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SUGAR.' *': 186. The Nigerian suga r-industry is of particularinterest to .us,^ since *e have been repeatedly asked in, th.^-.Rress and elsewhere why, if Nigeria can produce sugara^.,.3dfi'„per lb.,., we cannot follow suit.187. Experiments were made in the Gold Coast atAbakrampa, a fairly big ,cane growing-area, at the beginningof 192+1. By using double rollers and a simple process ofdefecation it wasfound easy to make crystal 6ugar= Thewholesale price of cane was then 1.d. per stick of about5 lbs., the retail,price in the neighbouring town of CapeCoast being about 3 lbs. per penny, 1 lb. of crystalsugar and 1 lb. of molasses were produced from 22+ lbs, ofcane. The control price of Tate cube 6ugar was then 5d.per. ,1b., so that the cost of the cane needed to produceT .lb. of brown crystals was itself as. high as, that of 1 lb.,\of refined sugars . . .. i . .'; e\'~ o • '188. Thet>proc0,08""Of sugar making was demonstratedto" large numbers of people at Tafo and-.R-umasi s there has,as far as'is known, been;no production. An ox-driven' triple.. roller of the Nigerian type was installed in theKeta district in 1942. Sugar could .not be made economically,the price of cane rocketing to 2 lb. per penny asthe demand increased- It was concluded that a small-scale.industry, could not .be prof itable so long as there was alarge unsatisfied demand for chewing-stick. , . ••'189. The Nigerian sugar industry ha6 been describedby Watson (Farm, &. Forest, June i9U2, p.92).. A few oxor horse-driven mills of Indian type (Kirloskar Kumar)had ^een operated by .the G.M.S.. in..Zaria Province duringthe 1914-18 war. . A: large,, number,, of crushers has beenimported from,.194l onwa rds,* a ndf.lt As estimated that thereare now 160 crugbers, with an annual output of 2,000 tonsof sugar, in operation. ;190. The,-,prepa.ration is simple. The juice is boileddown in 1+4-"illor? drums cut along their length and mountedin swish fireplaces. It is continually stirred and skimmedand when pfythe.correct density it Is ladled into tincash bowls of various sizes, where it sets into cakes of afine-grained candy (gur)^ . .This.is the form in which thesugar eomes on the market- . .jt.is hygroscopic, and can behandled easily only in a dry:climate. Unless kept in a.sealed container it becomes sticky and liable to mould inthe 'South.a.1 '- .' •191. Gocdban (Farm