SUGAR-CANE GROWING

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22194, 22 August 1935, Page 16

SUGAR-CANE GROWING

AMERICAN EXPERT'S VISIT WORLD CONGRESS DISCUSSED Technologist in the United States Department of Agriculture, Mr. E. W. Brandes arrived in Wellington from San Francisco by the Maunganui this week, on his way to Brisbane to attend a world conference of sugar-cane growing experts. Mr. Brandes will represent America at the triennial congress of the International Society of Sugar Technologists, which will be held from August 2U to September 3. The congresses were strictly technical, he said, and had nothing to do with sugar conventions of various countries or with tariffs and import duties. Their object was to reduce the cost of sugar and the hazards confronting the farmers in producing their crops. On leaving Australia Mr. Brandes intends to go in a seaplane on a sugarcane plant-collecting expedition in New Guinea. He was there for the same purpose seven years ago, when by seaplane his expedition inspected large areas and travelled altogether about 12,000 miles about the island, landing on inland waterways. The purpose of such expeditions is to find native species of cane which piay be cultivated in certain soils or have disease-resist-ing properties. Outlining the present state of world sugar production, Mr. Brandes said the largest exporting country was Cuba. Java used to be second on the list, and produced up to 3,000,000 tons of sugar a year, but the depression had reduced the output this year to only 600,000 tons. As sugar was still Java's most important revenue-producing product, it would bo seen bow badly the country had been hit. Queensland had been affected loss than most countries.