |
expected to whiten molasses sugars as was attempted by a local | |
manufacturer. | |
Animal charcoal or boneblack.--This material is made from bones of | |
animals, by burning them in a kiln built for that purpose. The object | |
of this burning is to remove the organic matter and leave the remainder | |
in a porous condition, so that it may be crushed into particles the | |
proper size. It is not desirable to have a great amount of char dust | |
present, since this <DW44>s the passage of the liquors through the | |
filters, as well as impairing the efficiency of the work. | |
Bone char, being very porous, absorbs a great volume of gases, among | |
which is oxygen, and it is ordinarily presumed that its bleaching | |
power may be attributed to this fact. Extensive experiments have | |
been made to determine definitely this point, and the char has been | |
subjected to an atmosphere of other gases than oxygen. This proved | |
that the char still contained great clarifying power. | |
Char also has a great surface attraction, which causes it to collect | |
particles of coloring matter that may be present, and thus acts as an | |
excellent filtering agent. New char should be thoroughly washed with | |
pure water until all the impurities are removed. With the end in view | |
of determining when the last traces of chlorine have disappeared, | |
chemical tests are made on the wash waters. Nitric acid and silver | |
nitrate are employed for this purpose. After animal char has been used | |
for some time in the filters and fails to do its work efficiently, | |
it is reburned, or revived, as it is called. Ordinarily the best | |
results are obtained after a char has been used several times. | |
Reburning of the char at too high a temperature should be avoided, | |
as it incurs an unnecessary loss of fuel, besides causing serious | |
injury to the char by a contraction of the pores. Since, as stated | |
previously, the main value of the char as a clarifying and filtering | |
medium lies in the fact of its porosity, anything which reduces this | |
will greatly impair its efficiency. One thing in connection with the | |
bone-char process of making white sugars is that it is expensive and | |
should not be attempted except on a large scale, since the initial | |
expense of installation, as well as the cost of running, is very | |
great. The writer is sometimes asked by managers of small factories, | |
turning out plantation yellow clarified sugars, if it would not | |
pay them to employ bone-char filters to use in connection with the | |
remainder of their factory, in order to be able to work up an industry | |
with the low-grade open-kettle sugars, during the intercampaign. Most | |
assuredly such a combination of small plantation factory and refinery | |
would not be a paying affair. It takes men of experience and special | |
training to carry out successfully the more detailed work in any | |
technical line. One thing, however, can be very successfully done by | |
these factories, and that is to make a first-class plantation white | |
sugar which will command a ready price in the local markets, or even | |
suffice for export, if the proper manufacturing methods are used. | |
It is not presumed that any one planter will use all of the clarifying | |
reagents mentioned above, but he should choose the ones to fit his | |
individual needs, and secure his supply early, since a great deal of | |
time is required to transport supplies from the place of manufacture | |
to these Islands. This is especially the case when the place of | |
manufacture happens to be in Europe, as is true with a number of the | |
patented clarifying reagents. | |
Then, again, a suitable place should be selected for the storage of | |
reagents, where they may be protected from dampness. The quick-lime | |
and sulphites are especially susceptible to moisture, while the | |
greatest danger of loss, when phosphoric acid compounds are stored, | |
will result from leakage. This is on account of the great oxydizing | |
effect of the acid on the iron loops surrounding the barrels, whereby | |
a great quantity may be lost within a very short time. The writer | |
observed this needless waste in one of the small factories here, | |
when twenty barrels of a high-priced acid were stored on the damp | |
ground of the factory, and a great percentage of it wasted. | |
There are a number of clarifying agents offered on the market under | |
fancy names. Planters are advised to be cautious about the purchasing | |
of such supplies until they have been thoroughly tried out and proven a | |
success. Even then, it is better to experiment only on a small scale | |
until it is known that they will meet their individual needs. | |
Some of these are not only deficient in clarifying power, but actually | |
act as an absolute detriment by introducing impurities which lower | |
the value of the juice as well as increasing the subsequent work of | |
boiling and after working of the sugar. | |
LA FABRICACION DE AZUCAR BLANCO EN LOS INGENIOS. | |
By W. H. Th. Harloff and H. Schmidt. | |
Translated into Spanish by C. J. Bourbakis. | |
(Reviewed by Cleve. W. Hines, M. S., Station Superintendent.) | |
This book is edited by two of the foremost sugar producers of the | |
world, Mr. Harloff, who is manager of a large sugar factory in Java, | |
and Mr. Schmidt, a very able consulting chemist and engineer. | |
The book was originally written in Dutch and was translated into | |
English, and now the Spanish edition has been completed, which will | |
be welcomed by Spanish readers throughout the sugar world. | |
While dealing with a purely technical subject, this work is so simple | |
in its diction that it may be readily comprehended even by those of | |
little technical training. | |
The introduction is divided into five parts as follows: | |
Part I.--The influence of alkalies and alkaline earths on the | |
constituents of cane juice. | |
Mention is here made of the formation of saccharates of barium, | |
strontium, and calcium in low concentrations. The latter is made use | |
of in the famous Steffens process of the beet-sugar industry. | |
Part II.--The influence of acids on the constituents of sugar cane | |
and the hydrolizing effect of dilute acids on sucrose and the | |
resulting constituents, laevulose and dextrose or invert sugar, are | |
explained. | |
Part III.--The influence of heating on the constituents of cane juice | |
is shown. | |
Part IV.--The coloring substances of cane and those produced in the | |
process of manufacture. | |
Part V.--The different fermentations that occur in the sugar factory | |
including lactic, butyric, alcoholic and dextran are discussed. | |
The main part of the text deals with the manufacture of white sugar by | |
the carbonitation and sulphitation processes, and particular attention | |
is given to the acid-thin-juice-method which has been elaborated in | |
the Java factories with such great success during the past few years. | |
This book may be obtained from Norman Roger, 2 St. Dunstan's Hill, | |
London, England. Price 7s. 6d. net (P4 Philippine currency). | |
CURRENT NOTES--FIRST QUARTER. | |
NOTES BY P. J. WESTER, Horticulturist in Charge of Lamao Experiment | |
Station. | |
Shield Budding the Mango. | |
The one defect in the Pound method of shield budding the mango | |
described in Bureau of Agriculture Bulletin No. 18, The Mango, consists | |
of the necessity of placing an apron to protect the long petiole | |
left on the bud from the sun and the entrance of water, which work | |
necessarily requires more time than if the bud could be wrapped as is | |
the case in budding citrus trees. However, a possible use of scarred or | |
nonpetioled budwood as a means of obviating the need of the apron was | |
suggested in the above-mentioned publication. The results obtained | |
in recent experiments conducted at the Lamao experiment station | |
(November and December, 1914) have fully come up to the expectations | |
of this modification, and if the work is carefully performed, the | |
operator should have no trouble in obtaining 85 per cent of live buds | |
by proceeding in accordance with the following directions: | |
(1) Select budwood that is well matured, from the first, second, | |
and third flushes from the end of a branch. This budwood is always | |
green and smooth. | |
(2) Three weeks or more in advance of the date when the budding is to | |
be performed, cut off the leaf blades of the budwood selected. This | |
causes the petioles to drop. When the scars left after the petioles | |
have fallen are well healed the budwood is in condition for budding. | |
(3) The buds should be cut about 4 centimeters long, with an ample | |
wood shield, and inserted in the stock at a point where the bark is | |
green and smooth like the budwood, not where it is rough and brownish. | |
(4) Use waxed tape in tying and cover the entire bud. | |
(5) When in the course of two to three weeks a good union has formed, | |
unwind the wrapping so as to expose the leaf bud from which the growth | |
is to issue, and cut off the top of the stock 10 to 15 centimeters | |
above the bud. | |
(6) Every ten days after unwrapping the buds go through the nursery and | |
carefully rub off all stock sprouts in order to force the buds to grow. | |
All other precautions that are taken in ordinary shield budding must, | |
of course, also be attended to in order to insure success. | |
Experiments in Shield Budding. | |
After repeated attempts the shield-budding experiments at the Lamao | |
experiment station with the camia (Averrhoa Bilimbi) and the santol | |
(Sandoricum koetjape) have been successful, and it has also been found | |
that the barobo (Diplodiscus paniculatus), a nut tree indigenous to the | |
Philippines (Dillenia indica), and the sea grape (Coccoloba uvifera), | |
may be propagated by means of shield budding. Detailed information | |
relative to the budding of these plants will be published on the | |
completion of the experiments. | |
Improvement of Tropical Fruits in the Philippines. | |
The average fruit is so poor that most foreigners never give any | |
attention to the santol, and the fruit is a drug even in the native | |
markets and enormous quantities annually rot on the ground. Few are | |
aware that there are mutations among the santol trees the fruit of | |
which in point of flavor vies with the best fruits in the Tropics, and | |
that in this respect it is superior even to its celebrated relative, | |
the lanzon (Lansium domesticum), the greatest defects being the large | |
seeds and the adherence of the flesh to the seeds. If the seed in these | |
superior santols were abortive in the same proportion as those in | |
the mangosteen, the now despised santol, with its translucent pulp, | |
separable from the pericarp as that of the mangosteen, subacid, | |
juicy and of a vinous, excellent flavor, would rapidly become one | |
of the most popular fruits in the Tropics. Its thick, tough "rind" | |
should make the santol at least equal to the mangosteen as a shipper. | |
What is probably the first horticultural, asexually propagated | |
variety of the santol is now being established at the Lamao experiment | |
station from buds obtained by Mr. F. Galang, assistant agricultural | |
inspector, from a tree in Pampanga, the fruit of which is so highly | |
prized locally that the fruit never retails below the relatively high | |
price of 2 centavos apiece even when other santols are so plentiful | |
as to be literally unsalable. | |
Mr. B. Malvar, assistant agricultural inspector, has obtained | |
in Batangas budwood of a sweet-fruited camia which is also being | |
propagated. This is the first mutation of this kind coming to the | |
attention of the writer. | |
The collection of Philippine citrus fruits of economic value or | |
of botanical interest has been in progress since in 1911, but | |
no systematized selection work in the mandarin district has been | |
attempted until December, 1914, when Mr. B. Malvar was detailed | |
to visit the citrus region in Batangas. Mr. Malvar returned with | |
sample fruits of some twenty odd trees, a number of which were found | |
to be of very good quality. These are being propagated for future | |
distribution. Mr. Malvar also found another "Tizon" (Citrus nobilis | |
var. papillaris) of excellent flavor and quality which has been added | |
to the citrus collection at Lamao. | |
Petioled Vs. Nonpetioled Budwood. | |
The last three years' experiments in shield budding tropical fruits | |
which have been conducted by the writer at the Lamao experiment | |
station indicate that for practical purposes in propagation work the | |
tropical fruits may be divided into two groups: (1) Those species the | |
budwood of which may be cut at the time of budding and the petioles | |
cut off close to the bud--for instance, the citrus fruits, avocado, | |
guava, and carambola; and (2) those species in which decay enters the | |
bud from the adhering remnant of the petiole so frequently as to make | |
impracticable budding from newly cut budwood from twigs with the leaves | |
still adhering, such as the mango, hevi, and cacao. It has been found, | |
however, that this trouble may be easily overcome by the simple method | |
of cutting off the leaf blade about three weeks in advance of when | |
the budding is to be done so as to induce the formation of a leaf | |
scar. Then when the petioles have dropped and a well-healed scar has | |
formed, the budwood may be cut and the buds inserted and tied as in | |
ordinary shield budding. | |
In the case of some species, whether or not the bud is of the | |
same age as the stock at the point of insertion is of little or no | |
practical importance, but in other species this condition is one | |
of the requirements for success. Therefore, two chances of failure | |
are insured against in experimental work with species that hitherto | |
have not been budded--(a) by defoliating the budwood previously to | |
the budding operation, and using what may be termed nonpetioled or | |
scarred budwood; and (b) by inserting the buds at a point in the stock | |
which approximately is of the same age and appearance as the budwood. | |
NOTES BY CLEVE. W. HINES, M. S., Station Superintendent. | |
A New Sugar Industry. | |
The beginning of a tropical industry in what would be considered a | |
semitropical climate was noted in 1914, when the Southwestern Sugar | |
Company of Arizona milled their first crop of sugar cane and made it | |
into sugar. The factory had been used previously for the manufacture | |
of beet sugar only. It is a singular coincidence to find a region | |
where both cane and beets will thrive well and where sugar is made | |
from both sources in the same factory, and the sugar world is looking | |
forward with great interest to the results of this new venture. | |
The World's Sugar Supply. | |
The world's production of sugar amounts to nearly seventeen million | |
tons, practically one half of which is derived from the beet root, | |
the greater percentage of which is produced in Europe. Now that the | |
ravages of war have devastated many of the better beet-sugar regions | |
of Europe a greater demand will be made on the more fortunate sugar | |
countries as soon as the present supply of storage sugar is exhausted | |
and trade resumes its normal condition. | |
Progress in Sugar Manufacture. | |
The past few years have shown great progress in the method of sugar | |
making. It used to be thought that a high grade of sugar could be | |
made only by the use of the bone-black or animal-char process. | |
The beet-sugar producers were the first to diverge from this method and | |
succeeded in making a perfectly satisfactory sugar in their factories | |
in one continuous process by the aid of the carbonitation system. | |
Louisiana had been making a fairly good sugar known as yellow clarified | |
for a number of years, but the great step in improvements along these | |
lines was brought about by the acid-thin-juice process of Java. This | |
was a combination of the carbonitation and sulphitation processes | |
which gave a satisfactory sugar, though unfortunately the yield of | |
resulting molasses was also quite high. | |
The latest improvement in this work was the introduction of the | |
"Battille Process" which has certain similarities to the Steffens | |
process of beet-sugar manufacture. This method has given an excellent | |
grade of sugar and the maximum rendement since practically all of the | |
sugar is extracted in crystalized form. | |
PUBLICATIONS OF THE BUREAU OF AGRICULTURE. | |
Subscription rates for The Philippine Agricultural Review are as | |
follows: In the Philippine Islands and the United States P2 ($1 United | |
States currency) per year; in foreign countries in the Postal Union | |
P4 ($2 United States currency) per year. A limited number of the | |
following-named bulletins are available for free distribution. All | |
communications should be addressed to the Director of Agriculture, | |
Manila, P. I. | |
BULLETINS. | |
No. 7. The Garden. (Spanish.) (62 pp., 9 ill.) | |
No. 12. Abaca (Manila Hemp). (Revised.) (English and Spanish.) (40 pp., | |
11 ill.) | |
No. 13. The Cultivation of Maguey in the Philippine | |
Islands. (Spanish.) (26 pp., 9 ill.) | |
No. 14. The Cultivation of Sesamum in the Philippine | |
Islands. (Spanish.) (8 pp.) | |
No. 16. Cultivation of Tobacco in the Philippines (Spanish, English, | |
Ilocano, and Ibanag.) (24 pp., 6 ill.) | |
No. 17. Coconut Culture. (Spanish.) (20 pp., 4 ill.) | |
No. 18. The Mango. (English.) (60 pp., 9 ill.) (Out of print.) | |
No. 19. Tests of the Efficiency of Antirinderpest | |
Serum. (English.) (110 pp., 187 Charts and Diagrams.) | |
No. 20. Notes on the Muscular Changes Brought about by Intermuscular | |
Injection of Calves with the Virus of Contagious Pleuropneumonia | |
(English.) (18 pp., 4 ill.) | |
No. 21. A Study of the Normal Blood of Carabao. (English) (12 pp.) | |
No. 24. The Role of Stomoxys calcitrans in the Transmission of | |
Trypanosoma evansi. (English.) (51 pp., 5. ill.) | |
No. 25. The Philippine Coconut Industry. (English.) (67 pp., 21 ill.) | |
No. 26. The Kapok Industry. (English.) (41 pp., 11 ill.) | |
No. 27. Citriculture in the Philippines. (English.) (60 pp., 43 ill.) | |
No. 28. The Mechanical Transmission of Surra by Tabanus striatus. (11 | |
pp.) | |
NOTES | |
[1] Bureau of Agriculture Bulletin No. 27, Citriculture in the | |
Philippines, 1913, contains illustrations of several unnamed | |
citrus fruits described in this paper. Those readers who possess the | |
above-mentioned bulletin may be interested to know that in accordance | |
with the classification herein these fruits should be named as follows: | |
Bull. No. 27, Plate IV, Mandarin Lime = C. webberii; VIII, | |
Lime (Mindanao type) = C. excelsa var. davaoensis; VIII, Lime, | |
"Limon Real" = C. excelsa; X, Cabuyao = C. histrix; XI, Cabuyao | |
= C. histrix var. torosa; XII, Biasong = C. micrantha; XII, | |
Type from Bohol = C. histrix var. torosa; XII, Type from Bohol = | |
C. histrix var. boholensis; XIV, Colo = C. macrophylla; XIV, Samuyao = | |
C. micrantha var. microcarpa; XV, Talamisan = C. longispina; XV, Tizon | |
= C. nobilis var. papillaris; XV, Tihi-tihi = C. medica var. odorata; | |
XVIa = C. webberii var. montana; XVIb = C. southwickii. | |
[2] In the above description the pistil is said to be small. Citron | |
flowers examined by the writer have been found to have large pistils | |
similar to those in C. m. var. odorata and C. m. var. nanus. | |
[3] Paper read before the Louisiana Sugar Planters Assn., June 12, | |
1913. | |
[4] Cultivation of Sugar Cane, by Dr. Stubbs. | |
[5] From United States Department of Agriculture Bulletin, No. 107, | |
p. 203. | |
[6] Bulletin 91, Louisiana Sugar Experiment Station. | |
[7] All statistics, and much of the information that applies | |
specifically to robusta coffee have been adapted from "Robusta and Some | |
Allied Coffee Species" by Dr. C. J. J. Van Hall, of the department | |
of agriculture, Buitenzorg, Java, published in the Agr. Bul. of | |
the F. M. S., Vol. I: No. 7, 1913, and from a review of a series of | |
articles on robusta coffee by Dr. E. Wildeman, in the Monthly Bul. of | |
Agr. Intelligence, etc., Vol. IV: No. 4, 1913. | |
End of Project Gutenberg's The Philippine Agricultural Review, by Various | |
*** |