Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 22.djvu/654

 628 S U G S U G There are numerous modified and subsidiary processes connected with refining, as well as with all branches of the sugar industry, regarding which it is not possible here to enter into detail. The industry ia essentially progressive and subject to many changes. Sorglrum SouourM SroAR. The stem of the Guinea corn or sorghum gugar. (Sorghum saccharatum) has long been known in China as a source of sugar, and the possibility of cultivating it as a rival to the sugar-cane and beetroot has attracted much attention in America. The sorghum is hardier than the sugar-cane ; it comes to maturity in a season ; and it retains its maximum sugar content a consider- able time, giving opportunity for leisurely harvesting. The sugar is obtained by the same method as cane sugar. The cultivation of sorghum sugar has not found much favour in the United Statrs ; the total yield from that source in 1885 did not exceed 600,000 H>. Maple MAPLE SUGAR. The sap of the rock or sugar maple, Acer *//<- augar. cJiarinum, a large tree growing in the United States and Canada, yields a local supply of sugar, which also occasionally finds its way into commerce. The sap is collected in spring, just before the foliage develops, and is procured by making a notch or boring a hole in the stem of the tree about 3 feet from the ground. A tree may yield 3 gallons of juice a day and continue flowing for six weeks; but on an average only about 4 Ib of sugar are obtained from each tree, 4 to 6 gallons of sap giving 1 Ib of sugar. The sap is purified and concentrated in a simple manner, the whole work being carried on by farmers, who themselves use much of the pro- duct for domestic and culinary purposes. The total production of the United States ranges from 30,000,000 to 50,000,000 Ib, prin- cipally obtained in Vermont, New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. In Canada also a considerable quantity of maple sugar is collected for domestic use. Palm PALM SUGAR, That which comes into the European market as sugar. jaggery or khaur is obtained from the sap of several palms, the wild date (PJwenix sylvcstris), the Palmyra (Bora&susflabellifoi-nnx the cocoa-nut (Cocos nucifera), the gomuti (Arcnga saccJui-rifcm], and others. The principal source is Phoenix sylvcstris, which is cultivated in a portion of the Ganges valley to the north of Cal- cutta, The trees are ready to yield sap when five years old ; at eight years they are mature, and continue to give an annual supply till they reach thirty years. The collection of the sap (toddy) begins about the end of October and continues, during the cool season, till the middle of February. The sap is drawn off from the upper growing portion of the stem, and altogether an average tree will run in a season 350 Ib of toddy, from which about 35 Ib of raw sugar jaggery is made by simple and rude processes. Jaggery production is entirely in native hands, and the greater part of the amount made is consumed locally ; it only occasionally reaches the European market. Starch STARCH SUGAR. This, known in commerce as glucose or grape sugar. sugar, an abundant constituent of sweet fruits, &c. (see p. 623 above), is artificially elaborated on an extensive scale from starch. The industry is most largely developed in Germany, where potato stare li is the raw material, and in the United States, Indian corn starch being there employed. The starch is acted on by a weak solution of sulphuric acid, whereby soluble starch is formed, which ulti- mately results in a mixture of glucose and dextrose in varying proportions, constituting the starch sugar of commerce. The operations embrace the boiling of the starch with water containing the requisite proportion of acid, the neutralization of the acid with lime, and the formation of a precipitate of sulphate of lime, which is separated by filtration in a filter press. The filtered liquid is, when necessary, deprived of colour by passing it through a bed of animal charcoal, and then it is concentrated to a density of from 40 to 45 Baume in a vacuum pan. If the resulting syrup contains little dextrin it will on cooling slowly solidify into a granular con- cretionary mass ; but if much dextrin is present it remains in the condition of a syrup. Starch sugar is very largely used by brewers and distillers, and by liqueur makers, confectioners, and others for making fruit and other syrups. Burnt to caramel, it is also employed to colour beverages and food substances. As an adul- terant it is largely employed in the honey trade and for mixing with the more valuable cane sugar. In 1885 there were about fifty factories in Germany engaged in starch sugar making, in which 10,000 tons of hard sugar, 20,000 tons of syrup, and 1250 tons of "colour" were made. Commerce. Com- At the present time, judging by the amount sent to the market, merce. cane and beet sugars are produced in about equal amount ; hut, since vast quantities of cane sugar are grown and consumed in India, China, and other Eastern countries of which we get no account, there cannot be a doubt that the annual production of cane far exceeds that of beet sugar. Still, as a growth of not more than forty years, the dimensions to which the beet sugar trade has attained are certainly remarkable. But these dimensions would not have been so suddenly attained had it not been for the system of protection established in the producing countries and of bounties paid to the beet manufacturers on exporting their produce. The United Kingdom is the only open market for sugar, which is con- sequently sold there at an unprecedentedly low price. The follow- ing table shows the relative proportions of the beet and the cane sugar trade and the principal sources of the supply for 1880-85 : 18SO-S1. 1881-82. 1882-83. 1883-84. 1884-85. 1. BRET SCOAR German empire .... Austria-Hungary. . France Tons. 504,223 498,082 333 014 Tons. 044,775 411,015 393 ->0'.l Tons. 848,124 47:;,002 423,1 '.'4 Tons. 986,000 440,000 474,000 Tons. 1,155,000 558,000 30S.OOO Russia and Poland. Belgium 250,000 OS, 020 308,779 73,130 284,991 82,7- ! 308,000 107,000 3*7,000 88 000 Holland ami other countries 30,000 30.000 35,000 40,000 50,000 Total.... 1,774,545 1,800,974 2,147,031 2,361,000 2,546,000 2. CANE SUGAR. Cuba 484,000 500,300 48.'), 000 500 900 6 9 7 SOO Porto Rico 57,100 80,000 70,000 65 000 60*000 Trinidad 43,600 53,400 54,000 59,800 65 700 Barbados 45,000 53,000 52,000 56,000 60 700 Jamaica 17,000 27,000 25,000 20 000 18 000 Antigua & St Kitt's Martinique 16,800 42,000 23.000 47,800 16,000 40 800 23,000 49 400 20,000 38 800 Guadeloupe 43,000 57,000 5. 000 55 300 41 ''OO Demerara 92,300 124,200 117,000 126,000 % 000 Reunion 27,100 25,000 34,000 37,800 37 000 Mauritius 119,000 118,000 110 700 120,400 128 000 Java 210,500 273 000 283,000 311,400 380 000 British India Brazils 45,000 344,600 06,000 304,400 87,000 218,000 60,000 359,000 45,000 269 000 Manila, Cebti, Iloilo Louisiana 199,000 121,900 151,500 71,400 211,600 135,300 123,000 128,400 203,400 94 500 Peru 40,000 40,000 31,000 25,000 35 000 Egypt 32,000 29,000 21,000 30,000 40 000 Total.... 1,979,900 2,044,000 2,050,000 2,210,400 2,260,100 Beet and Cane. . 3,754,445 3,904,974 4,203,031 4,571,400 4,800,100 The relative values of beet and of a low quality of raw cane sugar for 1879-86 are shown in the following table: Average Price each Year. 1879. 1S80. 1881. 1SS2. 1SS3. 1884. 1885. 1886. Unclayrd Manila (taal) on spot S. d. 14 8 21 3 s. d. 15 3 22 3 s. d. 15 22 9 s. d. 13 11} 22 12 9 20 2 s. d. 10 14 s. d. 10 Oi 14 0} s. d. 9 10i 13 1 Gennan brrt ; basis ss per cent, f.o.b Average Price of the Unclayi'd Manila (taal German licet; basis ssj ) Fourteen Ye ars 1872 to 1885. 14.s.lHd.percwt, Jls. : ,'d. ,, Price, August 1880. Ss. 3d. per cwt. 11s. er cent, f.o.b. (J. PA.) SI GAR-BIRD, the English name commonly given in the West India Islands to the various members of the genus Certhiola (generally regarded as belonging to the Family Caerelidse 1 ) from their habit of frequenting the curing-houses where sugar is kept, apparently attracted thither by the swarms of flies. These little birds on ac- count of their pretty plumage and their familiaiity are usually favourites. They often come into dwelling-houses, where they preserve great coolness, hopping gravely from one piece of furniture to another and carefully exploring the surrounding objects with intent to find a spider or insect. In their figure and motions they remind a northern naturalist of a Nuthatch, while their coloration black, yellow, olive, grey, and white recalls to him a Titmouse. They generally keep in pairs and build a domed but un- tidy nest, laying therein three eggs, white blotched with rusty-red. Apart from all this the genus presents some points of great interest. Mr Sclater (Cat. B. Br. Museum, xi. pp. 36-47) recognizes 18 "species," therein following Mr Ridgway (Proc. U.S. Kpt. Jlfitsevm, 1885, pp. 25-30), of which 3 are continental with a joint range extending from southern Mexico to Peru, Bolivia, and south-eastern Brazil, while the remaining 15 are peculiar to certain of 1 Known in French as Guit-gitits, a name used for them also by some English writers. The Guitguit of Hernandez (Rer. Medi*'. >V. Hisp. Thesaurus, p. 56), a name said by him to be of native origin, can hardly be determined, though thought by Montbeillard (Hist. Nat. Oisemix, v. p. 529) to be what is now known as Cccreba cseritli-n, but that of later writers is C. cyanea. The name is probably onomato- poetic, and very likely analogous to the "Quit " applied in Jamaica to several small birds.