REMARKS ON THE CULTIVATION OF THE SUGAR CANE IN THE ISLAND OF CEYLON, BY JOBIAB LAMBERT, 28Q. 7. G. 8.—Concluded It has been urged that the natives of this island are deficient in physical streng, and incapable of using the Cane-boe to which i have alluded; to these opinions I cannot conform, having seen a proof of their futility in the fact of the Cingalese being able to swing an axe with a dexterity and effect quite equal to any that can be exhibited by our best English woodsmen, and he who can wield the latter instrument is quite capable of giving effect to the former; the habit of using an inferior tool will at first militate against a change to one of another description- but a steady perseverance towards accomplishing the object in view, and an occasional premium by way of stimulus to the best workmen, and selecting them to be the leaders of the gang, in which the men should follow each other in pairs-each with their separate trenches at a distance of four to six feet between each pair, the leaders pushing on will induce close order among the remainder, and very soon exhibit the lazy or inefficient man who should then be turned over to some other work for which he may be better suited.-Under this system I am well convinced field gangs may be formed equally effective as in other countries. It is also said that the food of the natives does not afford nutriment sufficient to enable them to undergo the exertion the human frame is capable of sustaining under a different aliment-without entering into this discussion it may be sufficient to state, that the people I have seen work upon sugar estates, never taste animal food-their meals are composed of rice, Indian corn, bread, vegetables and oil, occasionally fish with the invariable seasoning of capsicum-this does not vary materially or scarcely at all from the customary food of the inhabitants of this Island. Rice is the best grain, at least if we are to judge from the evidence given before the Lords' Committee on the East India Company's petition which states that a greater quantity and a better quality of spirit is obtained from it than from any other substance whatever used for distillation and a fortiori, it must contain more nutriment-and I have seen it proved in the case of a pack of fox hounds which during three seasons consuming but half the weight of rice they would have otherwise done of oatmeal were kept in better condition than they had ever previously shewn.--Into these remarks I have only been led by the prevailing opinion of the feebleness of our people; do not exhaust them by pushing too hard and I have little doubt an honest day's work may at all times be procured. In addition to my former observations upon cattle-food, I would strongly recommend twenty or thirty acres of Lucerne to be laid down in a part of the estate which may be capable of being irrigated-it is very productive and has yielded me eleven cuttings in the year. I have learned from an old resident that it does flourish in this climate, a fact of which I was not previously aware-it should be sown in drills eighteen inches to two feet a-part-the nutritive qualities are very great, and a change of food is always adviseable for stock. The next point for the sugar planter to consider is the descrip tion of power he can apply to his Mill. Water is the best and the cheapest, an overshot wheel of twenty-five feet diameter and four feet wide within the shrouding is quite equal to drive a full sized mill, viz., rollers four feet in length and two feet diameter; this mill will grind sufficient canes to produce five tous of sugar in twenty-four hours, and the cost of such an apparatus in England including water wheel shaft, arm cases, connecting gearing, pedestals, &c. will be about £600. (the wooden arms, shronding and buckets may be made in the Colony at a trifling cost.) A 10 Horse Steam Engine £450 to 500 or less if it be high pressure, and in the case of using this power the expence of the mill will only be £360-thus a watermill on board in England say £600 ... £860 And a Steam Mill of same power......... freight and charges upon the latter being much heavier in proportion. A double sett of clarifiers-Boilers and a Kueller's teache with blowing apparatus £500-Skimmets, ladles, wire guaze, saccharometers and thermometers £100-5 tons of sheet lead £100—say in all £1500 and expenses included, placed upon the Estate within # reasonable distance from the coast £2,000-added to which cost of Still under same circumstances £500, making a total of £2,500— Buildings and completion of the works £2,000, so that machinery and buildings equal to taking the crop from 300 acres of cane cost. £4,500. The planter upon this scale must not be deceived as to the outlay, should he attempt by any specious endeavour to ecomomise to patch up his apparatus or go to what is termed a cheap shop at home, he will find something go wrong, and it is a liability by far too serious, to find out a mistake, or to have a breakage in the middle of crop-time which may stop the work and cause the loss of one-half of his canes--Strength in the machinery must be secured at any original cost, the grinding of canes being perhaps the most trying operation to which it can be subjected, this arises from the extreme inequality of the opposing forces presented to the power applied to overcome them; I have seen three incli bolts drawn to shreds and a seven inch wrought iron shaft twisted in two by the resistance opposed from a mill choked by over or cross-feeding, this is a matter of daily and hourly occurrence and it is con sequently necessary to have everything strong enough to resist the very possible contingency of derangement from such causes, various attempts have been made to keep down the top roll by means of weighted levers instead of bolts they have not however been attended with success, and the most effective plan seems that of bolting through strong beams of timber resting upon two fulcrums under the mill-bed-these will spring under any extraordinary pressure and permit the passage of the obstacle which in an unyielding on fixed system of mechanism would either cause fracture or stoppage and in the latter case create infinite delay, as the nuts get so jammeds upon the screws that no power will loosen thein and the cane trash. niust be cut out from between the rollers by mortice chisels in order to set them free-A very important advantage accrues from making use of spring beams or elastic ties to the top roll, namely that which permits it to be screwed down tight, thus keeping a constant and close pressure on the cane, thereby causing every drop of juice to be expressed, which cannot be the case where the rolls set free as they must be when in a stiff inelastic frame there is a part of the apparatus to all appearance trifling, but of great importance as to its strength and proper position-viz. the trash returner, or plate upon which the canes impinge on passing from the upper and first lower roll: a great force is exerted upon it and great strength must be given to it through its whole length. as it guides the introduction of the cane to its second pressure→→→ the position should be with a sharp edge bearing upon the feed ing underroll, and a space of halt an inch free upon the second lower roll to allow the juice to fall upon the mill-bed.-The speed which I have found to be most effectual for the rollers is 24 feet per minute of their circumference, any thing beyond that is too rapid for the due performance of the work, and anything under it is a loss of time; in accordance with this speed the connecting gearing should be so construct ed as to permit a velocity of the water-wheel to amount to 6 feet per second of its periphery; this becomes necessary on account of the ins equality of the resistance to which I bave before alluded in cane grinding. High authorities have stated the velocity of a water wheel to produce a maximum of effect at the rate of three feet per second, but since they have written, experience has demonstrated a much greater speed to be necessary in many cases, and among them must certainly be ranked that under description. In the arrangement of the boiling house a clarifier of 400 gal. lons and three evaporating boilers of corresponding dimensions may be hung to each fine, with damper to shut off from the clarifier so that the temperature in this vessei may not be allowed to ex, ceed 200 of Fah. it is here the application is to be made of hine or temper, as it is technically called, and I would caution the planter very seriously upon the mischief caused by the excess sive use of this ingredient, the evil consequences of which are well described in the excellent work by Porter,-the value of it consists in rendering the ouery stalizable portion of the cane juice more fluid and promoting a better and more rapid drainage, but it decomposes the sugar and carries off in the shape of molasses a great quantity of the product, and that which remains is more or Jess deteriorated by the constant chemical action taking place be tween sugar and lime long subsequent to the supposed perfect cure ing of the former-Overtempered sugar becomes clammy and grey in color, the refiner at home, although ignorant of the cause, turne 2 aside from the sample thus exhibited, and the grocer hugs it at a low price which enables him to mix it up with Bengal sugarš, and so get rid of an article which has been destroyed by the excessive employment of lime. In refining sugar made from the same cane patch, one halt with lime and the other half without any at all, I have found the result in produce of single refined loaves to be such that the sugar made without lime was worth seven shillings per cwt more than the other-perhaps the experiment had not previously been made upon cane sugar, and the fact has not been brought under consideration, but the circumstance of having a refinery attached to the sugar mill enabled me to ascertain it→ Lime is not necessary to the making of sugar and green juice and that produced from rauk canes is much injured by it. I know several estates where it never has been heard of, yet they produce the finest quality, nor is the quantity deficient, and upon them the old system of sprinkling cold water upon the freth in the pans is still follon ed-This simple operation has the effect of bringing together the feculencies which have escaped the process of claritying. We are now to suppose the cane liquor brought by passing through the several boilers to the last, into a syrup tolerably bright and of a specific gravity of nearly 1157 or 20 degrees of Beaune's Saccharometer--in this state it should be transferred to cisterns lined with lead, having an outlet six inches above and another at the bottom-twelve or twenty-four hours repose should be given in order to allow the subsidence of matters which during a bigh temperature and a state of ebullition were either held in solution or suspended mechanically, and it will be found that notwithstanding the most care:ul work at the boilers, a great quantity of fonl syrup occupies the lower portion of the cisterns- this must be boiled separately in order to keep the remainder of the sugar good-the system is by no means novel, Detrone strongly recommends it, and it has been practised in Spain for centuries, but I have never learned that a British Colony has adopted it, although the advantages are so obvious-increased expense in fuel may be against the plan in some, but I should think few instances would occur in which full compensation might not be obtained by the augmented value of the sugar. Concentration by vacuum is undoubtedly the best method of concluding the process of sugar making, but the expense of the apparatus and its complication can never permit it to be generally adopted; the substitution of Kneller's teache will however answer very nearly the same purpose-the temperature necessary never exceeds 180 and the crystals are large and bold-the combination of syrup cisterns and this concentration enable the last and most delicate operation to be performed during the day, an advantage of very great importance-the sugar should be potted immediately it comes from the pan in cases according to Dutrone's plan, each case to hold about 10 cwt. of sugar, and each skipping to fill a case, I can by no means approve of the habit of mixing two or more skippings together as mechanical disturbance is thereby created and a consequent disarrangement in crystalization and defective draining. The temperature at which Kneller's teache enables the concentration to be effected is so a much greater amount of crystalized sugar is obtained than can low that be the case were it raised to 236 and 240 practised in the common methods and the first syrups are so little as is generally injared that they may be boiled into a lower quality of sugar. The still house becomes the next point of consideration, and the arrangements should be so made that drains from the boiling and cuting houses tall towards it; nothing should be wasted and every drop of water conveyed to the mill-bed or the boiling house should find its exit only through the still-A modern improve➜ ment in distillation, invented by Mr. Eneas Coffey, permits this operation to be performed at a saving of three-fourths of the fuel consumed by any other process, and no water is required for condensation which is effected by means of the wash itself. I do not enter into a minute description of the apparatus, and it will be suf ficient to say the process is conducted by passing steam from a common boiler through a compartment of perforated disks upon which the wash is allowed; to flow the steam carries off the spirit and enters another box containing a pipe traversing it in contrary direc tions, which conveys the wash from the charger to the disk bog or analizer as it is termed the spirituous vapors coming in contact with the cold wash-pipe is condensed and flows off highly rectified at á strength of 55 → ov rproof; the operation is continuous, the stream of wash entering at one end and flowing exhausted from the other. The great distilleries in Scotland and those of Sir Felix Booth, and many others in London and the neighbourhood, are now furnished with this apparatus, several of which are working at the rate of 4000 gallons of wash per hour--One capable of distilling 200 gallons per hour will be sufficient for a sugar work and the cost is £500-a set of stills under the old sistem would cost considerably more and the labor would be encreased three-fold. Two of these stills are now On their way to the Island and may shortly be seen in operation. The expences of cultivation per acre under the supposition that a nursery of Canes has been provided during the erection of the buildings and machinery, will be as follows, with wages at 10d. per day, workmen finding their own tools : 2 plonghings for fallow............@ 3.$......... Third and cross ploughing... Harrowing...... Purrowing out for planting... 6466- £0 6 0 .... 0 0 |