/\. y V \ /\. f rffiS V m Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2007 with funding from IVIicrosoft Corporation http://www.archive.org/details/experimerecordofOOwilerich U. S. I>EPART.MENT OF AGRICULTURE. DIVISION' OF CHEMISTRY. BULLETIN No. 20. AGRICULTURAL LIBRARY, UNivERsi#C||)RD OF EXPERIMENTS —OF— CALIFORNIA. cox DUCT F.D BY TIIK COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE IX THE MANUFACTURE OF SUGAR FROM SORGHUM RIO GMNDE, NEW JERSEY; KENNER, LOUISIANA; CONWAY SPRINGS, DOUGLASS, AND STERLING, KANSAS. 18 8 8. H. W. WILEY, Chemist. WASHINGTON: GOVKBNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 1889. J. M. RUSK, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. DIVISION OF CHEMISTRY. BULLETIN No. 20. RECORD OF EXPERIMENTS CONDUCTED BY THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE MANUFACTURE OF SUGAR FROM SORGHUM AT RIO GRANDE, NEW JERSEY; KENNER, LOUISIANA; CONWAY SPRINGS, DOUGLASS, AND STERLING, KANSAS. 1888. H. W. WILEY, Chemist. WASHINGTON: GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICB*^ 1889. 1J:056— BuU. 20 1 LETTER OF SUBMITTAL December 19, 1888. Sir : I have the honor to submit herewith the manuscript of Bulletin No. 20, being the report of experiments in the manufacture of sugar from sorghum conducted by your direction during the season of 1888. liespectfull}', H. W. Wiley, Chemist. Hon. Norman J. Colman, Commissioner of Agriculture, 3 KXPERIMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SUGAR FROM SORGHUM. ASSIGNMENT OF WORK. The bill makiug an appropriation for experiments in the manufacture of sugar (lid not become a law until the 19th of July, 1888. At that time it was manifestly impossible for the Department to make any arrange- ments of its own for the conduct of experiments during the present manufacturing season. It was necessary, if any experiments were to be made at all, that they should be arranged for in connection with work already in progress either by individuals, private corporations, or State experiment stations. The following arrangements were therefore made for the experimental work: (I) A contiunation of tlieexperiraental work at Rio Grande, N. J., under the direc- tion of Mr. H. A. Hnglies. (•2) A series of experiments at Kenuer, La., nuder the direction of Prof. \V. C. Stubbs. (3) Experimental work at Douglass, Kans., under the direction of the Douglass Sugar Company. (4) Experimental work at Conway Springs, Kans., under the direction of Mr. E. W. Deming. (5) Experiments in the improvement in the varieties of cane at Sterling?, Kans., under the direction of Mr. A. A. Denton. In addition to the above work arrangements were made for analytical researches under my direction at Douglass, Conway Springs and Ster- ling, Kans. It was deemed unadvisable at the late date mentioned for the Department to suggest any experimental work or assume any con- trol thereof Having been authorized to arrange for such work in a manner which seemed most advantageous the following directions were given. The work at Rio Grande was placed exclusively in charge of Mr. II. A. Hughes, to be conducted in such a manner as he saw fit lor the benefit of the industiy. Tlie work which Mr. Hughes proposed to do was on a small scale, with the ultimate idea of making it possible for farmers and others to manufacture sugar without the expense of appa- ratus usually considered necessary for that purpose. The residts of Mr. Hughes's work have been reported by him further on in thisbnlletiu, and a discussion of them will be given in connection with his report. 5 Prof. W. C Stubbs having commenced preparations for experimental %voik with sorghnm at the experiment station at Kenner, he was au- thorized to complete this work under tlie auspices of the Department. Ko instructions in regard to the method of performing the work were sent Professor Stubbs, except to do that which seemed best for the promotion of the industry. His report of tbe results of the work and the discussion thereof will follow. The exi^erimeutal work at Douglass, Kans., was placed under the con- trol of the Douglass Sugar Company. The object was to test thor- oughly the method of open diffusion i)racticed on a small scale by Mr. Hughes, at Eio Grande, and they conducted the work under the general instructions to give that system of diffusion and the apparatus a thor- ough and impartial test. The general results of the experimental work at the station are given in the report of Mr. Edson, with a discussion of the data there recorded. The experimental work at Conway Springs consisted in the trial of a new system of preparing the exhaused chips for fuel; and certain new arrangements of ajiparatus connected with the diffusion battery and of a new system of handling and storing the cane. No specific instruc- tions were given to Mr. Doming in regard to the conduct of the work, but he was left free to use his own judgment in every particular in regard to what was best to be done. Mr. Deming's report and the dis- cussion thereof will follow. The experimental work at Sterling was of an entirely different order. The Sterling Sugar Company had commenced a thorough examination of all obtainable varieties of the sorghum plant. By an arrangement made with this company, the Department assumed this work in the condition in which it was found the latter part of July and carried it to completion under the supervision of Messrs. Denton and Crampton, whose report and observations thereon will follow. The following assignment of the chemical force of the division was made for the purpose of securing analytical data of the season's work. Mr. Hughes having expressed an opinion that he could get along in- dependentlj^ of any chemical assistance from the Department, no assign- ment was made to Eio Grande. Mr. Edson was placed in charge of the chemical work at Douglass, assisted by Mr. John Ij. Fuelling. Prof. E. A. von Schweluitz was placed in charge of the chemical work at Conway Springs, assisted by Mr. Oma Carr. Dr. 0. A. Crampton was placed in charge of the work at Sterling, assisted by Mr. Karl P. McElroy. In the latter part of July I visited the three localities last named, and arranged with the proper persons for the establishment of the labora- tories and perfected the arrangements for the chemical control which was desired. In September and October I visited each of the labora- tories above mentioned, and spent some days with the chemists in charge in consultation concerning the progress of the work and any changes or alterations therein which seemed necessary. The results of the chemi- cal work in each case wilj.be found iii^ connection with tlie reports of the resi>ective stations. The result of the work at Rio Grande is disappointing in its nature. For some reason the cane grown in that locality has failed to improve, although it api>ears that it has had the benefit of careful attention and fertilization. There has been upon the whole, as indicated in Bulletin 18, a deterioration of the cane at Rio Grande, the crops which were raised six or seven years ago showing a higher i)ercentage of microsc than those of the present time. This deterioration has been caused either by admixture of a non-saccharine variety with the seed, by the method of culture, or by the influence of the soil and climate of that locality. I am inclined to attribute much of the depreciation to a fault of the seed; whether or not it has been mixed with broom-corn lam unable to say. The almost total failure of the amber cane at Rio Grande would seem to indicate that some such accident had happened to it. While amber cane in other localities has continued to show a high per- centage of sucrose in the juice, at Rio Grande it has become a worthless variety for sugar-making or even the production of sirup. The impor- tance of seed selection is emphasized by this fact, since there is every reason to believe that if seed of the early amber, such as was planted at Rio Grande seven or eight years ago, were again planted in that locality it would produce an equally rich crop of cane. It would be a useless task, however, for any one to attempt the successful manufacture of sugar by any process from juices no richer than those reported by Mr. Hughes during the present year; such canes at best could only make molasses, and that i)robably of an inferior character. These agricultural results are the more discouraging because of the system- atic attempts which have been made at Rio Grande in conjunction with the Kcw Jersey experiment station for the production of a high-grade cane; these are not, however, sufficiently discouraging to justify aban- donment of similar attempts in other localities. In res])ect of the cli- mate at Rio Grande, I can see nothing which would lead me to believe that it is unfavorable to the growth of sorghum. On the other hand, the climatic conditions appear extremely favorable, unless it be true that sorghum will not develop a maximum content of sugar in localities favored with abundant summer rains. Aside from this, the favorable conditions for growth and the practical immunity from early frosts ren- der the locality a most favorable one for the production and manufact- ure of a crop of sorghum cane. The soil of this locality, it is true, is not naturally as fertile as the soils of Kansas, but with the judicious fertili- zation which has been practiced, the tonnage per acre has been fully as great, if not greater, at Rio Grande than in most other localities. 8 In regard to the metliods of manufacture employed at this station, it is necessary to speak with some degree of caution. Tu the report of Mr. LTughes we have, from his stand-point, a brief but graphic descrip- tion of the method employed. I have never been of the opinion that sugar making from sorghum could be successfully practiced on a small scale, and the experiments carried on by the Department of Agriculture for two successive seasons at Rio Grande have only served to confirm me in this belief. The nature of the processes employed, the character of machinery required, and the kind of skilled labor needed, all com- bine to render the manufacture of sugar on a small scale commercially unsuccessful. I do not see any favorable result in this direction from the two years' trial at Rio Grande. For the present manufacturing season Mr. Hughes does not give the total amount of sugar made, ex- cept from a portion of the crop, and this is no evidence whatever that its cost has been sufficiently low to enable it to be put upon the market in competition with other sugars. I should have been glad had the re suit been otherwise, for the successful inauguration of an era of sugar- making conducted by fiirmers would have been a great blessing to vast agricultural regions. In regard to the machinery employed my opinion has alreadj^ been expressed. I have said repeatedly, both in official publications and in other places, that I regarded the system of cutting and preparing the cane devised by Mr. Hughes, and now in use in every sorghum factory in the United States and in at least one cane-sugar factory, as the very best which has yet been invented. I have long been convinced that for the extraction of sugar from cane of both kinds the greater the de- gree of comminution of the chips the more successful the process will be. The system of double shredding inaugurated by Mr. Hughes during the past season tends to secure this end. It was in this direction also that I urged last year for sugarcane the construction of a shreddiug- machine on- the i)rinciple of the shredder built by the Kewell Universal Mill Company of New York, for the purpose of preparing the pieces of cane properly for the diffusion battery. This shredder I suggested should be furnished with very fine steel knives, of the general pattern of the shredder now in use, with short cylinders of large diameter, driven at a very much higher rate of speed. Last year I suggested to Mr. Fiske, the inventor of the machine above mentioned, the advis- ability of building such a machine in duplicate for the purpose of re- ducing the cane to as fine pieces as possible. The advantage of such a shredder as this over the one used by Mr. Hughes would be principally in its greater strength, and in the assurance that it could be run for days, and perhaps a whole season through, without any necessity for repairs. It is of the highest importance that the apparatus for cutting and pulping the cane should be as effective as possible and built in two sets, so that if one should be out of order the second could still be used . In regard to the system of diffusion practiced at the Rio Grande sta- tion, and described in Bulletin 18, further experience only leads me to emphasize what was said in that bulletin, viz : The defects of the system were both mechanical and chemical. The mechanical difticulty is the same as that which attends all methods of dili'usioQ in which the caue chips are moved instead of the ditfnsion liqnors. From a mechan- ical i)oint of view it is far easier and more economical to move a liquid in a series of vessels Hum a mass of chips. In the Hughes system the whole mass of chips under goin<^ ditlusiou, together with adhering liquor, and baskets and suspending apparatus- are lifted vertically a distance of several feet, varying with the depth of the diffusion, tanks, every few minutes. The mechanical energy required to do this work is enor- mous, and with large batteries the process would prove almost impossible. The truth of this view will be further illustrated in the report of the Douglass Sugar Company. For very small batteries working only a few tons a day this system might possibly be employed, but I doubt even then if it could be economically worked. This opinion of mine, as will be seen, is at total variance with that expressed by Mr. llughes,^ and those who propose to become practically interested in the matter will have to decide upon the merits of the two systems of diffusion after a personal investigation. Mr. Hubert Edson, who has had two years' experience with the open system of diffusion, made the following statements relating thereto in the Lousiana Planter and Sugar Manufacturer of December 1, 1888. Ilis report refers to the battery used at Douglass, Kans., during the season of 1888 : The battery was built from plans secured directly from Mr. Hughes, and with one or two slight changes was worked throughout the season. The main battery con- sisted of ten cells, open at the top to admit the baskets in which the chips were placed for diffusion. These baskets, made of strong boiler-iron, were attached to the arms of a crane, which was raised, rotated, and lowered till the requisite number of immersions was obtained. Besides these ten cells there was an extra one of the same dimensions placed just outside and within reach of the arms from the large crane^ This arrangement was intended to secure a dense ditfusion juice, allowing, as the diffusion progressed, the heaviest juice from two of the cells of the main battery to be drawn into the outside cell, and which there received two baskets of fresh chips before being emptied. This manner of operating the battery will, it is claimed by the inventor, give a juice almost as dense as a corresponding mill juice. In my opinion, however, no greater advantage Is secured by the eleventh cell being outside the main battery than by the same number arranged in regular order. Certainly, at Douglass, o hydraulic pump is used for this work and of itself requires more power than is necessary to run a battery of closed cells. This extra power and labor would not necessarily condemn the apparatus if such superior results were obtained as to overcome the expense. But instead of this, exactly the reverse was accomplished. Not much better extraction was secured than is obtained by the ordinary cane-mill of Louisiana, and this only with a dilution of nearly 50 per cent., causing an extra expense of no small amount for evaporation. Then, also, the quality of the juice obtained was extremely poor. The almost constant exposure to the air and especially in iron vessels blackened it to such a degree that no good sugars could be made from it. Clarification was nearly impossible with any of the ordinary re-agents in the sugar-house. This was extremely unfortunate in Kansas, as the greatest profits are made on material sold to the home market. Full reports of the chemical work at Eio Grande are contained in Bulletin 51, Kew Jersey Experiment Station. As has been mentioned before, Prof. W. 0. Stubbs was placed in charge of the experiments which were arranged for in connection with the Louisiana sugar-experiment station at Kenner and the stations at Baton Rouge and Calhoun. For two previous seasons Professor Stubbs had made extensive experiments with sorghum, which are fully reported in the bulletinsof the Louisiana experiment station and in Bulletin No. 18 of this division. A study of the analytical data of the three years' work in Louisianashows iu an emphatic way the peculiarities of sorghum wiiich have rendered so difBcalt the successful inauguration of sugar- making from that plant. The great variations in the content of sucrose in the juices of the plant, its susceptibility to injury by storms and other unforeseen causes, are strikingly set forth in the analytical figures which follow. In mj opinion the production of a variety of sorghum-cane suitable to the soil and climate of the sugar lands of Louisiana will be a work of no small difiiculty. From the results of the work already done, and especially during the last year, an account of which is con- tained in the appended rei)ort of Professor Stubbs, it is clearly seen that a season which has produced a sugar cane very rich in sucrose in the State of Louisiana has produced a sorghum crop which is absolutely worthless for sugar-making for commercial purposes. Another point illustrated by the report is brought out in the reference to the past work of the station, in which, although a cane was produced whose juice was reasonably rich in sucrose, its practical working in the sugar factory was found most difficult. In the report this is ascribed to the presence of large quantities of dextrine or dextrine like bodies supposed to be de- rived from the starch originally present in the juice. It is the opinion of Professor Stubbs that starch and sucrose are developed in the sor- ghum pari passu. In this case it would be found that the direct polari zation of a sorghum juice rich in sugar would show apparently a much higher content of sucrose than was actually present, since dextrine and u its allied bodies are niucii more strongly dextro gyratory tluiii sucrose. The poiuts developed by tlieexperimeutsuiay be summarized as lollows : (1 ) Sorghum caue develops sometimes iu Louisiana a juice containing a very high percentage of sucrose, but combined with other bodies which render its separation from the juice difficult. (2) The occurrence of a wet summer attended by the severe wind- storms which are so common in that locality prevent the development of a high sucrose content in the growing sorghum. (3) The possible utilization of sugar machinery for a longer manu- facturing season is one of the chief inducements in the sugar cane regions for the cultivation of sorghum as a sugar-producing plant. (4) Delay iu working the cane after cutting is not as dangerous as Ms been supposed. It will be understood that these are conclusions which I have drawn from reading Professor Stubbs's report, and are not formulated in the above manner by himself. The results of attempts to grow sorghum for sugar-making purposes on the low sugar lands of Louisiana, in my opinion, are not highly en- couraging to the belief that these lauds and their climate are the best suited in the United States for the production of sorghum, as Professor Stubbs says. On the other hand, 1 believe there are few localities in the United States, where sorghum grows at all, in which a better crop for sugar-making purposes can not be produced. Experience has shown that the dry climate of southern and western Kansas produces the most uniform crop of sorghum for sugar-making purposes, while the data of Processor Stubbs, which follow, show that the Louisiana product, for the present year at least, is about the poorest on record. One point, how- ever, should be borne in mind, viz, that the course of experiment pur- sued by the Louisiana experiment station is the one which is best suited for the rapid development of every possibilitj^ of sorghum culture in that Sta(e. The exi)erimental trials which are made with sorghum will show both its weak and strong points, and in the wide variation which the plant shows there will doubtless be some variety produced or found which will be best suited to the peculiar conditions which obtain in that locality. The soil and climatic conditions of the northern part of the State, where cotton is now grown, will probably be found better suited to the production of sorghum than those of the present sugar producing localities. 1 feel quite sure that the expectation expressed by Professor Stubbs of being able to realize under certain conditions as much as 120 to 125 pounds of sugar from sorghum cane may be fully met under favorable circumstances; but it would still remain to be demonstrated that this yield could be reasonably expected from year to year, or even occasionally, on a large scale. The subsequent experiments which are promised by Professor Stubbs at the Louisiana station will doubtless set at rest, iu a few years, all these questions, and demonstrate to ihe sugar makers of Louisiana just what can be expected from sorghum as an adjunct to their great industry. 12 EXPERIMENTS AT CONWAY SPRINGS. lu the reports of Messrs. Deming aud von Schweiuitz which follow, together with the analytical tables, much interesting information may be found in regard to the sorghum sugar industry in Kansas. The suc- cessful continuation of the work at Fort Scott has encourged the be- lief in the possibility of a speedy establishment of a sorghum sugar industry in Kansas on a large scale. The unfortunate financial out- come of the work at Conway Springs shows that much is yet to be learned by those entering upon this industry before success can be con- fidently predicted. A discussion of the chemical data collected at Con- way Springs will be found in connection with the analytical tables. It is proper to say here, however, that the sorghum juices of the crop grown at Conway Springs show a higher content of sucrose than any large crop which has ever before been produced in the United States. This high content of sucrose which appeared in the crop after the mid- dle of September, as indicated by the analysis of the juices, was con- tinued until the close of the working season in November. The sam- ples of chips taken from the cells of the battery showed in their juices a high content of sucrose uniformly; much higher, in fact, than would be indicated by the output of sugar. One reason, doubtless, ior this was the exceptionally dry season diminishing the content of water in the cane and thus increasing the percentage of sucrose in the juice. This fact, though not established by the determination of the fiber in the cane, is plainl^^ indicated by two other facts developed by the analyt- ical work, viz, the diminished extraction when using the small mill at the same pressure as the season progressed and the high content of total solids in the juices. The output of sugar was evidently dimin- ished by the character of the water used in diffusion, but that would be unable to account for the small yield of crystallizable sugar obtained with juices of the richness of those worked. Experiments made by boiling a solution of pure sugar with the water used in diffusion at Conway Springs proved that the presence of a large amount of gypsum did not tend to increase the inversion of sucrose; that it may, however, have interfered with the crystallization of the sucrose is a fact which can scarcely be denied. The actual output of sugar at Conway Springs, in my opinion, would have been considerably larger had pure water been employed in the diffusion battery; nevertheless, the important fact remains that the yieldof crystallizable sugar was wholly disproportional to the richness of the juices worked, showing that the high ratio of sucrose was not obtained at the expense of the solids not sugar in the juices. In other words,it appears that a cane whose juice is normal in quantity, say about 90 per cent, of the total weight, and having a content of sugar equal to 10 per cent., with total solids at 16 per cent., will yield fully as much, if not more, sugar than a cane whose juice is abnormal, say not more than 80 per cent, of the total weight, with 113 per cent, of sucrose and 18 or 20 per cent, of total solids. Another impor- 13 tant fact developed by a study of the data obtained at Conway Springs is tbc persistence of the sugar content in the juice after tlie caiie was fully ripened. In localities where considerable moisture may be ex- pected in the soil as a result of frequent rains during the manufactur- ing seasou it has been noticed that there is a rapid deterioration of the juices, beginning a short time after complete maturation. Tbis has been especially noticed in the experience at the Eio Grande station. It has also been noticed by all careful observersof sorghum grown in ordinary localities. The inspissation of the juices by the natural causes of an extremely dry climate appears to protect the sugar from this destruc- tion. This is a point of the greatest interest to sorghum-growers, to whom the preservation of the sugar in the juice for a reasonable length of time is a matter of the greatest consideration. In the process of dif- fusion this thickening of the juice entails no loss, although if milling were used for expressing the juice the loss would be a most serious one. The above explanation of the character of the juice at Conway Springs is ofiered with some degree of hesitation, since I am fully aware of the danger of drawing conclusions in sorghum work from a too limited num- ber of observations. The manufacturing operations at Conway Springs were greatly hin- dered bj' faults in the machinery, which could scarcely be avoided when the short time allowed for the manufacture and erection of the same is considered. Instead of taking three months for the erection of a sugar factory, a whole year is none too long a time, and disaster, for at least one year, is certain to attend attempts to erect such machinery in the time allowed at Conway Springs. What is needed now in the sorghum-sugar industry is the manufact- ure of sugar at a rate which will enable the manufacturer to compete with sugar from other parts of the world. A great step in this direc- tion will be secured when the kind of machinery which has been pointed out by the investigations of the Department as necessary to success shall be constructed by skilled machinists and erected by skilled engi- neers, with time enough at their disposal to finish their work before the manufacturing season begins. Some further remarks on this subject will be made in another place. From a commercial point of view, the results of the work at Conway Springs are wholly disappointing. To the person, however, who will take pains to inform himself in regard to the conditions which there obtained, many points of encouragement will be found in spite of the financial failure of the first season's work. EXPERIMENTS AT DOUGLASS, KANS. The practical experiments carried on at Douglass consisted in a thorough trial of the open system of diffusion (the Hughes system) to test its fitness for working on a large scale. For the details of the con- 14 struction of the battery I refer to the report of Mr. Edson. In regard to its working in general, I may say that it was a total failure, both as to economy of power and success of extraction. The financial diffi- culties which were met with by the company during the year were at- tributed largely to the use of this battery. The evaporating apparatus in use at Douglass was of first-class quality and arranged in a practical manner. The system of clarification tanks, double effects, and strike pan was as good as could be desired for sugar-making purposes. Had the company adopted the system of diffusion erected by the Department at Fort Scott, there is every reason to believe that even during the first season it would have paid all expenses and made a reasonable profit. Tbe attempt to introduce a new and untried system on a large scale shows the danger which too often besets the introduction of anew enterprise. The promoters of such an. enterprise, not satisfied with what has been accomplished, attempt to follow new paths, which often lead to unknown and unwished-for localities. It is best in any enter- prise to accept what has been proved of value and not jeopardize the success of a commercial undertaking by introducing in its place a kind of experiment, which, failing, would destroy all prospects of success. As will be seen by the analytical tables accompanying the Douglass report, the crop was of iair quality, showing about the average per- centage of sucrose developed in Kansas during the last two or three years. Tbe soil on which most of the crop was raised was somewhat richer in vegetable matter and contained less sand than the soil at Conway Springs. The climatic conditions of the two places were so nearly identical as to make apparently but little difference j yet it must be conceded that at Douglass the hot dry winds produced less eft'ect than at Conway Springs. There did not appear to be the same drying up of the juice, wLich may account to some extent for the percentage of sucrose therein being less. The agricultural results, however, were of the most encouraging nature, showing that in this locality a crop of sorghum cane can be grown which, with proper treatment, may be ex- pected to yield from 80 to 90 pounds of sugar per ton of clean cane. Not only were the actual results rendered unfavorable by the kind of battery employed, but, aside from this, for some reason the centrifugals used proved to be wholly inadequate to the severe task imposed u[)ou them. The drying of sorghum sugar is at best a difficult task, and only the best approved centrifugal apparatus should ever be employed for this purpose. Had the battery at Douglass worked successfully much delay would have been experienced in the manufacture of the crop by the imperfections above noted in the centrifugal machines. EXPERIMENTS AT STERLINa, KANS. At the very beginning of my connection with the experiments in the manufacture of sugar from sorghum I realized the importance of improv- 15 ing tbe quality oriut; caiic to be usctl. In Bulletin No. 3, page 107, I made tlie following stutnneiits : The future success of tlu^ industry depends on tbe following conditions, viz: (1) A careful selection and improvement of the seed with a view of increasing the proportion of sucrose. (2) A definition of geographical liujitsof Buccessful culture and niaDiifactare. (3) A better luetuod of purifying tbe juices. (4) A more complete separation of the sugar from the canes. (5) A more comi)lcte separation of the sugar from the molasses. (6) A systematic ntilization of the by products. (7) A careful uutrition and improvement of the soil. IMPROVEMENT BY SEED SELECTION. I am fully convinced thatthe Government should undertake the experiments which have in view the increase of the ratio of sucrose to the other substances in the juice. These experiments, to be valuable, must continue under proper scientific direction for a number of years. The cost will be so great that a piivate citizen will hardly be willing to undertake the expense. The history of the improvement in the sugar beet should be sufficient to encourage all similar efforts with sorghum. The original forage beet, from which the sugar beet has been developed, contained only 5 or 6 per cent, of sucrose. The sugar beet now will average 10 per cent.* of sucrose. Jt seems to me that a few years of careful selection may secure a similar improvement in sorghum. It would be a long step toward the solution of the problem to secure a sorghum that would average, field with field, 12 per cent, sucrose and only 2 per cent, of other sugars, and with such cane the great difficulty would be to make sirup and not sugar. Those varieties and individuals of each variety of cane which show the best analyt- ical results should be carefully selected for seed, aud this selection continued until accidental variations become hereditary qualities in harmony with the well-known principles of descent. If these experiments in selection could be made in different parts of the country, and especially the various agricultural stations and colleges, they would have addi- tional value and force. In a country whose soil and climate are as diversified as in this, results obtained in one locality are not always reliable foriinother, If some unity of action could in this way be established among those engaged in agricultural research, much time aud labor would be saved and more valuable results be obtained. In a summary of tbe metbotls wbicb I bad advocated for tbe im- provement of tbe sorgbum plant, I said in an address before tbe National Sugar Growers' Association in Saint Louis, in February, 1887: Finally, our experiments have taught us that after all the mechanical difficulties which have been enumerated in the manufacture of sugar from sorghum have been overcome, the industry can not become commercially successful until the scientific agronomist succeeds in producing a sorghum plant with a reasonably high and uni- form content of sucrose and a minimum of other substances. This work is jieculiarly the function of our agricultural experiment stations. In beet-sugar-producing coun- tries the production of the seed for planting is a distinct branch of tbe industry. So, * In the six years that have passed since the above was written the sugar beet has been still further improved and its mean percentage of sucrose now amounts to per- Jiaps 12. IG too, it must be with sorghum. A careful scientilie selection of the seecU of those plants showing the best sugar-producing qualities, their proper planting and culti- vation, a wise choice of locality and soil, a projier appreciation of the best methods of culture, these are all factors which must be taken into consideration in the suc- cessful solution of the problem. It was with this purpose in view that I made the arrangements with the Sterling Sirup Company by which the Department assumed control of the experiments which they had commenced in the cultivation of different varieties of sorghum. At the time this arrangement was made, viz, in the latter i>art of July, Mr. A. A. Denton was already in charge thereof for the Sterling Sirup Company, and he was appointed to continue in general charge under the direction of the Department. It was arranged with Mr. Denton that the general line of research should be such as is in- dicated in the above statements of the purposes in view. The chemists who were sent to take charge of the analytical work were instructed to co-operate with i^Ir. Denton in such a way as to secure favorable results and to make such suggestions as might seem valuable in the details of the work. Mr. Denton was requested to make a general study of the growth of the different varieties and of the habits of each one with refer- ence to its fitness as a sugar plant. The most promising individuals of each variety were to be selected for experimental purposes, and those showing the highest content of sucrose with the lowest content of other substances were to be preserved for future planting. The able manner in which Mr. Denton accomplished this work, assisted by the chemists of the Department, will be found in his detailed report. I regard it of the highest importance to the future success of the industry that the line of work thus commenced by the Department should be continued. One great difficulty with which we have to contend is in the charac- ter of the appropriations made for the experimental work. I have called attention to this difficulty in former reports, and I wish to empha- size the matter here. The fiscal year in all Government affairs begins on the 1st of July. For investigations in agriculture no more unfortu- nate beginning of the year c'ould be selected. On the 1st of July it is too late to commence experiments for that season ; if these experiments be postponed till the next season arrangements can be made for their continuation only up to the 1st of the next Julj', and thus they have to be stopped before they are well begun. The difficulty is extremely mani- fest in the present instance. The wisdom and value of continuing the experiments at Sterling last year will be denied by no one. Abundant funds are leftover from the present year's appropriation to continue the experiments foranothei' season ; it is, however, unwise to make any ar- rangements for such work, since no part of it, except that which will be let out by contract, could be continued after the 1st of July, 1889. You thus find your hands tied, as it were, by the unfortunate disposition of the experimental year which has to begin and end with the fiscal year. To avoid this difficulty, which has been one of the greatest causes of the disasters which have attended our experiments with sorghum, I 17 earnestly recommend that all appropriations for field and manufactur- ing experiments in agricultural matters be made to take effect from the Ist of January eacb year instead of the Ist of July. POINTS TO BE CONSIDERED IN BUILDING A FACTORY. It is of the utmost importance, both for the individuals and the in- dustry, that intending investors in the sugar business should carefully consider the problem presented to them in all its forms. Failure is not only a personal calamity but a public one in that it deters capital from investment in an industry which, properly pursued, gives promise of a fair interest on the money invested. Soil and climate. — The importance of soil and climate has already been discussed. In the light of present experience it must be con- ceded that a soil and climate similar to those of southern and western Kansas are best suited to the culture of sorghum for sugar-making purposes. Further investigations may show that Texas and Louisiana present equally as favorable conditions, but this yet awaits demonstra- tion. Conditions approximately similar to those mentioned can doubt- less be found in Arkansas, Tennessee, North Carolina and other locali- ties. The expectations which were entertained and positively advocated a few years ago of the establishment of a successful sorghum industry in the great maize fields of the country must now be definitely aban. doned. He who would now advise the building of a sorghum-sugar factory in northern Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, or Wisconsin would either betray his ignorance or his malignity. A season of manufacture, reasonably certain for sixty days, is an essential condition to success in the manufacture of sorghum sugar. Early frosts falling on cane still immature, or a freezing temperature on ripe cane followed by warm weather, are alike fatal to a favorable issue of the attempt to make sugar. Sober and careful men will not be misled by the claims of the enthusi- ast, by the making of a few thousand pounds of sugar in Minnesota, by the graining of whole barrels of molasses in Iowa. Four or five million acres of land will produce all the sugar this country can con- sume for many years and these acres should be located where the cli- matic conditions are most favorable. During the past season sorghum cane matured as far north as Topeka, but in 1886 the cane crop at Fort Scott was ruined by a heavy frost on the 29th of September, and in 1885 a like misfortune happened at Ottawa, Kans., on the 4th of October. These interesting facts show that these points are on the extreme northern limits of safety for sorghum-sugar making, and the region of success will be found to the south and west of them. Natural fertility of soil must also be considered as well as favorable climate. The sandy pine lands of North Carolina can not hope to com- pete with the rich prairies of southwestern Kansas and the Indian Territory. Indeed, in my opinion, the last-named locality should it ever be opened to white settlers, is destined to be the great center of the 14056— Bull. 20 2 18 serghum- sugar industry; nevertheless, those who plant the virgin soils of this great southwestern empire must remember that to always take and never give will tire the most patient soils, and a just return should be annually made to the willing fields. A judicious fertilization, rotation of crops, and rest will not only preserve the natural fertility of the fields but give even a richer return in the improved quality of the cane and the greater tonnage secured. Perhaps the most sensible solution of the problem of the disposition of the waste chips will be found in re . turning them to the soil. These chips have a positive manurial value in the nitrogen they contain, while their merely physical effect on the soil may prove of the highest importance. Water supply. — The misfortunes which have attended many attempts in the manufacture of sugar by diffusion by reason of an imperfect or insufficient water supply are a sufficient warning on this subject to the careful student. Not only should the water supply be abundant and easily accessible, but the portion of it at least which is to be used in the bat- tery should be as pure as possible. The presence of carbonate of lime and some other carbonates in water is not injurious, but the evil effects of a large amount of other kinds of mineral matter are shown in the data from Conway Springs. When the supply of water is insufficient it has been customary to use ponds for receiving the waste from the factory, so that it may be used again. This method is applicable if care be taken to prevent organic matters, scums, etc., from entering the water supply. In case this precaution is not taken the operator of the factory may find himself in the condition in which the Department was placed in its first experiments at Ottawa and Fort Scott in being compelled to use water foul and putrescent. It is scarcely safe to rely upon a well for a supply of water, especially if it has to be sunk to any depth. Where pumping machinery must be placed many feet below the surface, as in the crami)ed condition which attends its erection in a w^ell, serious diffi- culties may arise from the machinery getting out of order, and a great loss of energy may ensue from the necessity of lifting the water to a great height. In all cases where it is possible a running stream of water should be selected for the supply, and the factory should be placed conveniently near its banks. The importance of this matter is emphasized the more when it is considered that the most favorable localities for sugar making, as indicated by the present state of our knowledge, are situated in regions where the water supply is notably deficient. Yet it must be admitted that even in southern and western Kansas it will not be difficult to find localities for the erection of sugar factories where the water supply is certain and abundant. In the light of past experience it is not probable that any further mistakes will be made in this direction. Careful estimates should be made of the quan- tity of water required, and absolute certainty should be secured of the supply of that amount of water, and even of a much greater amount in cases of emergency. The only safety will be found in some such plaa as this. 19 Proximity of cane fields. — Another point which must be taken into consideration in the location oi" a factory is the distance which the cane is to be transported. This is a matter which of course the farmers rais- ing tlio cane are more interested in than the proprietors of the factory, when the cane is grown by contract. With good roads, in a level coun- try, it is easy to draw from IJ to 2 tons of field cane at each load. The average price which is paid for such cane at the present time is $2 per ton. It is evident that at a given distance, varying according to the price of teams and labor in each locality, the cost of transportation would equal the total receipts for the cane; in this case the farmer would have nothing left to pay for the raising of the cane and profit. Evidently true economy, from an agricultural point of view, would re- quire the cane to be grown as near the factory as possible. It woukl be well, indeed, if all the cane could be grown within a radius of 1 mile from the factory. This would give, in round numbers, 2,000 acres tributary to a factory. With an ordinary season this ought to produce 20,000 tons of cane. The lengthening of the radius of this circle by one- half mile would give the greatest distance to be hauled IJ miles, thus vastly increasing the surface tributary to the central factory. It is true that at the present time farmers are easily found who are willing to draw their cane 4, 5, and even G miles, but this condition of affairs can not be continued when the business is fully established and the factories in sharp competition with each other. In case the exhausted chips are to be returned to the soil as fertilizer the importance of a cen- trally located factory, as described, is doubly emphasized. Fuel. — A cheap and abundant supply of fuel is not less important than the raw material to be manufactured into sugar. As far as the sorghum-sugar industry is concerned the coal which is used for fuel is transported almost exclusively by rail. In locating a factory, therefore, both for convenience of shipping the product and for receiving a sup- ply of fuel, it should be placed sufficiently near a railway line to enable it to be connected therewith by a switch. It is better, however, that the switch should be of some considerable length than that the waier sui)ply should be remote or the cane in distant fields. The problem of burning the exhausted chips has not yet been success- fully solved, and I doubt very much whether it will be.* Save the sufien- euing which the chips undergo in the process of diffusion the difficulty of expressing the water from them is as great as that of expressing the juice from fresh chips. Thus to dry the chips sufficiently to make them economical for fuel would require a vast expenditure of power, which would hardly be supplied by the increased supply of steam generated by their combustion. Experiments during the seasons 1887-88 at Magnolia Plantation, Louisiana, showed that an ordinary cane-mill was poorly adapted to the pressure of exhausted cane chips. The feeding of the * Since this was written further experiments are more favorable to the possibility uf economically using the chips for fuel. 20 mill was difficult, and the amount of fuel produced seemed wholly dis- proportioual to the expense of preparing it. It has been proposed to try the process used for extracting the water from beet pulp for the purpose of drying sorghum chiles. There is nothing whatever in the experience of the beet sugar factories to warrant the belief that such a process would render the chips sufficiently dry to burn. Although I would not be considered as discouraging any further attempts in tbe direction of preparing sorghum chips for fuel, I must be allowed to ex- press the belief that for some time to come coal must be chiefly re- lied upon. If the chips are to be successfully burned in the future we may make up our mind, that it will have to be done by previous pressure in mills which in all their appointments shall be as strong and efficient as those which have been in use for expressing the juice from cane. It can not be hoped that these chips will be made sufficiently dry by exposing them to the sun, and in artificial desiccation the amount of fuel required would be almost as great as that used in the evaporation of the original juice. It is claimed that at Wonopringo, in Java, as reported in the New Orleans Item of December 16, 1888, the Fives-Lille Company has succeeded in drying the chips by passing them through two powerful three roll mills, and that the chips thus dried do not contain more than 55 per cent, of moisture and burn readily in an automatic furnace in- vented by Godillot. If it be-assumed that 100 pounds of chips contain 10 i^ounds of combustible matter it is seen that nearly 80 pounds of water will have to be expressed therefrom before they are fit for fuel. I am doubtful whether such a process will prove profitable save in countries where fuel is very dear, as it is in Java and Cuba. Cost of factory. — It is on almost universal experience that the actual cost of a sugar factory is underestimated by those who undertake its erection. Many of the disasters which have attended the manufacture of sorghum sugar have been due to miscalculation of the cost of the ai)paratus necessary for the purpose. It is the part of wisdom to avoid mistakes of this kind, and before undertaking the erection of a factory to fully understand the amount of outlay wiiich will be required. The cost of a factory will, of course, vary according to its capacity and the character of the machinery and building erected. In my opinion there is little economy in using cheap machinery, hastily and poorly put to- gether. Success is more likely to be obtained by using the very best machinery which has been devised for sugar-making purposes, and erecting it in a lasting and substantial manner. The economy which is secured in operating such machinery far exceeds that which would be obtained by erecting a cheaper plant. The character of the building must also be taken into consideration ; it should be sufficiently large to allow a proper disposition of all parts of the machinery without crowd- ing, and sufficiently strong to attbrd a proper support for such portions thereof as may rest upon it. Due regard should also be paid to risks 21 of fire, and that portion of the factory especially exposed to such dan- gers should be niadf as nearly as ])ossible tire-proof. The plans and specifications fjr all the machinery should be carefully prepared under the direction of a competent engineer and architect, and the machinery furnished by manufacturing firms whose experience and reputation are a guaranty of the excellence of their work. For a complete factory, capable of working 200 tons per day, the cost may be estimated at $00,000 for a minimum and $100/100 for a maximum, the difference be- ing caused by the elaborateness of the work. This may seem a large sum, but it is highly important that intending investors should know the magnitude of the undertaking which they propose. An estimate which exceeds the actual outlay by $10,000 will be far more satisfactory to all parties concerned than one which falls short of it by the same amount. Technical and chemical control. — The manufacture of sugar from sorghum is no mysterious process known only to one or two persons, as attempts have been made to establish ; nevertheless it must be under- stood that without experience in the manufacture of sugar the most competent engineer may fail. It is best, therefore, that intending in- vestors understand this beforehand that they may be able to secure some one to take charge of the manufacture of sugar who thoroughly un- derstands the needs of the business and has had some experience in the conduct thereof. Perhaps there are not more than fifteen or twenty such men now in the United States, but their number will be largely increased within a short time. It would seem, therefore, that the num- ber of factories which could be successfully operated in the next year or two is limited, and this fact should be taken into careful considera tion by those intending to invest money in the business. ' An intelli- gent young man of good education, with quick perceptions and of in- dustrious habits, would be able in one year, working in a sorghum- sugar factory, to obtain a knowledge which would enable him to take charge of a factory, with some degree of success, on his own responsi- bility. One object which the Department has had in view in its experi- ments has been in having them open, not only to public inspection, but to careful technical study, to such persons as chose to make the attempt. It is to be regretted that at least one company, who through the cour- tesy of the Commissioner of Agriculture was permitted to use a large amount of machinery belonging to the Department, has so far for- gotten its obligations to the public as to refuse permission for a tech- nical study and report on its operations during the past year. Pub- lic property is devoted to a poor purpose when used in such a manner. The importance of chemical control of the manufacturing work is so evident that I need not dwell upon it long. The vagaries of the sorghum plant are so pronounced as to require the careful supervision of the chemist at all times. In localities not far removed ditferences in the character of the sorghum are most marked, as illustrated by the data 22 obtained at Conway Springs and Douglass, Kans., during tbe past year. To delerniine the fitness of the cane for tlie manufacture of su- gar, control the workings of the factory, and find and remove the sources of loss in the sugar-house, are duties which can be committed only to the chemist. For many years, at least, this chemical supervision will be necessary, and its utility will always continue. PROGRESS OF DIFFUSION WITH SUGAR-CANE. Two plantations are using the process of diffusion during the present season for the extraction of sugar from sugar-cane. These are Sugar Land plantation of Colonel Cunningham, in Texas, and the Magnolia plantation of Governor Warmoth, in Louisiana. The latest reports from the Sugar Land plantation I find in the Item of December 15, 18S8. At that time it is reported that over 2,000,000 pounds of sugar had been made and that the diffusion battery was working up from 300 to 350 tons of cane a day. It is also reported that an average of 194 pounds of sugar is made per ton. From the analyses of the cane reported in the Item of November 28, 1888, it appears that the juice has about 12 per cent, of crystallizable sugar. The success of the operations seems to be fully assured. The working of the battery at-^lagnolia is also satisfactory. The an- alysis of the cane shows that it is extremely rich in sugar. In the Item of December 4 it is reported that the juice contained 13.7 to 16.6 per cent, of sugar. A i^olarization had been made showing as high as 19.2 per cent. Under date of December 9, Mr. G. L. Spencer writes as follows: Diffusion is workiug to everyone's satisfaction. We have had a great many delays, almost all of which were caused by the Yaryan quadruple-effect pan. Governor War- moth had the apparatus overhauled this morning and found that the exhaust-pipe from the pump opens into the second effect, making a pressure-pan of this vehen working with more than 3 or 4 pounds of steam. This defect has been remedied and we hope everything will be all right now. The cutter gave a great deal of trouble at first, so much that we thought it would be necessary to abandon it. Finally two holes cut in the side of the casing opposite the cutting disk relieved it, so now it is ■working well. We can cut a cell of chips averaging 2,864 pounds in seven and a half minutes. The dilution will probably surprise you. I intended starting with a dilution of 33 per cent., but by a mistake in measurement I started with 50 per cent. With 50 per cent, dilution we left from ,28 to ,70 sucrose in the chip juice. I gradu- ally reduced the dilution until it dropped to 14.8 per cent., leaving about .70 to 1 per cent, of sucrose in the exhausted chip juices. We have finally commenced running with a dilution of 21 per cent,, leaving .42 per cent, of sucrose in the exhausted chip juices. With pulped cane, such as Hughes's apparatus gives, I would be willing to guaranty a dilution of only 18 per cent, and to leave less than .50 per cent, of sugar in the exhausted chips. We tried the use of lime in the cells. Practically, when making white sugar, we can not work the battery hot enough to obtain clean juice. We try to keep the battery at about 90° C. Further experiments have also been made in the application of diffu- sion to sugar-cane by Prof. W. C. Stubbs at the Kenuer Sugar Experi nient Station. A full report of this work will be published in a forth- coming bulletin of that station. In the Louisiana Planter and Sugar 23 Manufacturer of December 1,1888, a report is found on a part of the work done. As liigii as 240 pounds of sugar have been obtained per ton of cane. The results of the worlv are in every way encouraging. From the above it is seen that diffusion with sugar-cane is an assured success, and we may expect to see it gradually displacing the milling process throughout the sugar-producing world.* THE USE OF LIME IN THE DIFFUSION BATTERY. The use of carbonate of lime in the diffusion battery and the patent obtained for this process by Prof. Magnus Swenson are fully discussed in Bulletin No. 17, p. Gl, et seq. Since the publication of that bulletin and of Bulletin No. 14, further experiments at Conway Springs have demonstrated that the method originally i)roposed by me for the use of lime to prevent inversion in the battery by evenly distributing finely-divided lime upon the fresh chips has proved satisfactory. An apparatus constructed by Mr. E. W. Deming succeeded fairly well in evenly distributing the lime over all the chips entering the cell in such a fine state of division as to pre- vent any portion of tlie contents of the cell from becoming alkaline. The lime was prepared by air slaking and sifting through a fine sieve into a barrel covered by a cloth to protect the laborer. During the past year the use of lime in the diffusion battery for clari- fying the juices has received a good deal of attention. The first person who proposed tliis process and took out a patent upon it was Mr. O. B. Jennings. Letters patent. No. 287544, dated October 30, 1883, were issued to Mr. Jennings on an application filed on the 2d of April, 1883. Following is an abstract of Mr. Jennings^s patent: Bo it known that I, Orlando B. Jennings, of Honey Creek, in the county of Wal- worth and State of Wisconsin, have invented certain new and useful improvements in the manufacture v)f sugar from sugar-cane, sorghunj, uiaizo, and other plant*, of which tl^e following is a full, clear, and exact description: This invention relates to the manufacture of si^gar from different sugar-producing plants, including sugar-cane, maple, sorghum, aud maize ; but it has more especial reference to defecating the juice in the stalks of sugar-cane, sorghum, and maize, and extracting the juice from the residue or bagasse for subsequent boiling into sngarand sirup. In making sugar from sugar-producing plants with my invention, it is my purpose to extract and utilize all of the saccharine juice and to obtain entire control of its defecation, so as to make a sirup free from foreign matter and elements of ferment^i- tion. By it the juice in evaporating is free from skiumiings or precipitates, that are always liberated in the ordinary method of extracting, which waste my invention avoids. Applied to the manufacture of sugar from cane and other stalks, the invention con- sists in :i process of preparing said stalks for the more perfect extraction of the juice by reducing the same to a hnely-comrainuted or dust-like condition, and whereby the jnice cells are thoroughly crushed and ruptured. This part of the kiventiou also in- cludes a combination ot circular saws, forming a compound saw, for reducing the canes or stalks to such iinely-comminuted condition, likewise sprinkling or mixing *A report of the work done iu Louisiana during the past season will sooa be issued, as Bulletin No. 21. 24 with said dusf, before defecation, dry lime or lime whitewash in powder. Such lime combines witli the acid in the dust, and upon a suitable application of heat to the whole forms double precipitates at one and the same time. Furthermore, the invention consists in a process of precipitating the matter in the cane-juice cells and cane pnlp, or in the juice of any sugar-producing plant, however obtained, by exposing the juice or material under treatment to a temperature of over 212° F., and subsequently removing the juice from the woody or precipitated mat- ter by washing the same with currents of water. In carrying out this part of the invention I use a cylinder or other suitable vessel in which the temperature is raised to the required degree (about 212° F.) for defecation and precipitation of the mat- ter capable of being precipitated, whether the same be contained in sugar-cane, sorghum, and maize stalks, reduced to dust or not, or in any saccharine juice, includ- ing maple sap, the temperature varying from 228° to 267° F., according to the ripeness of the material under treatment and other conditions. This vessel is suitably con- structed or provided with means to admit of the introduction of the material to be treated; also, to provide for the forcing out of the exhausted bagasse or refuse, and for the introduction of steam while and after charging it; likewise, steam to act upon the condensed water and released juice and force them out through a filter. Means are also provided for running the wash-water from a series of tanks in suc- cession through said vessel, to act upon the charge therein, and an arrangement of defecating-tank connections for introducing scum, sediment, and sweet wash-water upon a succeeding charge. In thepiocessof extracting the saccharine matter of cane, the mixing with the comminuted cane, before the passage of the same into the diffusing apparatus and the defecating of the same, of dry lime or lime whitewash, whereby the material will be thoroughly defecated without the liability of the admixture therewith of the pre- cipitate of the lime, substantially as described. The combination with the diffusing tank of one or more defecating tanks, to which the juice is delivered from the diffusing tank, and pipes provided with valves for drawing the skimmings, settlings, and sweet water from said defecating tank or tanks and passing the same into the diffusing tank or vessel, essentially as and for the pur- poses herein set forth. In combination with the defecating tank, diffusing tank, and a suitable evaporator, the settling tank provided with a discharge pipe for running the juice into the evap orator, and with means for passing its sediment into the diffusing tank, substantially as described. It is seen that Mr. Jennings makes a broad claim for the appli- cation of the process of clarification in the diffusion apparatus for all sugar-producing plants. Mr. Jennings has claimed that the process devised by the Department for the use of lime to prevent inversion in the battery is an infringement on his method. Any one who will care- fully examine Mr. Jennings's claim, as set forth by himself in his appli- cation for a patent, will see that the two processes are entirely different, not only in principle, but in the method of application. In a letter to the Eural World, published on the l3th of December, 1888, T endeavor to make this matter clear; following is a copy of the letter: United States Dp:partment of Agriculture, Division of Chemistry, Washington, D. C, Decemher 1, 1838. Editor Rural World : I have read, in the Rural World of the 22d of November, the letter from O. B. Jennings, of Grover, Colo., in regard to his patent for clarifying cane juices in the diffusion battery. 25 Mr. Jennings is laboring under tlie mistake that I liave l>eeu using his process and spending iive years on what ho showed me how to do at tirst. This is a com])lete mis- apprehension of the case. 1 have never denied to Mr. Jennings the honor of invent- ing the method of clarifying cane juices in the diffusion battery; in fact, long before his letter in your paper appeared I wrote a note to the New Orleans City Item, specifi- cally claiming for him the honor of the invention which had been attributed to another source. It is important to sugar-makers, either present or prospective, to know the follow- ing points, viz: (1) The process of using carbonate of lime in the dififusion battery is a patented process which can only be used nnder royalty or by permission of the inventor, Pro- fessor Swenson. (2) The process of clarifying the cane juices in the diffusion battery is a patented process and can only be employed under royalty or by permission of the inventor, Mr. O. B. Jennings, of Grover, Colo. (3) The use of dry lime or lime in any form in the ditfusion battery to prevent inversion is a process devised by the Department of Agriculture, and offered free to all sugar-growers in this countrj-. Under proper chemical control it is more efficient than the use of carbonate of lime. I will say further that I have never tried in any way to use Mr. Jennings's process, since in an ordinary diff"usion battery it would be wholly impossible to do so. The high temperature which ho requires for the proper clarification of the juices would render the circulation of the liquid in the battery almost impossible. Respectfully, II. W. Wiley, Chemist. The process of usiDg lime in the diffusion battery for chirifying pur- poses it is claimed has been successfully practiced in Java and Aus- tralia. Prof. W. C. Stubbs has also used it with success at the sugar exper- iment station at Kenner, La. Col. E. H. Cunningham of Sarlartia, Tex., has also used the process with success, as is indicated by the following letter from him, published in the Louisiana Planter of December 1, 1888: My diffusion battery is now working nicely, and I am very much gratified at the results obtained. Diffusion is a success beyond a doubt. I am now working sugars by running the juice direct from the diffusion ccll^to the double effects without any clarification, except using a little lime in the diffusion cells. I shall be glad to have a visit from you or any of your Iriends who feel an interest in diffusion. The process of ordinary clarification, in my opinion, is more favorable to the production of a pure sugar than any form of clarification in the cells of the battery. The process as practiced at Kenner and Sugar Lands, however, differs from that described by Mr. Jennings in working at a lower temperature. COMPARISON OF TOTAL SOLIDS DETERMINED BY SACCHAROMETER AND DIRECT DRYING. During the season of 1887 1 instructed the chemists at the Fort Scott station to make a series of comparisons between the total solids ns determined by our standard saccharometer and by direct weighing. 2G The desiccations were to be made in flat dishes partly filled with loose asbestos or clean sand. The purity co efficient of the juice as shown by the spindles appeared too low to permit so large a yield of dry sugar. As was expected, the total solids as determined by direct weighing were found considerably less than were indicated by the spindles. The ratio of each variation was not the same, but a large number of deter- minations established a mean rate of variation which will make it pos- sible to approximately correct the reading of the common spindle. At Magnolia last year similar experiments were made with the juices of the sugar-cane, but these were not extensive enough to fix the rate of variation for those juices. Following is a record of some of the work done here: Comparison of total solids. Xo. Total solids by spindle. Total solids dried ill dish. Difference. Total solids in hydrogen. Difference. 6029 6065 .... 6070 6074 607'; 6076 6079 €081 6083 .... Per cent. 12. 60 15.20 13.20 12.20 1 1. 50 13. 30 12 30 12.50 16.30 Per cent. 11.93 13.54 12. 87 11 48 11.04 12. 85 11.77 12.00 16.04 .67 .66 .33 .72 .46 .45 .53 .50 .26 Per ce?it. 10.94 10.84 ii.59 11.65 1.26 .70 .'71 .85 The determinations in hydrogen were made in a specially constructed apparatus, consisting of glass cylinder furnished with a glass stopper carrying two tubes with stop-cocks for displacing the air with an at- mosphere of hydrogen. The juice was absorbed by a dried paper coil and supported in the cylinder on a disk of wire gauze resting on a lead tripod. The cylinder contained 25°^= of strong sulphuric acid. The cylinder carrying the coil was placed in a steam bath tilled with dried hydrogen at 100°. The stop-cocks were then closed and the whole ap- paratus left at the temperature of the steam for five houis. The sul- l)huric acid absorbed all the*moisture, and after cooling and filling the cylinder with dried air the coil was removed and weighed in a closed holder. The determinations in flat dishes were made by drying 2.5 to 3 grains of the juice at 102^ for five hours. Scarcely any difference was noticed between the results given by the plain dishes and those filled with sand or asbestos, except in the work at Conway Springs. In the determinations made here in plain dishes the percentage of total solids was 4.68 per cent, less than by the spindle. In the de. terminations in hydrogen they were 6.94 per cent. less. The determina- tions in hydrogen, therefore, will show 2.26 per cent, less total solids, calculated on the number given by the spindle, than those obtained by drying. At Douglass, Kans., the normal juice, calculated on the data furnished 27 by the spindle, showed a loss of 8.61 percent, in total solids when dried in open dishes. At Conway Springs tLiis loss in plain dishes was 7.24 per cent., and in asbestos 8.23 per cent. With difiYision juices these losses were, for Douglass, 11.34 per cent., and for Conway Springs 9.67 per cent, in plain dishes, and 10.83 per cent, in asbestos. The mean loss for normal juices at Douglass and Conway Springs was 8.36 per cent. For the diffusion juices the mean loss was 10.61 per cent. It appears therefore that a saccharoraeter of the standard Brix vari- ety, as standardized by a pure cane sugar solution, must he corrected by fully 10 per cent, of its readings in order to give an approximately true indication of the total solids found in the diffusion juice of Kansas sorghum. For sorghum grown in New Jersey, which was the source of most of the juices examined here, tlie correction will be only about 7 per cent. I am having constructed some saccharometers with scale to read as indicated by the above corrections. The apparent purities of the sorghum juices will be considerably raised by this correction; thus at Douglass the purity of the normal juice is raised from 59.63 per cent, to 65.31 i^er cent., and at Conway Springs from 60.70 to 72.76 per cent. The purity of the diffusion juices of the two localities is raised from 58.59 to GG.SQ per cent., and 62.92 to 71.13 per cent., respectively. SUMMARY. It has been my duty during the past few years to report the facts concerning the sorghum industry as they were developed by the re- searches of the Deparrment and of others. These facts have been of a varied nature j sometimes they have been favorable to the industry and sometimes unfavorable, but in all cases they have been fully set forth and commented on in the light of knowledge at hand. In these inves- tigations 1 have been unmoved by the abuse of interested parties, which I have received on account of my unwillingness to conceal the weak ])()iiits of sorghum. It was thought when Bulletin No. 18 was issued that the experimental work on the part of the Department with sorghum was finished, and in that bulletin a summary was made of the investi- jiations conducted in the United States during the past twenty-five y»'ars. In that bulletin I expressed the belief that with cane as rich as liad been produced in Kansas on a large scale it was probable that a yield of from SO to 90 i)ounds of sugar per ton of clean cane can be secured. The results of the past year confirm me in this opinion and indicate that, with wise management and careful control and proper se- kctioii of locality the sorghum-sugar industry may be made financially successful. In previous pages I have endeavored to set forth carefully 28 some of the things which must be considered in order to secure the above result ; but it must be remembered that my individual opinion is simply based upon the study of the fticts which have been set forth. These data are accessible to every one who cares to make a careful study of the subject, and therefore each one interested has every opportunity to form his own opinion concerning the matter. Since it is my business to investigate rather than to theorize, I have contented myself chiefly with reporting facts rather than expounding theories. REPORT OF H. A. HUGHES, RIO GRANDE, N. J. The whole season of this year has been devoted entirely to experi- mental work, with the object of securing additional light on crop grow- ing, manufactnring, and commercial problems. The past season was the end of a series of crop growing, covering a period of nine years, and fully confirms the fact that the safe time for planting Orange cane, after allowing for variations of climate, had passed. The Amber cane had gone by its season by September 23, at which time the cutting had commenced, and the Kansas Orange had very little ripe seed on it; the Late Urange contained very little ripe seed, and a large number of the plumes did not even have seed formed in them. The crop was all harvested by November 1. The usual frosts and ice were met, with results described later on. Analyses. Description. Sucrose, per cent. Brix, per cent. Purity. o 7.35 8.47 6..74 o 13.70 14.21 53.60 59. 60 Lsite Orautre 12.01 1 rA.Ri) 1 The Amber was used to break in the new machinery, not being con- sidered worth working for sugar. The Kansas Orange was all worked for sugar and gave yields of fine quality of SG to 90 per cent, test; with- out washing, of from 05 pounds to 39 pounds per ton of field cane. The limit of crystallization can be marked at 55 per cent, purity. Crystals can be formed below this degree, but they are difficult to separate in the centrifugals. The Late Orange was mostly below the crystallization point, and al- though crystals were attempted by the sugar-maker in order to find out the limit at which graining takes place, and several pans were actually grained the grains were so small that conclusions were reached adverse to the boiling for sugar of such material. Two weeks of the season were spent ill breaking in the evaporator, and one week in solving the prob- 20 30 lems and testing the result on the battery of chips of different sizes, best for diffusion, aud the balance of the time iu regular working. A lot of Kansas Orauge seed was selected and distributed among twenty different farmers, thus repeating the experiment described under season 1881, excei)t that Kansas Orange of the finest quality was used instead of Amber. The result was high and low test canes and large and small tonnage. It is. but just to say that many of these farmers had no knowledge of cane raising and followed their own notions. Those who had knowledge of our work and some experience raised high -test canes and large ton- nage. This season completes the circle of observations and records of crops for nine years. The data can be summed uj), which shows the action of fertilizers on large masses of c-ine as it has been received at tlie sugar- house, and the proper and safe dates for planting each variety are de- termined. This will explain and answer many of the criticisms which have been published from year to year by x)arties who only saw this work from one season's standpoint. The following deductions are made from the analysis of more than 88,000 tons of cane, and cover a period of nine years. This table will be found convenient for reference, under the heading of season 1880 to 1888, inclusive. It must be borne in mind that these facts will only strictly apply to this climate and this soil; but until it can be proved that they will not apply elsewhere it will serve as a guide, and should be interpreted by taking into considera- tion the fertilizers used, the variations of the seasons, and the nature of the plant. These conditions are fully described. Summary of record for nine years. Fertilizers. Season. Seed pro- cured in— Planting. Harvest. Commenced. Ended. Commenced. Ended. Complete fertilizers Unknown Pacific guano Yard manure and begasse Large quantities of stable manure andligbt dress- ings of phospbnricacid. Compost in small quan- tities. Small quantities of com- post and muriate of potash. Large quantities of com- post aud muriate of potash. Complete fertilizers and muriate of potash. 1880 1881 1882 1883 1881 1885 1886 18S7 1888 Minnesota.. Kio Grande ..do ...do ...do ...do ....do ...do ..-.do May24 Not known.. May 24 May 4 Apr. 15 .... Apr. 14 Apr. 10 May 9 May 18 May 24 ... Notknown June U... May 23 ... May 6 ... May 4 ... May 30 ... June 3 . . June 10... Sept. 22 Not known . Sept.4 Sept. 10 Sept.6 Sept. 2 Sept. 22 Sept. 8 Sept. 23 .Oct. 13. 'Notknown Nov. 4. Nov. 14. Nov. 11. Nov. 11, Nov. 16. Nov. 22. Nov. 1. 31 Summary of record for niue years— Coni'nmed. Fertilizers. Cohiplote fertilizers tJnkuuwn. J'acific {iiiauo Yard uianuro and bogasso Large quantities ot'stablo manure ami lij^lit dressings of phosphoric acid. Compost in small quantities Small quantities of compost and muriate of potash. Large quantities of compost and muriate of potash. Complete fertilizers and muriate of potash. Tonnage per acre. Pounds. 6, OUO Xotknown 14, 000 16, 000 (*) 11,000 12, 000 (t) 18,000 Polariscope test. At com- mencement of campaign. U G-14 10.35 9.70 10.96 5.04 6.00 7.94 7.35 At end of campaign. 14 6-14 10.50 9. 14 12.00 10.00 9. 4 J 6.54 Variety. Amber. Do. Amber and Late Orange. Do. Do. Do. Amber, Kansas Orange, and Late Orange. Do. Do. * 8,000 to 32,000 pounds. 1 16,000 to 44,000 pounds. The planting commenced on May 24, in 1880, and was each year ear- lier until it reached April 10, 188G, from which time the season was made later, including the present year, this completing the circle. /Season of 1880. — Ripening of the cane was traced with the polari- scope, and when 14 per cent, of sugar was reached cutting began; and during the short time required to harvest it, no damage was received from winds or frosts. The juice was reduced to semi sirup in an open evaporator, and three wH'eks later was shipped to Philadelphia and worked for sugar, marking firsts, seconds, and thirds. The cane was planted in hills 4 feet apart, and sufficient plant food used. The impression made by this crop was that rich cane could easily be grown on poor land, and that with a little more fertilizing large crops could be made. It has since been found by long and costly experiment that all the conditions for Amber cane were most favorable, excepting that a large tonnage could only hav^e been secured by proportionately fertilizing. Season of 1881. — Farmers raised the entire crop. The acreage was not known. It was proved this year that with seed from the same lot some farmers grew cane 14 per cent, of sugar in the juice, while others grew it with only 6 per cent. Many conjectures were made, and the im- pression prevailed that some lands were suitable for cane and others un- suitable. It was, however, apparent that all who had the best reputa- tions for firming raised the highest testing canes. Season of 188J. — Cane was grown by the company. Pacific guano high in nitrogen was used, and only Amber cane was planted. The Late Orange cane was grown only in sufficient quantity to supply seed for the next year. The nitrogen had the effect to keep the cane's leaves green for a long time, and even after frosts the cane remained in good condition, and was on November 4 higher in sugar than on Se])tember 4. Since we have had less nitrogenous fertilizing and more of other 32 plant food this variety has steadily fallen in test, and tbe period during which it retains its highest sugar content has been shortened. It is not safe to depend on this variety of cane for the whole season, even if nitrogen is used largely with other plant food, because of its tendency to lodge and break with high winds. Season 0/1883. — Yard composts and begasse were used in such small quantities that the nitrogen did not stand out prominently. The Amber had gone bj^ its season before October 8, and had not the Late Orango been substituted this season for sugar making would have ended on that day, instead of i^ovember 14, when the crop was all in. Season o/1884. — Stable manure in large quantities, also a dressing of dissolved bone ash from South America, rich only in phosphoric acid, was used. The phosphoric acid ripened the cane fully two weeks earlier than usual, and although the leaves were dry the Amber cane held its sugar con- tent without loss until worked up on October 11. The Late Orange was afiected in the same manner according to its season, and although ap- parently dried up, too, still held its sugar. Mill juice tanks containing 6,000 gallons were quite common, testing 13 to 13J per cent, of cane sugar from October 11 to October 29, after which time there was a grad- ual falling off until November 11, when the tanks stood 12 per cent, and 77 purity. This ended this season, as the crop was worked up. The small experimental plots conducted by the State Experiment Station have always showed that by doubling the dose of phosphoric acid the cane sugar falls off seriously ; but as it is ray intention to deal only with cane in immense masses as found at the sugar house, I merely call attention to this fact. This year produced nearly 400,000 pounds of merchantable sugar, and there was found by adding the sugar in the molasses, and the loss in the begasse as it came from the mill, that over 1,500,000 i^ounds of sugar were in the crop. Molasses only was made from the begasse this season, diffusion being for the first time applied. Season of 1885. — ^o i)hosphates were used and there was not enough compost to properly furnish nitrogen to the crop; still the nitrogen was felt, and when the season commenced on September 2, the cane was so green we at one time thought it would be better to stop work. When work was begun, the Amber cane contained 5.04 per cent, of cane sugar and increased to 8.8 per cent, on September 29, when the variety was all brought in. The Late Orange cane contained 10 per cent, of sugar when first cut, and gradually raised to 12.57 per cent, slowly declining to 10 ])er cent, by November 11, the end of the season. This crop was planted practically at the same time as the crop of 1884, and harvested at the same time. Had a large quantity of nitrogenous fertilizing been used the sugar contents would have been much higher. Small quantities ol* nitrogen on lands deficient in organic matter will make poor croi^s. 33 This was our experience again and again, and to secure immense crops liigli in sugar, potash should be combined witli nitrogen. Season of 1886. — Small quantities of nitrogenous fertilizer and light dressings of muriate of potash were used. The crop suffered severely for lack of food. During the season, where plenty of nourishment had been supplied, the croj) came to the standard. When this was not the case, the Amber seed remained in a milky state for a long time and soured as it stood in the field, after three days of abnormally hot weather, making the cane unfit for sugar making. The Late Orange suffered from lack of nitrogenous fertilizing and the sugar test rose and fell in proportion as this food and potash were present j but being a longer feeder it did not suffer throughout the season so much as the Amber. The Kansas Orange was introduced this year and, being a stranger, the ground was properly selected, and composts and potash applied in sufficient quantities, a 12 per cent, cane with purities over 70^ being its record. The record of the Late Orange cane, for the balance of the season, is high and low test, according to the land; finally ending, with the crop all harvested, with a test of 9.45 per cent. This crop discouraged the sugar company notwithstanding the gains by diffusion, which process had been introduced in 1884. Local agriculturists pronounced the ver- dict that the lands being exhausted by continual cropping were ruined and unfit for crop of any kind. The plantation was then sown in clover ; no fertilizing was done. The farmers laughed at the notion that land unable to grow large cane crops could be expected to grow grass, but it did ; and the clover crops on these lands have*been unprecedented and are the envy and wonder of local farmers, and judging the land from the farmers' own stand-point, it is to day in better condition than ever before. The clover had found the missing nitrogen and furnished or- ganic matter. A lot of land on these faims grew poor cane for years, and in 1887, instead of planting it with clover, comjiosts and potash were sujiplied and cane planted ; by planting the ground with twice the number of hills to the acre, portions of the land approximated 28 tons of cane to the acre. Season of 1887. — The cane was planted from May 9 to June 3, and the late varieties failed to mature i)roperly. A good dressing of begasso yard compost, and potash was used. The crop was doubled by planting 3 feet by 24 inches j purity ran about 64^ and tests were good. The Late Orange cane ripened sufficiently to retain its sugar in crystallizing quantities through frost and ice, until December 5. Particulars of this season can be found in Bulletins Nos. 17 and 18 of the Agrieullural Department, and in reports of the New Jersey Experiment Station. A small plot was fertilized with large quantities of nitrogenous manure and planted with Amber seed grown in 1886, from which no cane sugar could be made. The cane was tested on September 7, 1887, and was found to test 13.35 per cent, cane sugar; brix, 17.210; purity, 78°; and 14056— Bull. 20 3 34 it remaiued a loDg lime after in fine condition. Tlie same day milled chips from a field planted from tLe same lot of seed and fertilized with potash and phosphoric acid, polarized 8.88°, and had a purity of 03 61. Season 0/I888. — Only complete fertilizers were used on one field, and muriate of potash was spread on another field that was poor and had never been in cane. The hills were 3 feet by 24 inches. Amber cane was planted on May 18, and Kansas Orange and Late Orange from May 19 to June 10. A cold, wet Jane followed, and the result was unripe cane. The crop was taken off between September 23 and November 1. The Amber cane was yery poor in sugar. The Kansas Orange ran from 9.58^ to 8.250. The stand on one field of Orange (Kansas) was preserved intact from cut and wire worms, by patches of volunteer canes, where seed had been stacked previously, and some seed had been left on the ground. The worms gathered where plants were the thickest, leaving the hills almost unmolested. When the ravages are feared seed conld be sprinkled down the center of the rows, and afterwards be destroyed by the cultivator without extra expense. They only destroy while the plants are very small and disappear with the return of dry, hot weather. The Late Orange tested from 6.94 to 6.54. Scarcely any seed on this variety was ripe, and in a great many of the plumes seed was not formed neither had the cane i)ower to resist ice and frost. These facts i)rove conclusively that the safe time for planting Late Orange has been passed. It is possibly true this variety might have been very rich in sugar, with a late fall and hot weather during June and September ; but this risk is not a safe one, and as it positively can be avoided by earlier planting it should be done. OBSERVATIONS. The time for planting cane in this climate is, for Early Amber not later than May 20 5 Kansas Orange, not later than May 10 5 Late Orange, not later than May 1. Ten days earlier can safely be risked. Nitrogen prolongs the vitality in cane. Nitrogenous fertilizers combined with potash is the best combination for large crops and high testing juice. Phosphoric acid hastens the ripening of the cane about two weeks, and too much phosphoric acid reduces the quantity of sugar in the juice. Potash makes large and strong stalks. If canes are desired to bo worked after frost and ice, they must be supplied with ami)le food, be well grown, and of a late variety. If canes are not well advanced when frosts and ice strike them, they will not be able to hold the cane sugar long. The earlier the variety the later it should be planted. If canes in- crease rapidly in cane sugar soon after frost strikes them they will soon be worthless for sugar-making. If they do not increase at all, or very little, they will remain good for a long time, providing the frost was severe enough to kill, or almost kill, the leaves. The Amber 35 has less power to resist frost aud ice than Kansas Orauge, aud the Kansas Orange less than the Late Orange. The time wbich the sugar remains in high percentage in the cane is largely under the control of the cultivator. In all attempts to improve the see^l by selection and increase the sugar and purity, the cultivation must be taken into con- sideration, nigh testing seed will make poor testing canes, it' plant food is not present in sufficient quantities, or if the cultivation is neg- lected. Poor testing seed will give high testing canes if the seed is of a good variety, and ample food has been supplied, with good culti- vation. Canes can not be grown, rich in sugar, by starving them. Ground well supplied with plant food and badly cultivated will give very small canes, rich in sugar. That there are other peculiarities in other varie- ties is shown plainly in the case of the White African. Although planted late last spring, and the ground fertilized precisely like the Amber and Kansas Orange, it contained this year 12.30 per cent, cane sugar, purity 69° on September 27, time the field was cut. The seed was given to the writer by Dr. Collier along with sixty-eight other va- rieties in 1883, all of which were i)lanted5 but for certain good reasons this cane was the only one selected from the lot. It has been grown since then each year, always giving high percentages of sugar. Some of its peculiarities are, viz, the unusual toughness of its stalk, when overripe, and its great strength at all times. It is hard, for some unexplained reason, to get a good stand. The seed is wbite, and local millers, with their crude api^liances, have told me that they can get 30 pounds of flour from 1 bushel of seed, which, mixed with a small proportion of wheat flour, is preferred to buckwheat. The birds ravage the seed, and will select it from a hill planted with mixed Orange and Amber canes, leaving the other varieties unmolested. In order to be protected from these depredators and secure the seed, plots of sufficient size must be raised and calculations made for this loss. It has been found true here that they will not take quite all the seed from 1 acre in a season, consequently plots of 5 or 10 acres are comparatively protected. The purity of the canes of this variety has been noticed as high as 77.920. The cane has not been properly studied, and the birds have taken nearly all the good seed from the acre raised this season. MANUFACTURINa. I will confine myself, in my report, to methods adopted for the first time this year. Sawditst filters. — It has always been found that filtration of the juice through some medium that would remove the particles of matter me- chanically suspended was necessary. For two years, filter presses were used. It was found if the juice was acid they soon became gummy and 36 refused to run; if the juice was alkaline it would filter much better, but gave highly colored i^roducts. Last year Dr. Wiley advised the use of sand. This gave good results for a time, but gradually ran slow and failed to give satisfaction. The size of the filters, in proi)ortion to the juice worked, was very large, and it soured easily. During the past winter experiments were constantly carried on with the hope that something practical, cheap, and easily handled would be discovered. Experiments were made with bone black, coal, sand, gravel, oat straw, wheat straw, grasses, sedges, excelsior packing, and many other things, all of which proved unable to do the work required, were too costly, bulky, or in some other way not desirable. It was ac- cidentally found that the coarse sawdust as it came from the mill would do the work. Shallow filters are better than deep ones, and in well-conducted ex- periments the juice was so well cleared of its mechanical impurities that it appeared to be bleached. Examinations of the filters showed, among other things, soot from the chimney, mud, and dirt. The juice was actually cleansed. The filter used in this season's work was constructed as follows : A board twelve inches wide was cut in four pieces and a box made 4 feet long by 2 feet wide; a wire screen with one-sixteenth of an inch mesh was fastened on the bottom, and three inches of sawdust placed within it. Care should be taken that something should be i)laced over the sawdust to break the fall of the juice and prevent guttering. It was found in practice that 1 bushel of sawdust was sufficient to filter the juice from 15 tons of cane, and that tlie filter should be re- newed every twelve hours. It may also be well to state that the hot juice as it came from the evaporator was run through a sawdust filter, removing scum, scale, dirt, etc. Double shredding. — In 1885 samples were taken of the exhausted chips as they came from the German diffusion battery and it was found that better diffusion had taken place in small chips than from a larger size; and last season this was found trife also of the battery which was then being tried for the first time. All attempts to obtain a chip of the size required failed, owing to the following facts : If the knives of the shredder and the cutting bar were placed so closely together that the small chips might be made either the shredder would not feed fast enough or the knives would clog with the fine cane and stop cutting. It was found this season that by making the ordinary cut first and afterwards allowing the edge of tlie knives to project beyond the cyl- inder very slightly, and by moving the cutting-bar closer and passing the previously cut cane through a second time, the chips could be made as fine as possible or as desirable. It was found in actual work that baskets of cane filled with chips of the 37 customary size weighed 160 pounds, and packed in the same way with the re-shredded chips weighed 212 pounds, thus increasing the capacity of the battery, and by its close packing increasing the density of the juice. It is to be hoped, notwithstanding the brilliancy of these results, that manufacturers will not at once attempt to double shred their chips, be- cause the second time they go through they are not self-feeding, and machines should be invented and proven equal to their task before a commercial season should be risked. Evaporator. — In accordance with your instructions, I constructed an open evax)orator to be run by crude oil (petroleum). Parallel brick walls 13 inches thick, 34 feet long, and 24 inches high were constructed. At one end was an iron stack, and at the opposite end were the burners. Upon the walls was i>laced an open evaporator of sheet iron 1 foot high, 30 feet long, and 4 feet broad, divided by partitions 8 inches apart, 6 inches high, and 45 inches long. The juice entered the pan over the burners, discharged at the opposite end, traversing a distance of about 164 feet in twelve minutes. The skimmings remained at the end over the burners and were easily removed. As this was the first time, to my knowledge, that crude oil had been applied to sugar work, I was able to collect little data to guide me. After examining personally the burners in use for steam-boilers, I finally adopted one belonging to H. W. Whiting, of Philadelphia. He advised me to place three burners at the end, and inserting in the brick- work, at intervals of 1 foot, inch pipes, to extend completely through the walls and flues and to be i)er- forated with holes one fourth of an inch in diameter and 3 inches apart. The intention was that air should pass through the end of these pipes, then through the perforated holes into the flue, and thus aid combustion. The burners were made from 2-incli pipes with a T fitting opening at the bottom to supply air on the Bunsen burner principle ; the oil passed through a quarter-inch pipe, through a cock into a 1 J inch coil IJ inch in diameter, so placed as to receive a large portion of the heat from the burners ; there is also a quarter-inch steam pipe leading into the end of the pipe, so that the oil and steam can be mixed as it passes into the hot coil, or superheater, as it is named. When the oil is converted into gas from the superheater it paases into the Bunsen burner and is forced through it by another steam jet and burned from the opening. In our first experiment Bradford crude oil was used, and in our final experiments black residuum of the refineries, which I have been informed is the product left behind after the light oils have been distilled off. In practice we could find very little difference in the heating of the two oils. Lima oil could not be had in quantity less than 6,000 gallonsj consequently it was not used. It was found in starting the burners that a stack 10 inches in diame- ter was too small, the effect in i)ractice being to cause explosion of gas. A stack of 24 inches diameter was substituted j this stopped all explo- 38 sions, but wasted the heat. Dampers made cf fire-clay were then used, and it was found that after the superheater was hot enough to generate gas freely the dampers could be safely closed. Care had been taken in constructing the dampers to arrange them so that there was left on the sides a space equal to about 12 inches square after they were in. A further improvement in the heating was made by filling in next to the stack with dirt. This bank of earth was then extended back into the flue for about its length aud paved on the top with bricks. There was left a space of about 9 inches between the pavement and the bottom of the evaporator; and in filling in the flue the combustion pipes were cov- ered up for the length of the embankment. The combustion pipes directly in front of the flame were soon burnt out. No detrimental effects being perceptible from the loss of this air, it is safe to conclude that they were of no value. The owner of the burners thought we would evaporate at least 15 pounds of water for each pound of oil burned, and hoped we would reach 18 or 20 pounds. The record of the best day^s work shows l-^o })ounds. It is but just to say that the evaporator was entirely too large for the work it had to do, and the walls had time to cool before starting each day. Now it is found that if the walls and surrounding mediums are much lower than the temperature of the gaseous prod- uct of the Bunsen burners, condensation takes place and the oil is fried, as it is called, instead of being generated into gas, which is wasteful in the extreme. One-third of all the oil burned was generally used in starting the burners each day. Another source of loss long evaded our researches. It was caused by using cocks to feed oil to the superheater. A common quarter-inch globe valve was substituted for the cock, which brought the burners under fall control and enabled us to burn only one-quarter as much oil. I make the suggestion that pipes for supplying oil to the superheater should should be less than one-quarter inch; that globe valves less than one-quaiter inch be used, and that threads that regulate these valves bo made as fine as pos- sible, so that they may have the most delicate adjustment. I can not tell the saving of all these apparent improvements, because, I had not time to get the record properly. Taking the record as it is and count- ing the price of oil at $1.25 per barrel, about one-half of the water was removed from the diffusion juice of each ton of field cane for 31 cents per ton. The advantages of the evaporation are; (1) Cleanliness and freedom from smoke and ashes; (2) the little attention required to run it; (3) the good and rapid work done. With rapid running the inversion is almost nothing; in fact, after evaporation it is sometimes higher in purity than before, after removing the scum. It should be remembered that the unrefinable Lima oil has been quoted at the wells for 15 cents, which would lower the price for evap- 39 oration of their juice in that section to 4 cents per ton. The loss in starting could be avoided very much by proportiouiug the evaporator to the size of the house. The Battery, — The designing, building, and breaking in of such an apparatus as a new difl'usion battery on an entirely new principle could not but prove a gigantic task. Tiie object of the battery at firsu was to make a cheap diffusion bat- tery, applicable to small houses; second to make thick juice. For three seasons laboratory experiments were carried on at Rio Grande and dense juices made by diffusion, equal to mill juice from un- stripped cane, and the principles by which this juice was obtained were incorporated in this battery. The season last year was devoted completed to the breaking in and finding out the rules governing this machine. The ram constructed to lift the baskets, last season, worked slowly. When making some changes this fall the cause was located and cor- rected. Owing to this mechanical difficulty and being forced to take off a crop promptly, it was not until later in the season that plans could be put in practice which would remedy defects in heating and extrac- tion. This was tried with temporary arrangements, but the results were considered so high that it was objected to on the ground that the time during which the experiments were conducted was too short to thoroughly demonstrate the facts. The chemist of the New Jersey Experiment Station, after carefully going over his work, says, reporting on this experiment: The best work accomplished by the Rio Graude battery was 90 percent, extraction, dilution 11.5°; purity, declined 1^. The cell necessary for heating the chips properly and thickening the juice is placed outside of the battery and is called the eleventh cell. This year this apparatus was added to the regular work, and from the first day never failed to give satisfaction. It is found that when the cane is carefully packed into the baskets the gain is not so great as when the baskets are loosely packed ; at such times the full value of the eleventh cell appears, gaining 2° to 3° Brix. The entire apparatus worked without delay, and the mechanical ar- rangements were very complete. For a battery of 40 tons, the baskets and cane together will not weigh 400 pounds, and the lift will be con- siderably less than 4 feet; consequently 400x10=4,000 i)ounds to bo lifted, and 4,000x4=10,000 pounds to be raised 1 foot high at each movement of crane. The crane makes twenty movements in an hour or once every three minutes; consequently 1 6,000 -r- 3 =5,333 pounds raised 1 foot high each minute, or less than one-sixth of a horse-power is required. There is to be added to this the cost of raising the water for supplying the battery and the movement of the juice; but with these all added the cost for power is found to be merely nominal. 40 With double shredded cane and actual running, the dilution was re- duced to 4^ per cent, and approximated the mill juice within four- tenths of a Brix, with a loss of only IG pounds of sugar left in each ton of cane. The Brix of the milled diffusion chips showed from IJ to 2. Without double shredding the battery gave within ^ to 2° Brix of the mill juice, and left about 16 j)ounds of sugar in the chips per ton of cane. The purity fell off one to two degrees, but it must be remem- bered that no chemicals were used to prevent it. There is always a percentage, about 2 per cent., of leaves and sheaths which pass the cleaners, and as their i:)urity is very low they must reduce the purity of the diffusion juice. Lime and its salts and sulphites have been used in batteries, and have appeared to give juice of as high a purity as the mill juice; but it would have to be shown that some of the glucose had not been destroyed before the point can be positively settled. Besides, alkalies used on the fiber in the cells and clarifiers where the fiber is present are believed to produce gum. It has been observed this season that when scum raised in the chips from heat, while diffusion was going on, that the juice coming from this battery was higher in purity than mill juice. There is no evidence that the air passes through the cane, while being diffused, except when first heated; neither do the juice or chips turn black while diffusing, as is supposed by some; and the color of the juice will compare favorably with the mill juice. INVERSION AND CLAEIFYINa. Considerable inversion has taken place in the house this season. The most of the inversion takes place by permitting the juice to stand hot for a considerable time in tanks, and in process of manufacture this should be carefully avoided. This is the third year during which we have used no clarifiers, and the writer does not see what use they are with the present knowledge of the juice. Alkalies used too freely in the battery or in the clarifiers when fiber is mechanically suspended are thought to produce gum and prevent crystallization, although the instruments may show no loss from inversion. After the juice has been filtered, the addition of alkali in not too large quantities, so that the juice would be neutral, or, better still, slightly acid, would no doubt prevent some inversion. The cor- rect method of properly clarifying the juice of the sorghum so that the " not sugar" parts can be precipitated, and the purity be made to gain largely, is not known to the writer. Rapid running in the diffusion battery and quick running in the open evaporator will almost entirely prevent the inversion of sugar. COMMERCIAL POINTS AND AUXILIARY HOUSES. The auxiliary houses have been steadily kept in view during the sea- son's work, and the fact has been remembered that the industry will spread and succeed at a much quicker rate if the capital necessary to 41 couduct the business is kept as low as possibly consistent with good inauageiuent. The cost of building sugar-houses is reduced to a mini- mum, and labor saved. There is no good reason to expect to make money out of the sorghum business unless conducted on sound busi- ness principles. The knowledge of the business is now advanced to such a point that there is nothing to prevent accurate calculations being made. The cost of the machinery, the work it can do, the labor re- quired to run it, the cost of the cane, the yield and quality of the product can now all be closely estimated. Sugar-houses built without definite ideas of the work to be done or machinery added piece by piece, without plans or contracts, and such machinery as clarifiers, as filter presses, and bone-black drones added, with the expectation of only making white granulated sugar directly from the juice, will be certain to bring financial failure and disappoint- ment to its projectors, unless the capital is heavy enough to stand the strain, or the parties are willing to make experimental work of their plants and pay the price for doing it. Notwithstanding the closeness with which all these calculations can now be made, the following should be remembered. I have never known a sugar-house of any kind to be made so complete and be in such fine running order that it could be depended on to make a commercial success the first season. Either its water arrangements will fall short of expectations, or the boilers fail to be large enough, or strikes and delays will detain the machinery, or castings will be broken in shipping, or some minor points will be badly proportioned or too weak, foundations will prove not sufticiently secure, shafts will be found out of line, etc. All this will occur, not from any bad management, but because the nature of the work is such that the tactory can only i^erform its task satisfactorily after being broken in on cane. The cane alone can give the necessary adjustment. Erroneous and disappointing calculations have been made by celebrated sugar engineers, in making calculations for sorghum, by using well-known standard rules for the evaporation of water as a basis for calculation; and repeatedly has machinery proved suitable for southern cane failed when applied to this work. The moral of all this is that in construct- ing new works there should be only enough cane raised the first season to break in and test the sugar-house thoroughly in every i)art, in order that when the machinery is called upon the succeeding season it would fulfill the work it had been calculated to do, without delay or hin- drance. The expense of doing all this should be allowed for in the capital account. In some sorghum-houses, calculated to work 100 tons of cane a day, will be found strike vacuum pans of such large size that the cost of erecting them and the pumps necessary for their use, the large pipe fittings, and other paraphernalia will cost as much alone as would suffice to build an economical sugar-house of good size. 42 Experience has taught us that there is a limit to the size of sugar- houses, and that it costs very little more to man a 40- ton house than a 20 ton, and the proportionate cost of constructing is greatly in favor of the 40-ton plant. For sugar-houses of larger size, I can not yet give accurate data with safety. The following is a plan based on calculations made from actual work already done ; the rules known to govern the situation are carefully ap- plied and full allowance made for such errors. (1) The plan of a sugar-house comi^lete for making sugar, according to the process in use at liio Grande. The sugar will be brown or yel- low, aud test 8G to 90°. It is suitable for some domestic purposes and for refining. The molasses will be of fair color, suitable for mixing and baking purposes. These sugars can be washed in centrifugals and made quite white, of high test, but at the expense of the yield. The proper place for them is in a sugar refinery to be remelted and run through bhxck. (2) An auxiliary house for making sirup and retaining the sugar in the sirup. Inversion would have to be as carefully avoided as possible. These goods or jiroducts would be very fine, and could be sold on their merits for immediate consumption, or find a market on their tests and color at the Central Sugar-House. The large vacuum pans referred to are well calculated to work up goods in this condition, in immense quantities ; the sugar could be re- melted and run through black. Dr. A. T. ISeale, of the New Jersey Experiment Station, spent the season at the sugar-house. He had control of the chemical department, and results of his work will be found in a bulletin to be soon pub- lished by that station. I respectfully submit the above report, with thanks to you personally for your uniform courtesy and support. RECORD OF THE ANALYSES MADE AT RIO GRANDE DURING THE SEASON OF 1888. Bv Dr. Arthur T. Nea.le. In addition to studying the construction, tlie arrraugement, and the manageuient of tlie macbinery, the chemist of this station atteuipted to determine, at least once each day, the percentage of sugar in the sor- ghum, as well as the percentage of sugar in the products from each l)iece of apparatus used in this house. Breaks occur in thisiecord whenever it was necessary for him either to return for a day to New Brunswick or to devote his entire attention to some one point of special interest. The house was not open for work until the 26th of September, and a few of the samples of cane analyzed about the 20th of that month were taken from the crop standing in the fields. Such samples were stripped and topped by hand. All of the other samples were drawn from cane which was cleaned by machinery. They represent in each case, approximately, 1,000 pounds of well-mixed shreds. The varieties of sorghum planted were: Early Amber on field No. 1; Late Orange on that portion of field No. 12 which was worked after the 23d of Octoberj White African on a portion of field No. 2 har- vested on the 27th instant, and Kansas Orange in all other cases. The exhausted chips were sampled as fast as they were removed from the battery j a roughly measured quantity being taken in each case from each one of ten baskets. These portions were subsequently mixed, subsampled, and milled in the usual manner. With a few exceptions, the samples of diffusion juice were, in all cases, drawn from a tank holding 300 gallons. The samples of the evaporator i)roduct were also drawn-from a similar tank. The record in detail is shown on the following page. The averages drawn in this table prove that the cane crop in 1888, relative to that of 1887, was poorer in sugar by 0.75 per cent, and lower ** Bull. No. 51. New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Statioo, pp. 12-15. 43 44 in purity by 5.6 degrees. The farmers' explanations for this are: first, late planting J second, early frosts. In some cases the seed were dropped after June 1st, and in all cases the leaves were killed by the frosts which occurred this year on the 4th of October, or ten days earlier than usual. Late orange sorghum, in particular, seems to have suffered by these conditions, for while the cane was very large and ap- parently well developed, its juice averaged less than 6.5 per cent, of sugar. Its seed crop was practically worthless, for a very small propor- tion of tops had matured. In 1887 this variety was well developed when the first frost killed the cane leaves. Its juice then contained, approxi- mately, 10 per cent, of sugar. A comparison of the analyses credited to the cane and to the diffusion juices leads to the following calculations: One hundred pounds of solid matter, i. e., sugar, etc., existed on the average in 715 pounds of cane juice, or in 920 pounds of diffusion juice ; that is, cane juice was diluted 28.6 per cent, by the diffusion process. If a similar calculation is made from the records for the season of 1887, the dilution will be fixed at 25.4 per cent. The decreased purity of the diffusion juice was, each year, identical; it amounted to 2.1 degrees. The exhausted chips, or diffusion bagasse, which represented 1 ton of field sorghum, contained on the average, in 1887, 40^% pounds of sugar, or 35 per cent, of the total amount present in the cane. In 1888 the losses of sugar in exhausted chips amounted to 22-i^o- pounds, or 21 per cent, of the total amount present in the average cane for that year. In 1887 the difiusion juice was concentrated in an open evaporator with the aid of steam ; it was reduced by this treatment to a fraction more than one-third of its original volume, at an expense of 4.3 degrees of purity, which was probably due to inversion of its sugar by heat. In 1888 the flame from burning fuel oil came in contact with the bottom of the evaporator; the diffusion juice passed in an unbroken stream over this heated surface, and was thereby reduced to less than one-half of its original volume. Its purity was decreased on the average by less than 1 degree. The following will serve as a summary : In 1887, 65 per cent., in 1888, 79 per cent., of the total sugar in the cane was extracted. In this re- spect, therefore, the improvement has been very great. The diffusion process, in 1887, diluted cane juice by 25.4 per cent.; in 1888 this dilu- tion amounted to 28.6 per cent. The purity of the cane juice was influenced each year in the same manner and to the same extent, viz: decreased by 2.1 degrees. The concentration of the diffusion juice was accomplished in 1888 with con- siderable less than the usual losses by inversion. 45 Table of analyses at Rio Grande, season of 1888, 1888. Fresh cbips. DiflFusion juice. Evaporated prodact Exhausted Chips. 2 o 1 1 1 so a % u >2 s t 1 1 1 u 1 s 1 v H •c 1 1 1 1 Sept. 20 Sept. 26 12. 9G 13.38 13.70 18.55 17.81 15.40 i6.*6o" 6.62 6.84 7.35 12. 53 12.30 9.58 "o.'Sg" 51.1 51.1 53.6 67.5 69.0 62.2 '59.' 4" 1 11.50 11.61 5,88 6.02 51.1 51.9 29.20 15.13 51.8 1 Sept 27 2.27 1.18 52.0 ^ Sept.21 Sept 27 •) ? Sept. 28 12. 15 11.95 12.37 11.69 7.23 7.23 7.19 7.01 59.5 60.5 58.1 59.8 29.60 17.78 60.1 2.56 1.50 60.1 ? do Oct. 2 'r^ 23.45 13.75 58.6 V do ^ Sept. 22 14. 75 14.10 14.00 13.43 14. 0.{ 15.37 15.57 14.46 14.46 14.' 79' 8.92 8.38 8.62 7.90 7.89 8.72 9.06 8.66 8.37 "9' 19' CO. 5 59.1 61.6 58.8 56.1 56.7 58 8 59. 8 57.8 62.1 R Oct.2 10.60 10.00 10.90 11.21 5.98 5.70 5.99 6.48 56.4 57.0 55.0 57.8 25.88 20.04 20.00 28.28 24.85 15.01 11.20 11.06 15.60 13.58 58.0 55.8 55.3 55.1 54.7 2.09 2.21 2.70 3.40 1.21 1.38 1.56 1.66 57.9 3 Oct. 3 62 1 3 4 ...do Oct.4 ....do ...do Oct. 8 57.7 48.8 r> 12.30 11.25 10.60 "9.' 92' 7.45 6.58 6.10 '5."96" 60.5 58.6 58.6 'eo.'i" 3.56 2.60 2.07 1.29 58.1 0 26.80 22.40 22.66 20.44 22.87 22.66 20.51 22.43 22.26 22.78 25.06 15.24 13.09 13.13 11.52 12.35 12.36 11.13 12.33 12.30 13.93 13.65 57.0 58.4 57.9 56.4 54.9 54.6 54.3 55.0 55.2 56.8 54.5 49.6 () ....do ...do ...do Oct. 10 ....do fi 7 8 3.60 1.96 54.4 8 8 q ....do Oct. 11 14.70 12.64 12.80 13.40 14.00 13.50 12.85 13.06 12.43 12.69 11. 42 12.67 12.76 12. 36 8.10 7.48 7.91 8.50 8.37 8. 25 7.48 7.91 7.69 7.23 5.78 6.94 6.63 6.54 55.1 59.1 61.8 63.4 59.8 61.1 58.4 60.6 61.9 57.0 50.6 54.8 52.0 52.9 11.82 9.58 6.61 5.61 55.9 58.5 3.82 1.96 51.6 9 Oct. 12 2.80 2.20 2.11 2.00 2.56 1.97 1.54 2.16 2.56 3.49 2.77 1.96 1.76 1.22 1.24 1.14 1.39 1.05 0.92 1.20 1.20 1..58 0.91 0.82 61.0 10 11 ...do Oct. 18 9.80 8.90 10. 30 9.88 8.80 11.90 10.21 10. 27 12. 32 11.96 11.83 8.88 10. 61 5.96 5.23 6.15 5.51 5.03 5 95 5.65 5.06 6.70 6.21 6.02 4.68 60.8 58.7 59.7 55.7 57.2 57.7 55.3 49.2 54.4 51. 9 5.5.0 58 7 11 .. do 57.0 12 1^ Oct.10 Oct. 17 22.69 24.18 12.60 12.76 55.5 52.8 54.3 53 3 1? Oct. 22 60 0 1? Oct. 23 55 6 1« Oct. 24 46 5 1? Oct.25 Oct. 26 45 2 1? 32 8 1? Oct. 27 50.9 52.7 52.7 i7.'77' 24.80 "9.' 58" 12.49 53" 8" 50 3 41 8 1? Oct. 29 1? Oct. 30 Averages, 1883 *Averages, 1887 . 13.99 14.02 8.23 8.98 58.5 64.1 10.87 11.18 6.10 6.93 56.4 62.0 23. 55 32. 40 13.06 18. G8 55.5 57.7 2.58 4.03 1.37 2.46 53.3 61.0 ■ See Bulletin 18, j). 20, TJnited States Department of Agriculture. REPORT OF PROF. W. C. STUBBS, KENNER, LA. LOUISIANA SUGAR EXPERIMENT STATION. On April 6, 1888, two plats, Nos. 9 and 10, at the sugar experiment station were planted in sorgbiim. PREVIOUS CULTURE. No. 9 had been continuously in sorghum since 188G, and No. 10 in corn. PREPARATION OF LAND. The land was broken in the spring with four horse plows, thrown into beds 5 feet apart, and seed sown and lightly hairowed in. Only a partial stand was secured, germination being prevented by a prevail- ing drought. It was thinned, wherever thick enough, to three stalks to the running foot. The cultivation consisted of ofi'-bearing with two-horse plow, a hoeing, and returning the dirt with two-horse plow, and break- ing out the middles with a large one and three quarter Avery Advance double mold-board plow. The excessive rains began in May and lasted till the middle of July, and prevented further cultivation. The varieties planted on these plats were : 1. Honduras seed, grown at the station. 12. Texas Honey Drip, seed bought of 2. Honduras seed, grown on the Teche. Gumbrell, Reynolds & Allen, Kansas 3. Link's Hybrid seed, grown in Kansas. City, Mo. 4. White Mammoth seed, grown at the 13. Planted with seed from Department station. of Agriculture, but none came up. 5. White India seed, grown in Kansas. 14. White Minnesota Amber seed, grown 6. Enyama, grown by J. P. Baldwin, of in Nebraska. the Teche. 15. Early Amber seed, grown in Kansas. 7. Early Orange, grown in Kansas. 16. Early Amber seed, furnished by De- 8. Kansas Orange, grown in Kansas. partment of Agriculture. 9. New Orange, grown in Kansas. 17. Kansas Orange seed from Kansas. 10. Golden Rod, grown in Kansas. 18. Link's Hybrid seed, grown at the 11. Honey Drip, grown in Kansas. station. 19. Early Orange seed, grown at the sta- tion. Several of the above varieties were sent to the State Experiment Station, Baton Eouge, La., and to North Louisiana Experiment Station, Calhoun, La., and experimental plats planted at each station. 40 47 The varieties planted at Batou Eougo were Early Amber, Early- Orange, Link's Ifybrid, and Ilouduras. They were planted iu rows 4 feet wide, and seed lightly covered. The cultivation was the same as that given to corn, after thinning it to a stand of one stalk to every 4 inches. The storm of the 19th of August completely prostrated the canes, and on September 12 the entire field was green with a luxurant growth of suckers. The varieties grown at the North Louisiana Experiment Station, Calhoun, La., were: 1. Minnesota Early Amber seed, from Ne- 4. New Orange seed, from Kansas. braska. 5. White India seed, from sugar experi- 2. Early Amber seed, from Department of ment station. Agriculture. 6. Link's Hybrid seed, from sugar experi- 3. Early Orange seed, from Department ment station. of Agriculture. 7. Golden Rod seed, from Kansas. These were i^lanted on April 18, thinned to a stand, and cultivated in its order with the corn crop. Here flat cultivation was exclusively practiced during the season, while at the other two stations high ridges were required for drainage. These plantings were made with a view of testing, bj^ mill and labor- atory experiments, the adaptability of sorghum as a sugar crop to Louisiana. If sugar can be made profitably from sorghum anywhere in the United States it should be done in Louisiana. Chemical anal- yses show a larger percentage of sugar and a smaller quantity of glu- cose iu sorghum grown in Louisiana than anywhere else in this country. At least the published analyses now at hand verify this assertion. Again, could our sugar i)lanters be persuaded that sorghum could bo made to yield a profitable quantity of sugar, say even 1,000 i^ounds per acre, they would soon adopt it as an adjunct to the cane crop. Once establish the fact that sugar can be profitably made from sorghum, and it will become exceedingly popular with all cane-growers, for the fol- lowing reasons: (1) By planting diflferent varieties and at difterent times it can be made to ripen in Louisiana at any time from July to November — thus giving employment six months to an expensive machinery, which is now engaged only sixty days in grinding the cane crop. (2) The cost of seed required to plant a crop of sorghum is very small, quite insignificant compared with the large amount required for cane. (3) The ease and cheapness with which this crop can be grown. (4) The value of the seed for forage — a by-product without cost, save the expense of carefully housing. Again, there are vast tracts of rich alluvial lands in the middle and northern portions of the State which are too far north for cane and which will grow excellent croqs of sorghum. These lands are now in cotton, but could it be aemonstrated that they could grow sorghum 48 profitably, central factories would spring up in every direction and this crop would supplant cotton in part, if not entirely. With these possibilities in view the Director has persistently planted sorghum for three years upon the Sugar Experiment Station and at- tempted every year to make successfully sugar from it by the milling process. Chemical analyses have shown that our juices were rich in sucrose and low in glucose, but our sugar-house experiments have failed to extract it successfully. We have made the masse cuite full of grains, but our centrifugals failed to purge. All this was due to the starch present in the juice (extracted by pressure with the mill), which, during the subsequent process of concentration, was converted into dextrine, and this substance, our hetenoir, prevented the elimination of the sugar. Our past experiments have demonstrated the inapplicability of the crushing mill to sorghum. They have also shown that high tempera- ture must be avoided. Therefore new methods of extracting the juice and processes of cooking in vacuo must be resorted to before we can successfully extract sugar from sorghum. Fort Scott, Kans., and Eio Grande, N. J., have both demonstrated that diffusion was applicable to the extraction of juice and goodly quan- tities of sugar had thus been obtained. After planting the above crops the State bureau of agriculture, which has immediate control of the stations, received a petition in the form of a series of resolutions from the Ascension Branch of the Sugar Planters' Association, asking that it make an appropriation for the purpose of erecting a diffusion bat- tery for sorghum and to continue the experiments so auspiciously begun at Fort Scott and Eio Grande. The planters were anxious to know if the flattering results obtained in Kansas could not be realized here. The bureau having received at one time the deferred half of the annual Hatch appropriation, decided to grant the request so far as the limited means at their disposal would permit. Accordingly it passed a series of resolutions appropriating money for the enterprise and authorizing the Director to proceed at once to obtain the necessary machinery. As soon as these resolutions were passed increased areas werei)lanted in sorghum at each station, using seed received from Kansas at Ken- ner, and Early Amber and Orange at the other two. Acting under these resolutions, bids were invited for building first a " diffusion battery of 14 cells, capacity of battery 1 J to 2 tons per hour; second, a double effect of 400 square feet of heating surface. Messrs. Edwards & Haubtman, of New Orleans, making the besti>rop- osition for the erection of above machinery, were accorded the contract. Mr. J. P. Baldwin, of St. Mary's Parish, who had formerly been an attache of the station, and who has great mechanical ingenuity, was em- ployed in May to superintend the erection of the machinery, and after full and free conference with him and Mr. E. W^. Deming, late engin'feer in charge of the Fort Scott sugar works and now supervising engineer of theConwa^^ Sorings sugar works, Kansas, the following machinery was 49 ordered : Cutter and comminiutor or pulper, with shafting and pulleys, from George J. Fritz, Saint Louis, Mo. ; conveyors, elevators, and gear- ing from Link Belt Company, Chicago, and Mr. E. W. Deming kindly superintended the construction of a fan, a duplicate of the one made for Conway Springs sugar works, which he shipped us from Kansas. Considerable work had to be done to conform the old sugar-house to its new machinery. Indeed the task of planning and transforming the old conditions to the new was one requiring patience, energy, and ex- cellent mechanical ingenuity. That it has been well done is the uni- versal testimony of all visitors. After the above work had been contracted for, the gratifying intelli- gence was received from the Hon. Norman J. Colman, Commissioner of Agriculture, Washington, D. C, that he would allow this station $5,000 of the $100,000 recently appropriated by Congress for experi- ments in making sugar from sorghum. This supplement to the appro- priation from the Bureau of Agriculture has enabled the station to en- large its equipment and extend its field of investigation. From our past experience with sorghum it was inferred that our crop planted on the 16th of April would not be ready for the sugar-house before 1st of September. Accordingly we contracted with Messrs. Ed- wards & Haubtman to deliver the machinery by the 15th of August, thus giving us fifteen days (ample time) for its erection and prepara- tion for work. Messrs. Edwards & Haubtman failed to deliver until the 23d instant, which failure, in connection with the unprecedented storm of the 19th Instant, which prostrated completely our sorghum, proved most disastrous to our successful manufacture of sugar. In 1886, sorghum planted April 5, was harvested September 13. In 1887, sorghum planted April 21, was worked up September 23. Both years they were worked at full maturity, excepting the Early Amber and Chinese, which were ripe in July of each year. It was fair therefore to calculate that, without any natural interven- tion, the sorghum this year would not be ready for the sugar-house be- fore the middle of September; and had not the storm prevailed the date of delivery of Messrs. Edwards & Haubtman would have still af- forded us ample time to have completed erection before the maturity of ihe crop. Either alone would not have proven disastrous; both to- gether were fatal. [See chemical analysis further on for verification.] Of the varieties mentioned above, the Ambers were ripe in July, and accordingly were worked up by the mill, cooked to masse cuite and left in hot room for comparison with masse cuite from diffusion juice. LABORATORY WORK. During the summer the laboratory has been engaged in the study of the chemistry of sorghum. To this end weekly analyses of all varieties have been made and daily study prosecuted as to the physiological changes occurring in the growth and maturity of sorghum. The follow- U006— Bull 20 i 50 ing are the notes made by my assistaDt, Mr. W. L. HutcMnson, up to September 1, at wbicli time be resigned to accept tbe professorship of chemistry in tbe Agricultural and Mechanical College of Mississippi. His leaving put an end to his interesting investigations. June 21. — Iodine shows no starch in Minnesota White Amber, just headed. Single polarization gives no sucrose. The following were found: GUicose, 3.65 per cent. ; solids, 6.66 per cent. ; albumin- oids, .17 per cent. TLe precipitate produced by subacetate of lead, after being freed from tbe lead, gave no trace of oxalic acid, but a quantity of tartaric acid. So great was tbe latter tbat every attempt at its entire removal failed, so that no positive conclusions as to the otber acids present were drawn. On July 16 fully matured samples of Early Amber were obtained, the juice extracted and subjected to analysis. Tbe sucrose was determined by single and double polari- zation and by Febling's solution. Tbe following are tbe results: Sucrose: Total solids, 16.58; single polarization, 12.31; double, 12.28; Fehling's, 12.22. This juice was concentrated to sirup, and the latter gave, by single polariza- tion, sucrose, 52.41 ; double polarization, 53.58. STAECH IN SORGHUM. With green canes just beading no indications of starch are given by iodine. If there were any blue it was completely obscured by the in- tensely brown coloration. This brown coloration indicated dextrine and other forms of soluble starch. With well-matured canes iodine gives an intensely blue color to- wards the top, decreasing in intensity towards the iDutt. Canes occu- pying an intermediate condition between these extremes, or in that stage of growth when maturity begins to appear, as indicated by the presence of sucrose in the lower part of the stalkj starch will be fouod in the butt but not in the top. The above conclusions of Mr. Hutchinson have been fully coufirmed by subsequent experiments ; and it is not unusual in our laboratory now to prognosticate the amount of sucrose in a cane by the presence of starch, so intimately are they associated. Both sucrose and starch seem to be formed simultaneously — the former from glucose and i)er- haps other bodies, and the latter from dextrine and other soluble forms. Glucose occurs in largest quantities when the polariscope gives no indication of sucrose by single polarization. In a sample of green cane, in which there was no starch and by single polarization no sucrose, but by double polarization 1.53 per cent., as high as 7 per cent, of glucose was found. As the cane from which the above sample was selected, matured, repeated analyses made at short intervals showed that the glucose decreased, until at maturity it reached as low as 0.8 per cent. SINGLE yS. DOUBLE POLARIZATION. In juices from matured canes there is a very close agreement between the sucrose obtained by single and double polarization. Not so with 51 the immature caues, aud tbe greater the immaturity the greater the disagreement. In all of tbe laboratory work on samples taken from the field sucrose was therefore determined by single and double x>olariza- tion. ANALYSES OF VARIETIES OF SORGHUM. These were begun July 11 and continued weekly until worked up. The following table gives the results: Anahjsis of the varktks of sorylunn at different stages of growth, Sugar Experiment Station, Kennvr, La, I);i(oof aualj sid. July 1 1 Aug. Aug, G 13 Aug. '20 Aug. 27 Sept. 4 Sept. July 8 1) July 19 Aug. 6 Aug. 13 Aug. 20 Aug. 27 Sept. 4 Sept. 12 Julv 11 Aug. 6 Aug. 13 Aug. 20 Aug. 27 Sept. 4 Sept. July 12 11 July 19 July 26 July 30 July 11 Julv 20 July 30 July 11 July 20 July 30 July 11 July 20 Aug. 6 Aug. 13 Aug. 20 Aug. 27 Sept. 4 Sept. 12 July 11 July 20 Aug. 7 Aug. 13 Aug. 20 Aug. 27 Sept. 4 Sept. July 12 11 July 20 Aug. 7 Aug. 13 Aug. 20 Aug. 27 Variety. Early Orange . . do do do .....do .....do .... do Link's Hybrid . do do do do do do do Kansas Orange '. do do do do do do Early Amber, Kebraska . . do do do Early Amber, Kansas do .... do Early Amber, Department of Agriculture , do do Texas Unney Drip do do do do do do do Honey Drip. do do do do do do do Golden Rod. do d.) do do do 9.8 16. G IG 1C.5 10.3 1.>.7 14.5 11.5 12.68 10.20 J 3. 20 16.10 16.20 15.30 11.40 11.80 16.90 15.60 16.80 15.20 13.70 11.60 13.30 15.70 14.80 17. 20 13.60 15.70 16.73 13.2 17.5 16.3 8.9 10.57 12.10 11.8 14.3 13.2 12.8 10.4 11.1 11.01 10.1 11.8 11.8 14.9 8.0 9.5 8.5 13.6' 1.1.3 11.7 10.2 Sucrose. 2.2 1..^4 12.3 12.1 12.2 11.7 10.2 5.2 8.3 12.2 10 12 12 12 7.9 4.1 12.0 11.6 11.7 n.i 9.7 8.1 1 o 3.3 5.8 7.9 9.5 9.3 9.5 7.7 6.2 5.0 5.8 7.9 6.G 11. 0 5.5 4;d 2.0 0.5 8.0 7.0 0.3 5.5 3.22 12.40 12.00 12.21 12.52 12.85 6.22 12. 10 10. OG 12.07 12. k8 12. 00 5.12 12. 00 11.03 11.67 11.33 9.67 8.3 8. !'5 12.1 11.0 12.3 8.4 9.20 12.0 12.1 7.0 7.78 •13.5 11.6 1.53 5.41 8.25 9.79 9.25 9.53 '8. PO' 5.41 8. 25 0.93 11.08 5. 4.-) 4.18 8.71 7.30 6. .50 6.05 2.95 1.00 . 7u .CO .73 1. 23 1. Oj 3. 20 1.04 1.28 1.27 .74 .80 .95 .99 3.40 1.13 1.45 2.78 1..33 1.98 1.43 2.85 1.20 1.18 1.74 2.75 1. U 1.70 3.71 1.00 1. 59 6.34 4.85 2.99 2.20 2.51 2.78 2.78 2.17 1.70 4.25 2.99 2.20 1.97 .80. 1.47 2. 22 3.40 2.00 1.03 2.45 1.21 .81 52 Analyses of the varieties of sorghum at the different stages of growth, etc. — Continued. Date of analysis. Sept. 4 Sept. ]2 July 11 July 20 Aujr. AU! Aujr. 20 Sept. 4 Sept. 12 July 11 July 20 Aus. 7 Aug. 13 Auii-. 20 Aug. 27 Sept Sept July 11 July 20 Aug. 7 Aug. 13 12 Variety. Aug. 20 Aug. 27 Sept. 4 Sept. 12 July 11 July 20 Aug. 7 Aug. 13 Aug. 20 Aug. 27 Sept. 4 Sept. 12 July 11 July 20 Aug. 7 Aug. 13 Aug. 20 Aug. 27 Sept. 4 ! Sept. 20 ' July 11 I July 20 ! Aug. 7 ] Aug. 13 I Aug. 20 I Aug. 27 i Sept. 4 I Sept. 20 July 11 July 20 Aug. 7 Aug. 13 Aug. 20 Aug. 27 Sept. 4 Sept. 20 July 11 July 20 Aug. 7 Aug. 13 Aug. 20 Aug. 27 S«^pt. 4 July 11 July 20 Aug, 7 Aug. 13 Aug. 20 Aug. 27 Sept. 4 Sept. 12 Golden Hod do , New Orange do do do do do do do Kansas Orange ... do .... do ; do .... do , do .." .... do do Early Orange .'do do do do do do do Enyama do do do .... do do , do do White India , do do .... do do do , do do White Mammotli do do do do do d(^ do Link's Hybrid. do .: do do do do do do Honduras. do do do do do do do do do do do ........ do do do i Q « 'O X CO '■*-! o O 'A H 10 10.2 10 9.5 9 13.3 9 16.3 9 13.80 9 12. 50 9 12.20 9 12. W 9 10.20 9 9.10 8 10.60 8 13.11 8 13.90 8 14.8 8 12.7 8 13.1 8 10.1 8 ii.7 11.71 11.0 14.3 12. 3 10.9 8.1 9 6 () 9.71 14. 80 Sucrose. 13.20 14.70 14. CO i.o 10.9 14.83 14. GO 13.50 10.30 13. (i 13 14.1 6.5 7.91 14.20 10.5 10.2 12.2 8.1 10.5 9.8 9.1 14.9 14.5 13.7 13.7 12.2 10.6 7.0 7.81 9.70 7.10 7.70 7.6 6.8 8.81 10.80 9.20 9.20 10.50 8.0 10 5.6 4.9 6.9 11.0 10.3 8.8 6.2 7.1 4.8 8.2 8 10.6 8.1 7.9 6.0 5.3 6.0 7.2 7.8 11.0 9.0 9.5 7.1 4 9 2.3 4.8 10,0 9.0 10.6 10.5 5.2 6.5 5.4 11.0 10.2 9.5 6.6 9.20 9.90 10.00 .4 2.6 9.6 CO 6.1 7.7 5.7 0.9 4.8 4.0 9.0 10.1 9.2 10.5 9.1 6.7 2.0 3.4 3.6 3.4 2.5 7.1 5.0 1.0 4.4 6.2 5.8 4.0 6.6 5.4 6.0 5.62 's.'si' 8.92 7.33 8.16 6.20 5.07 10.74 8.35 8.00 6.74 '7.'5i' 7.l6' 11.18 9.31 9.49 7.21 3.95 10.80 9.18 10.88 10.50 5.05 o.'g' ' 11.0 9.9 7.01 9. 18 9.80 9.71 6.40 6.54 7.84 5.06 ,78 9.53 10.21 9.55 10.50 9.10 2.90 4.80 3.52 3.05 7.12 4.99 1.81 7.79 5.83 3.87 6.82 5.46 1.47 2.35 4.25 2.83 1.68 1.71 2.94 2.82 2.68 2.54 2.68 2.21 1.83 1.36 1.37 1.71 2.15 1.60 2.43 2.21 1.77 1.90 1.71 1.72 1.92 1.95 2.12 2.31 1.14 1.43 1.08 .82 1.47 .54 1.82 1.70 1.14 1.59 2.30 .72 1.27 1.25 3.29 3.00 1.43 2.30 1.87 .87 2.00 2.14 1.59 2.55 2.34 .74 1.14 .78 1.00 1.48 1.9 3.00 2.14 2.76 2.53 1.94 2.11 3.40 3.09 1.83 1.50 3 14 1.79 1.74 2.27 53 Analyses of varieties ofsoi'ghum grown at Baton Rouge, La. Date of analysis. Aug. 6 AUR. 9 Aug. 14 Aug. 28 Supt. 11 Autr. 6 Aug. 14 Aug. 28 Sept. 11 Aug. 0 Aug. 9 Aug. 14 Aug. 6 Aug. 9 Aug. 14 Variety. Early Amber.. do do do do Early Orange., do , do ;.. do Link's Hybrid. do do Honduras do do Total solids. 15.9 18.1 17.0 14.7 15.9 17.0 11.9 10.1 16.4 15.8 11.6 Sncro.se, single polariza- tion. 12.00 9.50 13,40 12. 10 7.30 11.20 10.00 12,40 7.8 9.4 11.5 10.5 6.3 8.4 4.1 Glucose. 1.12 1.09 1.82 2.38 2.07 4.52 1.87 3.00 4.70 5.47 Analyses of varieties grown at NortJi Louisiana Exjyeriment Station, Calhoun, La. Date of analysis. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Variety. Early Amber.. Early Orange.. New Orange... Link's Hybrid White India... Golden Rod... Sucrose, single polariza- tion. 11.4 11.8 10.5 12.3 10.6 Glucose. 1.27 2.56 2.20 1.56 .87 L36 An inspection of above tables will show that Early Amber reached its maximum in July, say one hundred days after planting. Golden Kod and Honduras never reached maturity, the storm of the 18th pros- trating them before the maximum of sugar was reached. The other varieties attained their maximum during August. Could these experiments have been worked during August, it is be- lieved that most excellent results would have been attained. Up to September 4, just as suckers began to appear at.each joint on the pros- trate cane, the latter had lost but little in sucrose since the storm of the 19th. After the suckers began to grow the loss was rapid and heavy, as is shown by the mill juices of September 8 to 20. The canes at Calhoun were not injured, the storm not extending as far north as this station. They have therefore preserved their sugar up to October 1 and suffered little or no loss. EXPERIMENTS IN DIFFUSION. All the machinery being in position and ready for use, a trial run was made on September 8, using the Early Orange variety. The cutters did their work well ; so did the diffusion cells, except now and then a leak which was easily closed. The larger heater, which heated the juice be- fore entering the cells, was out of order and could not be used either in this or the next trial. The fan which had been furnished as adapted to the cleaning of sorghum chips failed utterly to do its work. The shaker 54 which was geared to the fan ran too rapidly, and had to be run by an independent pulley at a slower motion. The depth of the shaker was far too narrow, so much so that the chips of cane thrown violently for- ward by the force of the cut were often propelled beyond the shaker and fell into the trash. In this way a large amount of the cane in this experiment was lost. The shaker was lengthened and many other im- provements made until good work was accomplished. On account of these defects only 1,152 pounds of sorghum, with tops and blades, were used and only two cells of the battery were filled. The following are the laboratory analyses : • Total solids. Sucrose. Glucose, Eatio of sucrose to glucose. Milljuice 14.6 10.2 1.1 .7 1.05 .1021 .0638 10.25 9.11 9.11 Diffusion juice: First cell No sugar or sirup made. Pending the making of the necessary improvements to the fan and shaker the cubical contents of the cells were carefully calculated in the following manner : The cells were filled with water and then the water carefully emptied into a sugar wagon and weighed, allowing 62J pounds of water to a cubic foot. Each cell contained 13.52 cubic feet. A cell liacked with sorghum chips and one put in without packing were also emptied and weighed. Their weights were, respectively, 353 pounds and 276 pounds, making 26 pounds and 20 pounds per cubic foot. Without entering into the full details of daily work, the following, taken from our large amount of records, will suffice to illustrate fully the work performed. Considering the very low character of the sorghum worked, the results obtained are quite promising. Monday, September 10, 1888. — Another trial of the machiuery was made to-day to de- cide whether the improvements so hastily made were effective. Honduras sorghnm was used; weight, with tops and blades, 2,158 pounds. Everything worked fairly well. It was found that both the cutter and commiuutor were projecting the chips in every direction, thus causing great w^aste. A stop was made and these boxed in. Four cells were, however, filled, and the juices from these concentrated in the double eifect and left in the latter all night. The next morning, to our surprise, we found that one of the tubes of the double effect had leaked during the night and had diluted the sirup almost to the original juice. Accordingly it was withdrawn and thrown away, and the leaking tube plugged up. The laboratory results are given : Sucrose. Glucose, Ratio su- crose to glucose. Milk juice . .. 4.3 1.3 1.3 2.3 1.4 2.51 .43 .38 .76 .55 58.3 Diffusion juice— . JTirst cell . . . . Third cell Fourth cell- 55 Wednesday, Stpiemher 12. — Having repaired the defects, work was begun at 9.30 o'clock and continued until nineteen cells had been filled. Everything worked admi- rably except the heaters, which were not under control, and hence varying tempera- tures used in dift'usiug. Weather very warm and much suffering experienced by everybody at work, particularly by the men at the diffusers and clarifier. The following canes, with quantities, were used : Link's Hybrid, with tops and blades Kausas Orange, with tops aud blades Texas Honey Drip, with tops aud blades Honduras Honey Drip Golden Rod New Orange Kansas Orange Early Orange Total Less tops, 1,403 pounds? oo Ar ^ ♦ Less trash, lilTO pounds \ ='^- ^^ ^^' *^«"* Clean cane diffused Pounds. 1,292 900 1,214 470 828 1, 090 1, 072 829 1,370 9,071 2.582 6,489 The chips packed in very tightly failed to discharge easily. Drew the first juice off at cell No. 7, and continued to draw until twenty-five discharges had been made, viz, Nos. 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. The juice from No. 7 passed over seven fresh chips. The juice from No. 8 passed seven 2d chips and one fresh chips. The juice from No. 9 passed over seven 3d chips, one 2d chips, and one fresh chips. The juice from No. 10 passed over seven 4th chips, one 3d chips, one 2d chips, and one fresh chips, etc., until the 14th cell was reached. While No. 14 was being filled No. 1 was emptied. Then began regular diffusion. The 20th cell was partially filled but not used, and No. 21 was at the same time emptied. Hence the absence of Nos. 6 and 7 in the discharges above. The following analyses were made : 1. Mill juices of each variety used. 2. Diilusion juices from each ct^H- 3. Chips as they were emptied from each cell. 4. Clarified juice from each clarifier. 5. Sirup. 6. Kesiduum scums. 7. Sugar, 8. Mola-sses. The following are the results : Mill juices. Variety. Total solids. Sucrose. Glucose. Link's Hybrid 11.4 11.6 10.4 10.0 9.5 9.1 8.1- 6.5 .99 1.43 2.17 2.27 2.38 2.54 1.60 1.95 .54 Kansas ()i}iu"e Honduras ...... Golden Rod Kansas Orange Early Oran"^o 8.1 Envama...? 56 Diffusion chips. 1 2 3 4 5 6 with twelve washings 7 with eleven washings 8 with t( n washings . . . 9 with nine washings. . 1.4 .6 .5 .6 .2 .55 .75 .85 1.10 10 with eight washings 11 wiih seven washings 12 with six washing.*! . 13 with live washings.. 14 with four washings . 15 with three washings 16 with two washings. 17 with one washing. ^. ... .8 ... .7 .5 .6 1.2 .7 1.5 (*) * Sample lost. Diffusion juices. Total solids. Sucrose. Glucose. Glucose ratio. First discharge 6.4 5.5 4.1 4.1 5.9 5.1 5.6 4.7 4.2 3.8 3.0 3.1 3.8 3.7 3.9 3.3 1.11 1.12 .53 1.19 1.56 1.40 1.39 1.56 26.45 26.45 17.67 38.39 41.05 37.84 35.64 47.27 Third discharge ? Fourth discharge S Fifth discharge \ Sixth discharge 3 Ninth discharge Tenth and subsequent discharges Clarified juices. 1 4.5 4.9 2.8 2.2 3 4 3.3 2.2 1.7 1.06 1.26 31.18 38.18 2 3 4 . .. .65 38.23 Simp : Total solids Sucrose 32.20 17.50 7.35 42.00 Scums : Total solids 4.10 1.90 .83 43.68 Sucrose Glucose Sugar : Sucrose Glucose 91.2 2.85 Molasses : 30.4 Glucose 14.28 It was utterly impossible, from the varying araonntsof sucrose in the canes used, to get anything like uniform results either on the juices or chips. There were drawn four clarifiers, of about 500 gallons each. The last two were very dilute, owing to the excess of water used in washing the chips after cells were filled. This juice was heated with lime and brought to neutralitj' ; heated, and blanket, which was quite insignificant, removed. It was then settled and clear juice run into the double effect and concentrated. There was a large quantity of settlings and some scums, which were weighed and analyzed and thrown away to avoid interfering with the well-clarified sirup. The following are weights obtained : Sirup Settlings and scams Pounds. 1,562 1.070 Sugar ... Molasses . Pounds. 49 752 57 The following are the notes of diffusion : Every effort was made to liold the teniperaturo at 200° Fahrenheit, hut until the battery had been used in one entire round this is ahnost impossible to do, since sending in quickly water heated to 200^ Fahrenheit into cold iron cells filled with cold chips the loss of heat by radiation and convection is very great. Six min- utes were allowed for the diffusion of each cell after the hot water was turned on. Every effort to grain in the vacuum pan proved abortive, as the following notes of Mr. Baldwin, who had charge of the pan and was assisted by Mr. Barthelemy, will show : ''Part of juice concentrated in double effect on first watch, remainder on sec- ond watch, when the juice got very hot, 180°, and was emptied in cars to cool; finished concentrating on morning of l^th at a temperature of 155° to 160° Fahr- enheit. Juice dark colored and some feculent matter present. After mixing sir- ups started vacuum strike pan at 2 p. m. on 13th ; temperature, 138° to 140° Fahrenheit ; very thick ; nothing but candy would form in the pan. Allowed to stand half an hour until candy dissolved, but no grain. Stood again one hour ; at 7 i>. m. still no grain. Cooked very thick and remained in pan until 2 p. m. next day, when it was all boiled to string sugar and put in the hot room. Injured some by being cooked to candy. " lu the hot room it began at once to grain, until the wagon was quite solid with small grains of sugar. It was centrifugaled and gave the following results: Sagdr Molasses. Poands. 49 752 KECAPITULATION. Sucrose. Sucrose. Cane contained Pounds 349. 75 273. 22 20.33 Chips contained Pounds. 56 20 34.58 228.61 Syrup contained Snirar contained ...... ...... Pounds. Sugar obtained per ton sorglium 1.'^. 5 Molasses obtained per ton sorgbum 2117.1 After the analyses of the mill juices were known, little or no hope was entertained of successful sugar results. Indeed, it is wonderful with such juices and after such treatment that any sugar should be obtained. September 17. — It has often been published that neither sorghum nor its juices will stand transportation or delay in working them up, after being cut. That such is not the case with us is abundantly proved by the following and many other experiments during this season : Ou September 16 Mr. Barrow, assistant at the State experiment station, was sent to Baton Rouge to harvest and ship a car-load of sorghum from that station to this. By 9 a. m. ou the morning of the 16th he had cut and loaded a closed car with Early Orange sorghum. This sorghum was quite wet from dew and had its leaves and tops still on -conditions making fermentation quite feasible to almost any crop. It was delivered at Kenner by Mississippi Valley Railroad at 7 p. m. of same day. It was unloaded and delivered at sugar-house at 12 m. of the 17th, and worked up as delivered. The cane had been badly blown down by the storm of the IDtli, and was filled with suckers several feet long, now in full heads. It was quite low in sugar, as the following analysis of selected stalks, made on September 11> showed : Total solids 11.9 Sucrose 7.8 Glucose 4.52 58 Be<^aii diffusion at 9 a. m. Filled twcnty-lLreo cells with cLips and drew off thirty- one cells of juice. Fiuished iu early evening, after two slight detentions. Cells dif- fused sixteen minntes each, except three times, when interrupted. The temperature varied from 150^ to 200^ F. The juice was boiled to a sirup in double effect and made into string sugar in the vacuum pan. Boiled all night, finishing the next day. The string sugar was run into the hot-room, where it was grained into almost a solid mass. The following are the amounts used : "Weiglit of canes 13,266 Less weight of tops 2,445 Less weight of leaves 1, 785 Less weight of trash iu yard 1, 558 Less weight of chips not used 82 5,867 Clean cane used. , 7,399 The juices from this were concentrated into a sirup, giving 1,491 pounds; scums thrown away, 313 jiounds; juice made into molasses, 259 pounds. The following are the laboratory results: Pounds. Sugar ohtained 115 Molasses obtained 672 Sugar per ton of sorghum 31.4 Molasses per ton of sorghum 181.8 RECAPITULATION. Cane contained (calculated) pounds sucrose . Sirup made into sugar contained do Sirup made into molasses contained do Scums contained do Chips contained '. do Fiber in cane per cen t . 435 328 57 7 32 15.5 Early orange sorghum. Total solids. Sucrose. Glucose. Glucose to sucrose. Mill juices.... < 11.4 n.3 U.7 7.0 7.0 6.9 3.2 3. 95 3.00 3.90 3 90 4.10 3.50 3.70 4.10 3.50 3.60 4.20 3.90 3.30 .3 .3 .25 .35 .25 .15 .15 3.6 3.9 3.1 1.8 1.3 1.1 22 4.2 92.1 34 3.33 3.58 3.30 1.79 2.00 1.92 2.17 2.32 2.00 1.72 L46 1.73 1.50 1.66 L62 1.70 L60 .14 .18 .16 .149 .14 .13 .10 1.85 1.60 L57 .99 .56 .54 11.1 2.22 2.94 22.72 Per cp-nt. 48 51 48 .56 .51 .64 .55 .59 .58 .49 .39 .42 .48 .46 .38 .44 .48 .47 .60 .64 .43 .90 .40 51 41 51 55 43 49 50 53 ( ■ I Diffusion juices < I r 1 Difiusion chips ^ r Clarified juices • Sirup .' Sugar 59 Here, as before, the dilution was great, owing to the water used in washing i\\c chips after cells were filled. This cane had nearly a constant composition, and from glucose ratio there has been little or no inversion either in cells or in concentration of sirup. In fact, when water at 200° F. is sent into cells and maintained there for six minutes at this temperature little or no inversion took place, notwithstanding the weather gauge showed this day a maximum temperature of 83° F. September 20. — The following canes were selected for this run : Link's hybrid, White India, White mammoth, and the second planting of Early Amber. The suck- ers, of which there were many, were removed by hand. Filled nine cells. Everything worked well. Pounds. "Weight of cane used 5,078 Less weight of tops 812 Loss weigli t of trash 653 Less weight of suckers 208 Leas weight of chips not used 74 1, 747 Clean cane used 3,331 Juice neutralized with lime, blanket removed, settled, concentrated in double-effect and grained in vacuum pan; then emptied into car and run into hot-room, where it solidified into crystals of sugar of small size. Pounds. "Weight of sirup 695 "Weight of scums, etc 150 "Weight of sugar 40 The following are laboratory results : Pounds. "Weight of molasses 235 Sugar, per ton 24 Molasses, per ton 141 Variety. Mill juices. Diffusion juices. Diffusion chips. 1 3 1 2 . 2 3 o H ■ 4.8 G.0 6.0 5.2 9 0 li ■i i 5 Link's hybrid 10.6 14.1 10.5 10.7 10.4 6.7 10.0 0.9 0.5 5.4 1.48 1.25 2.14 1.92 3.12 Pr. et. 22 12i 33 29 57 3.05 3,50 3.70 3.20 3.25 1.13 l..^l 1.51 1.57 •1.61 Pr. ct. .37 .43 .41 .49 .49 .20 .30 .20 .10 .10 .16 .14 .13 .12 .12 White India White mammoth White amber (Nebraska) .. White amber Clarified juice: Total solids Sucrose , Glucose , 2.1 3.5 1.4 1.30 .51 39 38 Glucose to sucrose.. per cent Sirups : Total solids 32.94 Sucrose 17. 5 Glucose 7.04 40 Sirups — Continued : Glucose to sucrose. -per cent Scums: Sucrose 1.7 Glucose 73 Glucose to sucrose. .per cent 41 Sugar: Sucrose 92.2 Glucose 2.93 Molasses: Sucrose 34 Glucose 20 RECAriTULATION. Sucrose in sirup 121.62 Sucrose in scums 2. 55 Sucrose in chips 10. 5G Sucrose in sugar made 36.88 Sucrose in molasses made 79. 90 Fiber in cane.. per cent 15.04 The following determinations of albuminoids were made : Mill juices: Link's hybrid 430 Kansas orange 215 New orange 322 Early orange 425 Earl V orange, Baton Rouge 371 ■ Do .345 Mill juices for Sept. 30 307 Diffusion juices: Sept. 12 0531 Sept. 17, Baton Rouge cano 0748 Sept. 20 1276 Clarified juices: Sept. 12, first clarilier 0319 Sept. 12, 8olate3 should be partially closed, with lead, babbitt, cork, or leather, until they ad- mit of the passage of not more than four or five seeds at each movement of the plate. A slight excess of seed should be planted, and the hoe used to properly clean it out. This should be done invariably before the cane is 4 inches high. Good soils will produce a stalk of cane for each 4 inches of row space. When the rows are 42 inches apart, two stalks should be allowed a space of 10 inches, three stalks 18 inches, four stalks 30 inches, six stalks 42 iuches, and never more than six stalks in any one bunch, no matter how spaced. Foul land is easiest tended when planted in checks, and all lands so planted pro- duced more sngar, but a smaller tonnage, than when planted in drills. The cultiva- tion should be merely upon the surface to avoid cutting and otherwise disturbing the roots, checking their growth, and inducing a growth of suckers to sap the parent stalks and retard their development. All that is required is to keep the grass and weeds in check, and all cultivation should cease when the joints appear, as any interference with the roots at this time r(>sults most seriously. One well-matured stalk will grow on the space occupied by two small ones, is as heavy as six small ones, and contains more juice sugar and less impurities in proportion to its weight. The seed and leaves are less than 25 percent, of total weight of the large stalks, while with small canes the loss from this source may reach fully 50 per cent. 74 To plant cane upon uew ground the turned sod should be quite thin, but evenly and smoothly laid. The seed should be planted with a two-horse corn-planter, pro- vided with a rolling coulter to cut and not displace the sod, depositing the seed just underneath the subsoil. The sod acts as an excellent mulch to retain moisture and prevenj the growth of grass and weeds, no cultivation or further attention except thinning being necessary until harvest time. A good practice for planting cane upon old ground is to plow the land at any time during early spring, but do not harrow. At planting time take a two-horse cultivator, place three small shovels upon each beam, spread and fasten the beams so that the shovels will work up a space for two rows each 4 inches deep and 12 inches wide. Let the planter follow soon, depositing the seed in the center of this worked-over space. There will be no weeds or grass for 6 inches upon either side of the plants, and the cultivator will care for the space between the rows. Cane deteriorates very rapidly when cut, lying on the ground in bunches, exposed to the sun and drying winds, a few days of such exposure changing the sugar into glucose. Cane should be delivered the same day as cut, the only exception to this rule being to cut and load on the wagon the evening before what can be delivered early the next morning. Next to the importance of properly thinning the canes the necessity of having woU- maturcd, freshly cut, promptly delivered cane is the most important point connected with the agriculture of this business. Instructions for converting an ordinary hay-rack into a cane-rack will be furnished by the cane agent. Each wagon must be provided with two ropes, each tliree-fourths of an inch in diameter and 35 feet long, by which the cane is unloaded. The cane must bo loaded so the tops project over the right side of the rack, facing the team. REPORT OF E. A. v. SCHWEINITZ. Tlie character of tbe growing season of 1888, for sorgluiin, in the vicinity of Conway Springs, record of which was kept by Mr. J. M. Wilson, the cane-grower, was the following: From April IG to 21, when the first planting was made, the ground was still cold, but otherwise in good condition. April 21 to 25 the weather was cool and cloudy, followed by heavy rains on the 2Gth and 27th, and by heavy frost on April 30, which froze the ground one-half inch. The beginning of May was clear and cool, with rain on theGtl), fol- lowed by clear and warmer weather np to the IGth, with rain on the 17th, warmer weather until the 24th, when there was again a heavy rain. The month of June was w^arm, with good rains upon the 8th; 21st, and 2Gth. July and August were exceedingly hot months, with scorching winds, but with a good rain on Jul^^ 14, and light rain on August: 5 and G. September and October were hot and dry, with no rain until October 21. The first heavy frost occurred November 4, but did not damage the cane. The first freeze was on November 9. Already on October 25 there was light frost, but not sufficient to kill the leaves, and by No- vember 2 they were thoroughly dry and dead. Work stopped on November 4, and November 8 there was a heavy snow-storm and blizzard. The last cane was analyzed a week after the factory sto[)ped, but appeared as good as at any time during the season 76 and did not at that date sbow any efifects of tbe thaw following? tbe freeze. This was due, probably, to tlie fact tbnt tbe cane was very dry. Tbe elevation of Conway Springs is about 1,500 feet above the sea- level. The soil upon which the sorghum was planted is an upland sandy loam. About one-fourth of the crop was upon sod land and the rest on old plowed land. The subsoil is derived from tbe decomposition of friable red shale, which contains a fairly large percentage of phosphoric acid with but little potash. The first planting was Early Amber seed, supposed to be pure, and the later planting of Orange, Sterling Orange, and on May IG about 10 acres of Link's Hybrid. The seed was put in either with a planter or strewn on top and har- rowed. The average depth of planting was 2 inches. It was fonner 4 and September 10. The best samples taken during the working season were Nos. 27 Amber, 352 Orange, and 374 Link's Hybrid. The Amber c.me after being cut, if left lying for any lengt'.i of time, deteri- orated rapidly, as shown by the analysis of No. 20. 76 The percentage of moisture in the cane during the mouth of October decreased rapidly, and the same quantity by weight of cane yielded only about one-half the weight of juice given earlier in the season. The dry- ness of the cane was also noted by the farmers, as their loads lost several hundred pounds as compared with the same sized load during the first part of the work. It may also be noted that the cane was very pithy. On an average, one out of every five stalks contained little or no juice and a large amount of fiber. The cane cut during October, a great quantity of which was left lying from two to three days at a time, on account of delays in working, did not deteriorate to any great extent. The dryness of the cane again probably explains this. After the factory stopped, a number of samples of cane was taken for the purpose of determining the condition of the still outstanding crop. Samples Nos. 382 and 388 gave the highest result of the season. An- other sample, No. 383, from a field which the cane grower claimed was the poorest out, showed a high percentage. Ko. 378 was from a field of second growth, from stubble. On November 4 some 25 tons of cane were left on the rack. One lot was selected and analyzed, some of it put into a silo. A sample of the remainder, tested four days later, showed that there had been no deterioration in the cane, as can be seen from analyses Nos. 38G and 391. This cane had been exposed to heavy frost, snow, and thaw. Cane taken from the field on November 7, and again from the same field November 12, showed but little deterioration. The average percentage of sucrose in the mill juices from the fresh chips is .3 per cent, higher than that recorded in the average of the whole canes. This is explained by noting several very low percentages of sucrose in some of the samples of whole cane, without a correspond- ing low percentage in the chips. Here it may be noted that in taking samples of fresh and exhausted chips, as also of diffusion and clarified juices, care was taken to secure comparative samples. The battery consisted of sixteen cells, but only twelve of these were in the circuit at one time. The fresh chips were taken from these twelve cells and the exhausted chips from the same. The juices were sampled as they ran into the defecators, care being taken to secure those corresponding to the fresh chips. The samples of semi sirup were taken as a rule once every twelve hours, and correspond approximately to the juices analyzed. For the most part two sets of samples were taken, one in the morning and the other in the afternoon. The lowest sucrose and highest glucose were recorded at the begin- ning of the season. The highest sucrose of the season was noted on October 15, and lowest glucose on October 2G. The average percentage of sucrose for October was 13.22 and glucose 2.07. From Septeiriber 26 to the end of the season the mill juices ap- peared to be unusually rich. The average for October was .8 p6r cent. 77 higher than the average for the entire season. This is 2.88 per cent, higher than the average at Fort Scott in 1887. As noted in connection with the whole canes, the dryness may partly explain this, but the lo- cation and soil of Conway Si)rings seem to be especially adai)ted to the growth of sorghum. It is further south than any other point in Kan- sas, where sorghum has been grown and the season ai)pear8 to be longer and better than in eastern Kansas. The mean of sucrose in difliisiou juices is higher than the mean at Fort Scott in 1887, but considerably lower than would be expected from the analyses of the chip juices. The difference may be accounted for either by the dryness and pithiness of the canes, as just mentioned, or by inversion in the battery. In order to prevent inversion, if any, car- bonate of lime was used in the battery ibr a time. Although the acid was neutralized to about the same extent as at Fort Scott, apparently inversion was not prevented. The results of the analyses are given in Tables 12, 13, and 14. In place of caibonate of lime a number of ex- periments were made with caustic lime. The lime was distributed upon the chiles as they passed from the macer;itor to the battery, by means of a roll, about 1 J pounds of lime being added to each cell. The object was to add just so much lime to the chips that 100 c. c. of the juice when in the clarifiers would require about 5 c. c. of JJ, alkali to neutralize it. To attain this exact point was difficult and the tables in Avhich results of the work are given show all possible variations. The lime as sprinkled on the chips also neutralized the Jicid in the mill juice, as may be seen from the table. Glucose. Sucrose. In the mill juicos troatcd with limo the i)iop(ii"tiou.s Avev^ 1 1 1 I (5.6 5.0 4.9 3.3 In mill jiiicoa, etc In (liffusiou juiees: In juices without limo In dilTusioa juices If we note samples 183 and 184 on October 5, there appears to have been no inversion whatever. On several other days the apparent in- version was but slight. It niay be mentioned further that on those days on which little or no inversion was noted, the percentage of glucose in the mill juice was high, and the amount of juice given by the cane as taken from records of weight of juice was above the aver- age for the season. The average number of cubic centimeters "y alkali required to neutralize the acid in the juices was 40.G. SoUds iu mill juico 19.39 Solida ia (liffusiou jnico 12.99 19.30: 12.09:: 40.0 : x. Normal acidity of the diffusion juice 27.2 That is considerably higher than the acidity of juices fouud at bVt Scott,, average of which was 19.98. 78 The highest per cent, of sucrose for the season in the diffusion juice was noted September 29, 10.02 per cent., being 2.30 percent, above the average. The corresponding mill juice for the same date was 14.92 per cent, sucrose, 2.5 above the average, showing that fair comparative samples had been secured. The average during October was 8.59 per cent, sucrose, 1.74 per cent, glucose, better than the results obtained at Lawrence, La., bearing in mind the fact that the sugar cane has less glucose. The purity of the diffusion juices was lower than that of the mill juices from the chips. This is due probably to inversion in the battery. The column headed ^' extraction" in table 12 is given for the purpose of noting to what extent, if any, the extraction was diminished by the use of lime in the battery. If we compare the several instances of es- pecially low extraction, Nos. 240, 291, and 361, with the corresponding acidit^^, we will note that either lime was in excess or the percentage of sucrose for the day was high, without a corresponding change having been made in working the battery, and in the amount drawn off". Octo- ber 15, In mill juice there were 8.4 parts glucose to 100 parts sucrose In diffusion juice there were 16.5 parts glucose to 100 parts sucrose October 5 and 25, with acidity 9, the proportions in the two juices cor- responded closely. The table shows, then, that the lime, unless in excess, did not inter- fere with the extraction. Eecord was kept during the entire season of the amounts of sucrose and glucose left in the chips. The highest percentage of sucrose in the mill juices from these was noted at the end of the season, ^November 2, being 2.91 per cent. The average extraction for the entire season was 88.72 per cent, of the sngar in the cane. This is a poor extraction, being fully 4.1 percent, lower than the extraction at Fort Scott in 1887. The average dilution for the season was 1 1.55 per cent. From the first of the season to October 15, 100 gallons were drawn oft' each time. From that date till the close of the season 180 gallons. Each cell held 1,400 pounds chips. Deducting 10 per cent, for fiber, we have 1,260 pounds juice in each cell. Average weight of juice drawn from first of season to October 15 pounds.. 1, 349 From then till close of season do.... 1,513 Mean Brix from September 6 to October 15: In mill j uices 18. 93 In diffusion j uices 13. 05 October 15 to November 2 : Mill juices ...20.10 Diffusion juices 12.55 Dilution from September 6 to October 15 per cent.. C. 50 Dilution from October 15 to close of season do 16.60 The poor extraction was due partly to the large chips furnished by the small cutters during a portion of the season, to the irregularity in working, but chiefly to the small quantity of juice drawn off; all points 79 wbiclj might Iiave been more ctirefully noted and the loss avoided. As the dilution, if moderate, is of small importance, the object should be to get all or as nearly all as i)Ossible of the sugar frOm the cane. The purity of the defecated juices, Table IV, is 1.5 points higher than the ditliusion juices, due to a little destruction of glucose in the clari- tiers. The table shows in addition that there was no inversion in the clarifiers. The scum from the defecators wjis, as is usual, about as rich in sugar as the juices themselves. These scums were thrown into the ditch, thus entailing a loss of sngar which could and should have been avoided by returning them to the battery. For the purpose of comparing the readings of the Brix spindle with the actual total solids obtained by drying and weighing, a number of determinations were made. Kectangular flat platinum dishes three eighths inch in depth were nsed and the samples dried for five hours at 100^ C. The samples were weighed from a tared flask, about 2 grams being taken in each instance. Duplicates were always made. The use of asbestus as an absorbent agent in drying was also tested. A thin layer of loose asbestus was placed in the bottom of the dish, and the sample dried at and for the same length of time as those samples where the dish alone was used. The average of these results in the case of mill juices gives the solids 1.4G i)er cent, less, and with asbestus as l.GO per cent, less, than the average of the spindle readings. These results are fully 1 per cent, lower than those recorded by Dr. Crampton at Fort Scott in 1887, but agree closely with results obtained at Douglas, Kans., and at the De- partment this year. In the case of the diffusion juices, the dish alone gave 1.25 percent, solids less, and dish with asbestus 1.40 per cent, less, than the direct readings of the "spindle. Correcting the percentage of sugar on this basis, in the mill juices it would be .11 per cent, higher, and in the diffusion juices .05 per cent. The purity is also largely in- creased by calculating on the weight of actual solids. It may again be remarked here, as was stated in 1887, the use of the Brix spindles standardized for pure solutions of sugar give misleading results, and the solids as determined by direct drying should be relied on. As might be expected, the samples where asbestus was used gave results slightly lower than those without, and it may be stated further that the duplicates with asbestus agreed more closely. The asbestus furnishes a larger drying surface, and less moisture is retained than is the case with a thick film of the sirup. The asbestus should, then, be preferred to the plain dish. The average ratio of glucose to. sucrose in the seinisirups is slightly higher than that in the defecated juices: (Ilncosc. Sucrose. Scini-siriips 1 Dfcfecatetf juices j 1 3.8C 3.68 80 ^ This (lifTereiice is due eitlier to error of ex[)eriineiit or to the equal- izing effect of large quantities of juice or to a slight inversion in the double-effect vacuum i>an. It is interestingto note this, as it is the first time that the Lillie patent has ever been used as a double effect. It is true, the pan gave a great deal of trouble and caused a great deal of delay during the working season. This was due, tiist, to the fact that the pumps put in to keej) up the circulation of the juice, viz, rotary pumps, were not suited to the work, and secondly and chiefly, because the effect had been hurriedly and carelessly put up by inexperienced workmen. At the close of the season centrifugal pumps were substituted for therotaries and the pan thoroughly overhauled by an engineer from Philadelphia, and it then gave satisfaction. The inside of the Juice-tubes became rapidly coated with a hard scale, which necessitated their being cleaned every four or five days. This scale was due principally to the mineral water, which will be referred to in another connection. The first sugar made was grained in the wagons. The grain was small, and as it had been allowed to stand for a considerable length of time and become cold, it was difficult to free it in the centrifugals from the gummy matters. Table No. 7 gives the polarization of this prod- uct. All of it was reboiled and used for enriching the semi-sirups, hence the high purity and increased percentage of sucrose in the masse cuites and molasses over and above the semi-sirups. The samples of the masse cuites were taken from the mixer, and the samples of molasses taken from time to time from the storage tanks and barrels give the average composition of this product for the season. The purity of the molasses from the enriclied sirups is higher than the purity of the semi- sirups at Fort Scott in 1887, but as the molasses could be disposed of, it was considered more profitable to sell it than to work it for seconds. The water from the well proved upon examination to be highly charged with mineral matter, containing 318 grains to the gallon. This was chiefly gypsum, together with some little magnesium sulphate and sodium chloride. A 10 per cent, solution of sugar i)repared Avith this water and evaporated to a thick sirup showed no more inversion than a solution of the same strength made up with distilled water and evapo- rated. The addition of acetate of lime to the solution had no inverting action. The water gave i)articular trouble in the boilers, forming rapidly a heavy scale. The want of proper cleaning in the early part of the sea- son caused burning of the boilers on November 4 and stopped the work. The latter part of the season the vapor water was run into a pond and used for diffusion purposes. This water was strongly acid, due to the decomposition of organic matter, and not much of an improvement on the well water. On account of the foaming it was difficult also to use it in the boilers. In the few samples of masse-cuite not enriched the proportion of 81 sucrose to glucose was about the same as in the semi-sirups, sbowiog tbat there was not auy inversion in the strike-pan. Tlie percentage of ash found in the masse cuite is 1.5 per cent, anil in the niohisses 1 per cent, higher than the average found at Fort Scott in 1887. This we may fairly attribute to the large amount of gypsum in the water. After pond water was substituted for the well water, except on one or two days when lime in the battery was in excess, the coiresponding percentage of ash was diminished. The indirect readings of sucrose are either lower or correspond closely with the direct readings. This points to a large amount of starch in the juices, which will further explain the high readings in the mill juices and apparent inversion in the battery. The solids not sugar aie also higher than heretofore noted j also to be attributed to starchy and gummy matter. The proportion of glucose to sucrose in the molasses is about 1 : 3. This high ratio is doubtless due to mineral and organic matters (not sugar) prci^ent, which, while not causing inversion, prevent crystalliza- tion. Further, the sugar boiler was troubled with gummy matter in the strike pan, and the masse cuite was very gummy in the centrifugals. On several occasions quite a quantity of white gummy matter was taken out by the proof stick. This fully explains why such a large proportion of sucrose was left in the molasses. The analysis of sample 122 shows proportion of glucose to sucrose 1 : 1.6. This sample was from the first lot of mixed cane worked, which contained but little sucrose. The percentage of albuminoids in the juices from fresh chips is high. The per cent, in diffusion juice is .25 lower, and in clarified juices .01 less than in diffusion, showing that the defecation had removed a com- paratively small proportion of the albuminoids. The figures show further that the cane contained an unusually large amount of fiber and organic matter not sugars, which went into the diffusion juice. This further accounts for the large amount of gummy matter in the strike pan, and, together with the large amount of mineral matter, explains the low yield of sugar from the rich cane. The color of the sugars was a grayish yellow, and rated on the mar- ket as a little better than C brown. The grain was large and firm. The mean polarization of raw gummy sugars was 82.52, and of first sugars 90.80. The following is the record of the number of tons of cane worked, sugar and molasses made : Total number of tons of cane passed over the scales 2, 991 Of this 430.5 tons were Early Amber, mixed with unripe Sterling Orange. Two thousand five hundred and sixty and five-tenths tons were chiefly Orange, with a small quantity of Link's Hybrid. The estimated average tonnage per acre is 10; the highest tonnage, 13.5 per acre. Twenty- five tons were left on the cane rack wIhmi work stopped, so that the act- 1405G— Bull, 20..:— 0 82 ual number of tons of cane worked was U/JCO, and tons worked for sugar 2,535.5. Tons of cane for molasses onl^^, 430.5. Deducting 25 per cent, for leaves and seed, we have 2,225 tons of cleaned cane. Total number of cells filled from September 12 to close 2,730 Number of pouuds of chips iu each cell 1,400 Total number of pounds of chips in cells (1,8C0 tons) 3,722,000 Number of tons of cleaned cane from September 12 to close 1,901 Making a difl'erence of 41 tons unaccounted for, some of which was thrown out by the fan and from the drag. The remainder can be at- tributed to lost records, which were missing for several days' work. Yield of sugar. Total number of pounds of sugar 100,500 Gallons of molasses 36, 000 There was left on hand at close of season one tankful of semi sirup, equal to 600 gallons of molasses. Tbis makes average yield of sugar per ton of field cane, estimated on the cane actually worked for sugar, 39.2 pounds, and on cleaned cane 52.8 pounds. The quantity of molas- ses made per ton of cleaned cane was 14 gallons, or, estimating the sugar on total number of tons of cane cut during the season, we have 45.1 pounds per ton of cleaned cane. Two trial runs were made during the season. The first 46.9 tons gave 3,986.5 pounds sugar and 9,580 gallons molasses, equal to 85 i^ounds sugar and 20 gallons molasses per ton. The second trial run gave 90 pounds sugar and 16 gallons of molasses per ton on a run of 60 tons. During the season there were lost by carelessness 4,800 gallons of semi-sirup and 7,200 gallons of juice, corresponding to about 100 tons of cane. The battery soured twice and was drawn off twenty-eight times, causing a loss of 192 cells of chips of 1,400 pounds each, equal to 134 tons of cane. Deducting, then, 234 tons from the number of tons worked for sugar, we have 1,667 tons of cleaned cane, with an average of 60.2 pounds sugar per ton. From each ton it was estimated that 2 bushels of seed and 200 pounds of leaves were obtained. The seed was carefully hand-picked and thrashed, so that this product will prove very valuable. The total number of days' actual work, counting each day at twenty- two hours, was thirty. By that we mean that the number of hours during which the cutter actually worked would be equal to thirty days of twenty-two hours each. If a factory is substantially built, tlie machinery strong and every bolt in its place, there is no reason why there should not be a steady yearly run of ninety days, full time. Dur- ing the working season every hour's delay is so much money lost, and a sugar factory should run as smoothly as a grist mill. It is a question of practical mechanics, which a good machinist can handle. With a number of changes in the factory the Conway Springs mill can be made a success. The foundations of the heavy machinery should be replaced J the battery put in straight line and elevated, so that the 83 cbips could be removed by means of a car; two lar^'c cutters should be ready for use in place of one; also two macerators. Three additional boilers are needed, another engine, two more claritiers, a large storage tank for the molasses, and more sugar wagons and storage room, and, above all, a good water supply, which may with care be secured iu the neighborhood. With these improvements, with cane of the same quality as was worked tins year, and careful management, a great success may be se- cured at Conway Springs during another season. Table I. — Mill juices from whole canes. Total l)'\te. Xo. solids by Brix at 15, 50. Raiim^. specific gravity. Suciose. Glucosr. Irrity. Per cent. Per cent Per cent. Si'ptemlxr 4 . . 3 15.38 8.50 1.0630 3. (i2 23. 53 Si'ptfinl)i;r 4 . 4 18.50 10. 10 1.0766 13. 95 7 -.40 Scptoiiiber 4 . 5 16.10 8.90 1. 0056 9.50 r9. 30 StplcmbLr 4 . Septoniber U . c, ] 5. ro 8.60 1 0iG34 8 47 54.64 9 18! 91 10.' 50 1. 0783 ^ 10.48 """i.'T2 55.33 Sei)teiubor 8 .. 21 18. 2t 10.10 1. 0753 12.30 3.21 67.43 SeptL-mber 8 22 16. 31 9.00 1. 0669 10. 30 3.20 63.15 September 10 24 18.91 10.50 1.0783 5.00 6.06 26. 4 1 Sopleuibor 10 . 25 16.07 8.90 1. 0656 11.73 3.35 72.99 Septomboi- 10 . 20 21.97 12.20 1.0918 11.43 7.88 52. 02 September 10 . 27 18. 62 10.30 1. 0770 14.32 1.28 76.90 September 10 28 17.21 9. SO 1.07(9 8.98 4.19 52.17 September 11 . 33 17. 82 9.90 1.0735 11.90 2.31 66.78 September ] 2 . 34 18.44 10.20 1.0761 11.44 3.12 62. 03 September 11 48 16.50 9.10 1. 0678 11.54 2.27 09.94 September ]G . 50 17.40 9.60 1.0717 12.67 2 16 7i.i;3 September 17 . Gl 18.47 10 20 1. 0761 10.61 5.51 56. 89 September 18 . (9 18.81 10.40 1. 0771) 14 19 1.26 74.90 September 20 . 8'J 18.24 10.10 1. 0753 10.80 3.43 59.21 September 2.) 114 18.51 10.20 1. 0766 13.69 1.39 73.84 September 27 . v.:.\ 18.55 10.22 1. 0766 12.50 1.58 67.38 October 1 1C2 22.16 12.30 1.0932 16.67 2.16 75.22 October 1 .... iG:i 18.85 10.40 1. 0781 13.28 2.79 70.45 October 4 ... 178 21. 88 12.10 1.0918 13.55 3.30 61.92 October 10 220 19.12 10.60 1.0792 13.70 2.00 71.65 October 10 ... 227 17. 82 9.90 1. 0735 13.10 1.12 73.51 October 16 ... 261 20.24 11.20 1. 0841 13.98 2.88 69.07 October 20.... 281 20.40 11.30 1. 0850 13.63 1.91 66.81 October ;Jl ... 352 20.66 11.40 1. 0862 14.58 1.29 70.71 November 2 .. 358 19. 29 10.70 1.0801 12. 68 1.43 65.73 November 2... 367 15.22 8.40 1. 0 21 7.26 2.13 47.70 November 3 .. 360 13.30 7.40 1. 0540 7.51 1.54 56.46 Novembers .. 374 20.00 a 20 1. 0832 14.81 .89 74.50 Novembers... 375 17.63 9.75 1.0726 12. 87 1.65 73.00 November 5... 378 20.36 11.30 1. 0850 14 09 2.14 72.15 November .5... 379 15.10 8.40 1.0617 8.54 2.35 56.55 Novembers... 380 20.20 11.20 1.0841 15. 28 1.15 75.64 Novembers. .. 382 20. 00 11.10 1. 0832 14.95 .77 74.75 Novembers... 383 2(t. 20 11.20 1. 0841 14. 85 1.21 73. 51 NoveiuberG... 384 19.60 10.85 1. 0815 14.25 1.51 72. 70 November 7... 385 16.07 9.25 ].0fi87 11.89 1.67 71. 32 November?... 386 17.67 9.80 1. 0730 12.38 1.69 70. 06 Nov 10.10 ]. 07.';9 12.14 2.35 65. 78 Minima.. . .... 13.30 7.40 1.0540 8.47 .77 23.53 84 Discription of samj)lcs of whole cane 21. 22. 21. 25. 26. 27. 28. 33. U. 48. 59. CI. CD. fC. 114. 133. 162. 163. 178. 22C. Amber and unripe Sterling Orange raixrd. Early Amber from cane-.slied. ITn»ipe Sterling Orange, selected stocks. Unripe Sterling Oiaiigo, suckorcd upper joint. Amber and Sterling Orange mixed, cut and lying in shed Ibr two days. Cane from shed, mixed lot. Orange from field. Mixed lot from shed, cut forty-eight hours ; green. Orange cane from field. Early Anjbir from wagon. Early Amber from field of Mr. Troeger. " Southern Ked " from field. Early Amber, average from ten loads. Cane from shed. Cane from shed. Orange cane from shed, out and lying forty- eight hours. Sterling Oi-ange from wagon. Eaily Amber from load brought in by Troe- ger. Oiange cane from shed. Orange cane irom field. Links Hybrid from wagon. Sterling Orange from wagon. Sterling Oraiipe, average from three loads. Orange from shed, lying forty-eight hours. Orange irom shed and wagons, average lot lying forty eight hours. 227. Links Hybrid from field. 261. Lot of badly suckered Orange cane from shed. 281. Cane from shed, lying thirty-six hours. 352. Orange cane average, late planting gave but little juice. 358. Orange cane from shed after first frosi:. 367. Links Hybrid Irom shed; red pilh. 369. Links Hybrid from shed. 374. Links Hybrid from shed ; good load. 375. Cane from shed, chiefly Orange, lying twenty-four hours. 378. Orange cane from field, second growt'-. 379. Orange cane from field, red ])ilh. 380. Orange cane from field of J. E. Duncan; average lot left uncut. .S82. Oi ange cane from field of J. S. Clark. 383. Orange cane from field said to be the poorest field out. 384. Oiange cane from shed, put in silo ^November 6, covered with 2 to 3 feet giound 385. Orange cane Irom shed from same l(*t as put in silo Noveniber 6; cane from top of pile. 386. Orange cane from shed from samo lot as put in silo November 6 ; average sample. 387. Orange cane froiu field of L. IJerry. 388. Orange cane from field of Hanna. 391. Orange c:'ne iroui same lot as put in silo, ly- ing in shed eif;ht days exposed to heavy frost, snow and thaw. 392. Orange cane ii'om field of Hanna, from samo plat as No. 38H. 85 Table II.— Mill juices from freili chips. Date. Sppteraber 6. September 7. September 7. September 10 September 12 September 12 September VA J^e-ptember 14 S,epteinber 15 September 17 September 18 Srpteiiilier 18 September 19 Sdji 'ember 20 September 21 September 21 September 2_' September 22 September 2 1 Septemb«'r 2t September 20. September 27 St'ptember 27 Soi)tember 28 Seplcml)er 29 September 29 September 30 September 30 October 2. . October 2... October 3 October 5 October 5 October 0 October G October 8 October 8 . . . . October 9 October U... October 11.... October 12.... October 13 October 15 .. October 17... October 18.... October 18.... October 19... October 19... October 20... October 20 October 22 . . . October 23... October 23 .. October 24 October 24 October 25 October 26 October 27... October 27... October 29 October 29 October 30 October 30... Novenib(rr I .. November 2 .. November 2 .. November 3 . . Higbest. Means . . Lowest . No. iBaume. 10 15 10 29 3.=i 36 43 49 56 60 68 70 80 87 92 98 103 107 111 110 124 128 131 138 143 147 154 1.58 1(55 171 176 179 183 189 195 206 211 216 230 234 239 244 253 262 268 272 276 277 282 283 287 292 296 304 308 313 317 322 326 331 335 340 349 353 359 .363 370 10.80 10.50 9.90 9.70 10. .'jO 10.50 9.90 9.75 9.90 10.20 9.00 8.90 9.90 10.10 9.75 9.2.i 9.75 10.50 9.50 9. 75 10.50 11.45 10.70 10.60 10.60 11.30 10.85 10.60 10.85 10.90 10.20 11.30 11.0!) 11.30 10. 40 10.40 11.01) 10. ->o 11.95 10.60 12.55 11.70 12. 30 12.20 11.70 11.50 12.05 12.20 12.05 11.10 10.20 9.80 9.75 10.60 10.20 11.20 11.70 11.40 10. 35 11.40 10.70 11.40 11. ,30 11.80 11.40 10.60 10.35 12. 55 10.72 8.90 Total solids by IJrix at 15.50. Per cent. 19.47 18.97 17.80 17.54 18.94 18.95 17.87 17.56 17.78 18.44 16.24 16.14 17.84 18.19 17. 66 16.78 17. 62 18.91 17.21 17. 64 18.98 20. 73 19.35 19. 24 19.12 20. 50 19.04 19.25 19.59 19.08 18.49 20. 50 19.83 20.40 18.78 18.80 19.80 19.04 21. 60 19.08 22. 69 21.20 22.34 22.10 21.20 20.81 21.81 22. 03 21.80 21.00 18.40 17.73 17.63 19.07 18. .51 20. 34 21.23 20.56 18.66 20.60 19.37 20. .57 20.37 21. 43 20.04 19.09 18.67 22.69 19.39 10.14 Specific gravity. 1.0810 1.0783 1. 0766 1.0722 1. 0783 1.0783 1. 0739 1.0726 1.0730 1.0761 1. 0665 1. 0660 1.0735 1.0753 1.0726 1 . 0691 1. 0726 1.0783 1.0709 1.0726 1.078S 1.0864 ].0?0l 1. 0797 1. 0792 1.0855 LOS 15 1.0799 1.0815 1.0815 1. 0766 1.0.S55 1. 0824 1 . 0850 1. 0777 1. 0779 1.0824 1.0788 1. 0904 1. 0792 1.0954 1.0886 1. 0936 1.0926 1. 088t 1.0868 1.0914 1. 0923 1.0914 1. 0832 1. 0761 1. 0730 1.0726 1. 0792 1.0766 1.(816 1. 0886 1. 0859 1. 0775 1.0859 1.0800 1. 0859 1. 0850 1. 0895 1.08.59 1. 0792 1. 0775 Sucrose. 1.09.54 1. 0805 1.0660 Per cent. 6.36 8.93 9.04 9.72 11.93 12.65 12.51 10.30 10.73 8.05 11.22 10.90 9.68 11.14 9.34 10.55 '"ii.49 9. 65 10.89 12. 74 13.47 12.78 13.51 12. 79 14. 92 13.82 13. 6' i 12.69 13.25 12.82 12.47 10.97 13 97 12.56 12.56 12. 03 11.97 13.28 12. 45 10.75 10.05- 15.58 1.5.49 14,14 14.24 14.84 14.31 15.04 13.37 12.47 11.98 11.90 12.96 12.19 14.41 14.98 14.29 12.91 14.49 14. 01 13.9) 13.59 14.30 13. 67 12.94 12.86 Glucose. Per cent. 7.16 6.34 5.67 6.02 2.97 2.43 2.68 4.58 3. 42 4.30 2. 10 2. 37 4.57 4.03 4.11 2.89 3. 62 3.11 3.02 2.34 2. 51 2.92 2. (i8 2. 28 2.36 1.18 1.80 1.81 2.46 1.73 1.61 3.02 3.66 2.49 2.02 2.85 2.31 2.94 2.86 2.44 2.77 3.91 1.28 2.00 2.70 1.86 2.91 2.61 1.94 2.19 1.21 1.48 1.48 1.29 1.39 1.74 1.00 1.34 1.20 1.25 1.20 1.42 2.00 2.23 1.99 1.13 1.41 Albumi- noids. 15.58 12.42 6.30 7.16 2.61 1.00 Per cent. . 6563 "."6i83 8250 7438 . 7.>03 ,8003 7313 I'uritv 32.66 47.07 5j. 78 .55. 4 1 6.'. 98 66. 75 70. 00 58.65 6f). C4 43. 6.5 6t. 08 67. 53 54.26 61 24 52. 88 62.87 1.0375 .487 . 8306 .8087 9C56 7857 60.76 56. 07 61.73 67. 12 64.97 60.61 70. 22 66. 89 72.78 70.31 70. 90 64.76 67. 22 69. 33 60.83 55. 32 68. 48 66. 89 (;6. 80 60. 75 62. 86 61. 48 65. 24 47. 37 47. 40 6!). 74 70. 09 66. 69 68.42 68. 04 64.95 68. 99 66.85 67.60 67. 57 67.48 67.96 65. 85 70. 84 70. .5(5 69. 50 69. 18 73. .'9 72. 32 OS 01 66. 72 06. 72 66. 23 67. 78 72. 78 63 84 32.00 86 Table III. — Diffusion juices. Date. September 3 . September 6 . September 7 . September 10 September 12 September 12 Septenjber 13 September 14 September 15 September 17 September 18 September J 9 September 20 September 21 September 21 September 22 September 22 September 24 September 24 Se])tember 20 September 27 September 27 September 28 September 29 September 29 September 30 September 30 October 2 October 2 . . . . October 2 October 5 October 5 October 6 October 0 October 8... October 8... October 9... October 11 ... October 11... October 12 . . . October 13... October 15 ... October 17 . . . October 18 . . . October 18... October 19... October 20 . . . October 22 . . . October 23 . . . October 23 . . . October 24 . . . October 24 . . . October 25 . . . October 26 . . . October 27 . . . October 27 . . . October 29 . . . October 29 . . . October 30 . . . October 30 . . . November 1.. November 2.. November 2.. November 3. . Maxima Means . . Miuiuia. No. 94 100 104 108 113 118 125 129 135 139 145 148 155 159 166 109 173 180 184 192 107 207 212 217 232 235 240 246 255 264 269 273 278 284 288 293 297 306 309 315 319 324 327 333 336 342 350 354 361 364 371 Baume. 6.30 8.15 6.70 7.30 7. ro 6.80 7.80 6.05 7. GO 7.60 6.40 6.55 7.65 7.30 7.30 6.4J 0.70 6.81) 7.00 7. 05 7.50 6.90 7.10 7.65 8. 15 7.50 7.60 7.50 7.50 7.60 7.60 7.70 8.20 7.40 7.60 7.50 7.50 7.65 7.90 7.05 8.30 Total solids by Brix at 15.5°. Specific gravity. 65 60 60 80 80 60 00 6.00 6.30 6.30 7.05 6.80 6.90 7.20 7.05 6.70 7.30 6.20 6.80 7.'40 7.05 6.20 6.90 11.30 14.68 12.08 13.11 13. .52 12.22 14.14 10.90 12. 60 13.77 11.04 11.85 13.85 13.13 13.12 11.48 12.00 12. 24 12. GO 12.70 13.58 12. 42 12. 77 13.85 14.71 13.50 i:{. 67 13.50 I 13.64 ' 13.67 : 13.65 13.94 14.82 : 13.38 , 13.68 13.64 13. .53 13. 85 14. 34 12. 70 14. 90 13.79 13.67 13.67 14.07 14.05 13.72 12.65 10.78 11.43 11.41 12. 75 12.28 12.38 13.08 12. 68 12.03 13.19 11.22 12.18 13.41 12. 72 11.13 12.47 8.30 7.20 6.00 14.82 12.99 10.78 1. 0604 1. 0.527 1.0134 87 Table 1Y.— Clarified juices. Date. Soptcmber 6. Sepfember 7 . St'pteiuber 10 September 12 September VI September 13 Septt'iiibi r 14 September 15 September 17 September 18 September 18 September 19 September 20 September 21 September 21 . September 22 September 22 . September 24 . September 24 . September 26. St ptembor 27. September 27 . September 28 . September 29 September 29 September 30 Septembei 30 . October 2 October 2 October 2 Octubei 5 October 5 Octobur G October C WctobtM-8 Octobei 8 October 9 October 11 .... OclobL-r 11 October 12 ... . October 13 ... . October 15 October 17 . . . October 18 ... October 18 .... Octob.r 19 ... October 20 ... October 22.... October 2;j.... October 23 . . . October 24 ... . October 24 .... October 25 . . October 26 October 27 ... October 27 Ofctobor 29 ... . October 30 October 30 .... November 1... November 2... November 2 . . November 3... No. Mciins . . Maxima. Minima. Banmd. 13 19 31 37 41 46 53 58 63 74 73 I 82 90 95 101 105 109 115 119 12tj 132 136 UO HO IW 156 160 ]67 170 174 181 185 193 199 208 I 213 i 218 : 233 I 236 241 , 245 I 256 265 ! 270 I 274 279 i 285 289 ' 294 I 298 I 307 I 310 316 i 320 325 328 I 337 343 351 355 362 365 372 Total solids by Brix at 15.5°. 7.70 I 6.50 7.10 7.40 6.80 ! 7.70 6. 70 ' 7.20 i 7.80 I 6.55 7.90 6.80 8.15 7.40 7.40 6.60 6.90 6.90 7.40 7.65 7.50 7.40 7.40 7.80 8.30 7.90 7.80 7.50 7.20 7.90 7.90 8.30 8.50 7.65 7.70 ; 7.65 I 7.80 8.30 I 8.30 I 6.50 i 8.20 I 8. CO J 8.40 7.40 I 8.00 : 8. 15 j 7.80 7.00 6.30 6.50 6.60 7.30 7.20 6.90 7.50 7.05 7.00 6.40 7.10 7.65 7.70 6.70 7.00 7.42 8.40 6.30 13.94 11.75 12.81 13.82 12.20 13.98 12.04 13.00 14. 00 11.82 14.29 12. 25 14.75 13.41 13.28 11.91 12.41 12.46 13.28 13.85 13.64 13.27 13.38 14.04 14.94 14.24 14. J4 13. 62 13.03 14.18 14.15 15.00 15. 32 13. 85 13.88 13. 79 14.01 14.91 14.88 11.74 14.82 14.44 15.07 13.34 14.41 14.72 14.08 12.63 11.33 11.72 11.89 13.18 12. 95 12.38 13.60 1 12.70 I 12.63 I 11. GO I 12.79 13.81 12.89 12.08 12.65 Specific gravity. 1. 0566 1.0472 1.0519 1.0540 1. 0493 1.0566 1. 0485 1.0527 1. 0570 1. 0476 1. 0583 1.0493 1. 0600 1. 0544 1.0540 1.0481 1. 0502 1.0502 1. 0540 1.0561 1.0553 1. 0540 1.0544 1. 0570 1. 0609 1.0578 1.0576 1.0553 I 1. 0527 ! 1.0578 I 1.0576 i 1.0613 I 1.0621 1.0561 I 1.05GI 1 1.0561 1.0570 1. 0609 1.0008 1.0474 1.0G04 1.0587 1.0613 I 1.0540 I 1.0587 ! l.OiiOO i 1.0)74 1 1.0510 1.0155 ! 1.0472 1.0481 I 1.0536 i 1.0523 j 1.0502 ' 1.0553 f 1.0.514 I 1.0510 I 1.0468 1.0519 1. 0561 1. 0523 1. 0489 1. 0510 Sucrose. Per cent. 5.02 5.29 6.17 7.70 7.44 8,26 6.73 7.07 8.30 6.74 8.83 6.70 7.54 7.39 7.41 6.06 6.t4 7.88 8.40 7.69 8.64 8.68 8.10 9.16 10.16 9.08 9.26 8.44 8.71 9.35 8.13 8 59 9.81 8.92 8.24 8.48 8.24 Glucose. 13.37 15.32 11.33 1. 0542 1. 0621 1. 0455 Per cent 5.74 4.26 4.55 2.33 11 7.17 9.64 8.83 8.25 8.81 8.57 9.21 8.33 7.27 7.46 7.60 8.55 8.61 8.38 9.03 8.52 8.20 7.40 8.42 8.68 7.43 7.00 7.44 3. 13 3.06 3.01 2.84 2.21 2. 39 2.67 3.28 3. 09 3.05 3.02 2.51 2.06 1.82 2. 14 2.26 1.97 2.19 1.80 1.75 1.94 1.98 2.08 1.93 1.89 2.35 3.52 2.24 1.83 2.03 1.96 2.76 2.57 2.38 2.05 2.22 1.56 1.84 1.52 1.93 2.17 1.64 1.17 1.28 1.22 1.31 1.24 1,16 1.16 1.25 1.22 1.24 1.08 1.38 1.36 1.74 .99 1.27 Albrnui- noid^. Per cent. ,4938 ,4813 .5438 .4813 .5313 '."562.5" .5125 .5000 .5813 . 5500 , 51:5 5625 ,5750 ,5813 .5000 . 5625 .5000 8.07 10.16 5.29 2.15 5.74 .99 5278 5813 Purity. 47.48 45. 01 48.16 57.80 60.98 59.71 55.89 54. 38 59.28 57.10 6:. 79 54.79 51.10 5.5. 10 55.79 51). 89 56.72 63.24 63. 25 55. 52 03.33 65.41 60.54 65.24 65. 32 63. 76 65.48 61.96 G6.84 66.08 57.45 57. 26 64.03 60.07 59.36 61. 49 58.81 60.89 63. 03 68.22 48.38 66.76 58.59 61.84 61.13 58.22 65.41 65.95 63.87 63.65 63.81 64.87 66.44 67.69 66.39 67.08 60.17 63.79 65.84 62.83 57.64 57.94 58.81 60.41 67.69 45.01 Date. Sept. 3 Sept. 6 Sept. 7 .... Sept. 11 Sept. 13 Sept. 14 . - - . Sept. 35 .... Sept. 18 .... Sept. 20 .... Sept. 21 Sept. 22 Sept. 25 Sept. 27 Sept. 28. Sept. 29. Sept. 1^0. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oft. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Ocf. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oot. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Nov. Nov. 2 5 6 .... 7 8 10 12 13 15 16 .... 18 .... 23 24 25 27 27 30 2 5 Maxima. Means . . Minima . No. 1 14 20 32 42 47 55 65 83 91 102 120 127 137 142 152 164 177 188 200 210 224 238 243 252 257 267 291 300 312 321 330 339 357 376 88 Table Y .—Semi sirups. Baum6. 21. 50 18.70 23. 20 22. 30 23. 10 23. 00 14.50 24. 20 20. 40 28. 70 26.60 24.60 27.40 26. 00 25.80 25. 80 25.60 24.80 23. 70 21.90 25.45 25. 35 25. ?0 26.20 26.10 25.80 23.50 26.40 25.70 26. 10 23.10 26.90 26.70 23.70 24.73 28.70 24. 55 14.50 Total soliil.'», by Brix, at 15.5°. 39.27 31.08 42.44 40.72 42. 22 42. 10 26.31 41.21 48. 52 52. 94 48. 93 44.98 50.41 47.82 47.43 47.41 46.87 45. 50 43.40 40. 00 40.76 4(i. 55 47. 30 -48. 10 48.00 47.25 43. 01 48. 53 47. 13 47.99 42.34 49.50 49.04 43. 25 44. 53 |S=,1»5 I sucrose. 52.94 45.00 26.31 1. 1789 1. i52l 1.1901 1.1835 1. 1940 1. 1940 1.1130 1.2056 1. 2294 1. 2563 1. 2337 1. 2093 1.2414 1.2256 1.2240 1.2234 1.2207 1.20;7 1. 2008 1. 1820 1.2196 1.2185 1.2229 1. 2272 1. 2267 1. 2229 1.1987 1. 2245 1.2169 1.2212 1.1913 1. 2361 1.2272 1.1961 1.2072 1. 2563 1. 2092 1.1130 Per cent. 19. 20 14.47 18.33 18.15 20.61 25. 32 13.52 26.60 29. 36 27.14 28.04 25. 39 37.41 29.41 28. 51 30. 57 31.06 28. 38 24. 68 28. 78 27.08 28.90 30.75 32.13 33.98 34.08 25. 02 30 97 31.67 33. 27 28. i6 33.37 30. 39 27.18 30.63 Glucose. Per cent. 37.41 27.53 13.52 11.65 15.75 12.45 7.95 8.74 6.39 9.05 9.31 12. 06 8.85 9. 16 9.77 6.33 7.75 5.68 6.46 5.36 5.86 4.81 6.01 6.56 5.35 7.81 5.16 5.41 5.12 5. 33 4.89 4.70 6.19 4.12 5.29 5.16 4.55 15.75 7.21 4.12 Purity. 48 89 42. 45 43. 19 44.57 63. 02 CO. 14 51.37 00.16 (iO. 51 51.26 57. 30 56.44 74.21 61.50 61.09 64.48 64.56 62. 37 56.08 59.45 57. 99 62.08 65. 00 66.79 70.88 72.52 58.17 03.81 67.19 69.32 66.74 67.41 61.97 62.84 68.70 72.52 60.70 42.45 Table Yl.— Masse cuiie. Date. Number. Moisture. Ash. Glucose. Sucrose, direct. Sucrose, iudinct. Solids, not sugar. Sept. 15 Sept. 18 Sept. 19 Sept. 21 Sept. 21 Sept. 24..:.... Sept. 26 Oct. 6 Oct. 1] Oct. 14 Oct. 16 Oct. 24 Oct. 30 Nov. 1 Maxim a 54 66 76 96 97 110 121 191 228 251 258 301 344 377 Per cent. 15.62 30.40 15.80 16.28 22. 52 14. 52 14.59 14.52 14.65 Percent. 6.32 5.25 6.59 6.77 6.87 6.46 7.08 5.55 5.10 4.94 5.92 5.66 6.30 7.22 Per cent. 21.13 17.06 16.50 19.39 20.90 21.42 20.40 12.44 10.75 10.15 8.73 7.34 9.35 8.31 Per cent. 50.40 47. CO 57.40 50.10 48.40 52.00 52.00 63.20 65.80 64. 00 63.60 65.60 63.40 61.20 i'( r cent. 50.30 41.65 54.64 50.21 42. 13 52. 4 1 51.72 60.65 62.94 63. 20 63. 72 63.58 63. 52 60.21 6.63 5.64 6.47 5.99 7.58 5.19 6.39 6.84 6.56 '""5." 89 9.18 5.14 8.67 15.74 14.24 15.69 15.59 30.40 16.94 14.24 7.22 6.15 4.94 21.42 14.56 7.34 65.80 57.44 48.40 63. 72 55.78 4L65 89 Table \ll.—Eaw sugars. Dates. No. Per cent, sugar by polariza- tion. .Sept. 26.. Oct. 8.. Oct. 8.. Oct. 8.. Oct. 13.. Mean . . . 123 201 204 205 242 77.40 89.40 86.00 84.00 75.80 82.52 T AB LK Ylll.— First s ufjars. Dates. No. Per cent, sujrai" by polariza- tion. Oct. 9.. Oct. 9.. Oct. 8.. Oct. 8.- Oct. 9.. Oct. 16 . Oct. 24.. Oct. 30.. Oct. 30 . Oct. 30 Moan 215 381 202 222 223 260 303 3A6 347 381 97.40 97.00 97.80 98.20 95.00 96.00 95. 00 97. CO 97.00 97.00 96.80 Table IX. — Molasses. Date. Nuniber. Moisture. Asb. Glucose. Sucrose, dinct. Sucro.sc, indirect. Solids. notHugar. Sept 26 Oct. 6 Oct. 6....... Oct. 8 ! O.t. 9 j Oct. 10 ! Oct. 11 Oct. 16 Oct. 24 Max! in a 122 190 196 203 221 225 229 2.i9 345 Per cent. 26. 54 34.00 31.00 32. 25 29.60 30 04 2'}. 27 Per cent. 7.03 7.33 7.41 7.19 6.09 7.40 6.97 6.85 Per cent 28.41 17.33 16.78 15.76 17.33 14.57 17.30 14.56 13.32 Per cent. 34.00 40. OJ 43.60 44. 00 43.40 41.20 46.20 42. (2 44.00 Per cent. 35. 62 3J. 49 43.17 43.40 4.3 Ot 41.96 44. >^2 38.25 40 79 1.80 1.61 1.64 1.40 3.94 6.03 7.64 32. 63 34. 00 29. 92 23.27 7.63 7.11 6.09 28.41 17.26 13.32 46. 20 42.11 34.60 4t.82 41.17 35.62 Means Minima . . . 90 Table X. — Mill jukes from (xhauaied chips. Date. Sopt. 4 Sci)t. G Sept. 7 Sept. 12 I Sept. 13. Sept. ]t Sei)t. 17.. Sept. ]8 , Sopt. 18 Sept. I'J Sept. 'JO Sept. 21 , Sept. 21 Sept. 22 Sept. 2t Soi)t. 24 Sept. 27 Sept. 28 Sept. 2'J Sei)t. 29 Sopt. no Sopt. 30 Oct. .2 Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. 2 5 5 C G Oct. n.. Oct. 13.. Oct. 15.. Oct. 17.. Oct. 18. Oct. 18.. Oct. 19. . Oct. 20 . Oct. 22 , Oct. 23 Oct. 23. Oct. 24. Oct. 24. Oct. 25. Oct. 26. Oct. 27. Oct. 29 Oct. 29. Oct. 30 Kov. 1. Nov. 2. Nov. 2. Nov. 3. Maxima Means . . Minima. No. iBaume 93 m 100 112 \\7 130 141 144 i.-.o 157 101 108 172 i82 186 194 198 209 214 219 231 237 247 254 266 271 275 280 286 290 295 299 305 311 314 318 323 332 338 341 356 360 366 373 1.10 1.30 1.40 1.60 1.60 1.50 1.50 1.10 .90 Brix. 1.40 1.30 2.20 l.s-0 1.90 1.50 1.00 1.50 1.40 1.40 1. 50 1.10 1.50 1.70 1.90 1.80 1.50 1.90 1.90 2.90 2.90 2.30 2.70 2.60 1.90 2.80 1.30 1.10 2 20 1.30 1. 55 2.40 2.60 1.90 1.70 1.90 2.20 2.40 2.90 2.00 2.20 2.00 2.44 2.54 2.94 2.93 2.67 2.71 2.0 5 1.63 1.99 2.68 2.13 2.22 1.38 2.48 2. 35 4.0t 3.32 3.47 2.74 2.90 2.76 2.55 2.61 2.69 2.00 2. 68 3.12 3.47 3.26 2.74 3.47 3.36 5,30 5.32 4.14 4.80 4.60 3.40 5. 00 2.40 2.00 3.90 2.40 2.80 4.26 4. 62 3.50 3.03 3.46 3.90 4.27 5.17 3.6 3 4.02 Specific c.,„,., gravity, ^ucn 1.0075 1. t089 1.0101 1.0113 1.0113 1.0105 1.0105 4.0077 1. 0062 1.0077 1.0105 1. 0081 1.0081 i.oo:o 1. 0097 t.0089 1.0155 1.0125 1.0133 L0105 1.0113 J. 0105 1. 0097 1.0101 1.0105 1. 0077 1.0105 1.0117 1.0133 1.0125 1.0105 1.0133 1.0133 1. 0209 1.0299 1. 0162 1. 0189 1.0181 1.0133 1.0197 1.0095 1.0075 1.0151 1. 0094 1.0108 1.0165 1.0181 1.0137 1.0117 1. 0129 1.0153 1.0169 1, 0205 1.0141 1.0157 2. 90 5. 32 1.75 3.17 .80 I 1.38 1. 0299 1.01221 1.0050 .72 .69 .51 .81 1.30 .73 .92 .79 .69 .51 1.23 .51 .77 .36 1.03 1.08 1.99 GIUCOHB. .77 2.13 1.28 1.28 1.83 1.18 1.36 1.44 72 28 33 58 64 13 49 1.54 2.29 2.55 1.C9 2.45 1,74 1.44 2.81 1.18 1.03 2.25 1.33 1.28 2.10 2.40 1.33 1.08 1.69 1.48 1.99 2.91 1.74 1.79 2.91 1.40 .36 ,18 .63 .51 .53 .65 .73 .27 .25 .27 .40 .35 .32 .21 .37 .30 .43 .36 .44 .22 .23 .27 .19 .20 .34 .23 .29 .34 .52 .35 .34 .43 .35 .79 .52 .61 .82 ..52 .31 .50 .19 .25 .39 .23 .24 .40 .33 .21 .28 .26 .25 .28 .27 .21 .23 Purity. 36.00 28.28 20.08 27.55 44.36 27. 22 33.95 38.91 42. 33 25.63 45.82 23.94 34.(8 26.09 41.13 45.99 49. 25 23. 19 61.38 46.71 44. 13 66. 30 46.27 52.17 53. 5'^ 36.00 44. 0 { 42. 62 45. 53 50. 30 41.24 42. 04 45. 8 ! 43.21 47. 93 40.82 51.01 37. 82 42. 35 56.20 49.10 51. 50 57.57 55.41 45.72 49. 34 51.94 38. 00 35 64 48.84 40.51 46. 60 56. 28 48. 06 44.52 C6. 30 43.12 20.08 91 Table XI.— Albuminoids. Number. Fresh chips. Nnmber. D.ffusion .luice. Number. Defecated Juices. CO 1 Per cent .6503 .6183 . 8250 .7438 .7503 . 8063 .8875 .7313 1. 0375 . 4875 . 8300 . (•■687 .9(;5G 72 Per cent. .4688 .4688 . 5438 . 5313 . 4088 .5188 .5188 .5313 ..5813 . 5625 .5813 . 5813 .5813 .5938 . .5t?81 ..5094 . 5500 . 59(16 . rooo .5587 63 Per cent. . 4938 .4813 . 4(88 . .5438 .4813 .5313 . 5625 .5125 . 5000 .5813 . 5500 .5125 . 5625 . 57.':o . 5813 . 5000 . 5025 . 5000 70 77 ^9 94 74 138 143 82 90 165 183 211 234 253 104 118 135 139 145 166 184 212 235 255 297 306 319 324 333 95.. 119 132 136 140 146 167 1 185 i 213 301 317 322 359 Means .... 236 256 320 325 362 361 .7857 . 5L'64 .5278 92 Table Xll.— Comparison of acidity in juices from fresh chips and diffusion juices with ■use of caustic lime. Date. Mill juices from fresh chips. Diffusion juices. 100 c.c. Glucose 100 c. c. Glucose No. N Su- Glu- to 100 No. N Su- Glu- to 100 Extrac- req. y^ crose. cose. I)t8. su- req. j^ crose. cose. pts. su- tion. NaOH. crose. NaOH. crose. 1 c. c. Pr.cent. Pr.cent. c. c. Pr.cent Pr.cent. ! Oct. 5 179 32 12.47 3.02 24.2 180 15 1.1b 2.60 33.4 88.45 1 Oct. 5 183 12 10.97 3.66 33.4 184 9 8.09 2.63 32.5 93.40 Oct. C 189 28 13.97 2.49 17.8 192 12 9.43 2.19 22.1 90. 80 Oct. 8 206 38 12.56 2.85 22.7 207 21 8.28 2.08 2.).1 87.40 ! Oct. 8 211 24 12. 03 2.31 19.2 212 14 8.59 1.89 22 86.30 1 Oct. 9 216 39.5 11.97 2.94 24.5 217 33 7.65 2.19 28. C 90. 50 1 Oct. 11 230 35.5 13.28 2.87 21.6 232 18 8,14 2.59 31.8 88.70 ' Oct. 11 234 30 12.45 2.44 19.6 235 20 9.11 2.22 24.3 1 87.70 ' Oct. 13 244 35 10. 05 3.91 38.9 246 28 9.48 2.36 24.9 77.20 Oct. 15 2.53 (*) 15.58 1.31 8.4 255 (*) 9.37 1.55 10.5 8J.70 Oct. 19 277 52 14.31 2.01 17.1 278 23.5 8.53 2.13 24.9 Oct. 20 283 44.5 13.37 2.19 16.3 284 24.4 8.98 1.54 17.1 Oct. 22 287 42 12.47 1.21 9.7 288 14.5 7.93 1.19 15.0 90 50 Oct. 23 292 30 11.98 1.48 12.3 293 15 6.93 1.27 18.3 91.40 Oct. 23 296 25 11.90 1.48 12.3 297 18 7.35 1.25 17.0 81.10 1 Oct. 24 304 30 12.96 1.29 9.9 306 10 7.20 1.27 17.6 ?9.70 Oct. 24 308 25 12.19 1.39 11.4 309 10 8.13 1.24 15.2 89.50 ; Oct. 25 313 38 14.41 1.74 12.1 315 8 8.64 1.19 13. 7 85.40 i Oct. 26 317 14.98 1.00 6,7 319 1 8.58 1.15 13.4 84.00 1 Oct. 27 322 36 14. 29 L34 9.4 324 15 8.90 1.28 14.3 90.70 Oct. 27 326 19.5 12.91 1.20 9.3 327 7 8.42 1.29 15.3 Oct. 29 331 26 14.49 1.18 8.1 333 12 7.4-2 1.15 15.5 92. .^6 Oct. 29 335 33 14.01 1.14 8.1 336 13 8.26 1.33 16.1 87.90 i Oct. 30 340 26 13.99 1.42 10.1 342 6 7.33 1.20 16.4 89.42 : Oct. 30 349 18 13.59 2.(0 14.7 350 16 7.20 1.36 18.8 1 Nov. 1 353 20 14.30 2.23 10.6 354 9 8.13 1.40 17.2 80.00 Nov. 2 359 12 13.67 1.99 14.5 361 (t) 7.48 1.80 21.6 77.20 ! Nov. 2 Means . 363 7 29.2 12.91 1.13 8.7 364 2 6.92 0.99 14.3 86.50 13.15 1.99 15.4 14.4 8.15 1.65 20.2 87.33 Table XIII. — Comparison of acidify of juices without caustic lime Sept. 21 92 31.00 9.34 4.12 44.1 94 39.40 6.92 3.12 45.1 94.50 Sept. 22 107 40.80 11.49 3.11 27.1 108 38.50 6.65 2.30 34.6 Sept. 24 111 36.00 9.65 3.02 3L3 113 28.20 7.69 2.20 28.6 89.30 Sept. 24 110 40.00 10.89 2.24 29; 6 118 28.50 8.20 1.91 23.3 90.00 Sent. 26 124 47.00 12.89 2.51 19.4 125 26.00 6.69 2.23 33.3 Sept. 23 143 40.00 12.79 2.45 19.1 145 40.00 8.85 L96 22.1 83.30 Sept. 29 147 34.50 14.92 1.19 7.9 148 34.50 10.02 1.68 16.7 88.60 Sept. 30 154 49. 00 13.82 1.82 13.2 155 49.00 8.86 1.83 20.6 90.70 Sept. 30 158 42.50 13.66 1.83 13.4 159 40.50 9.08 ].91 21.0 88.80 Oct. 2 Means . 155 45.10 12.69 2.60 21.2 166 29.70 8. 25 2.16 26.1 90 70 .... 40.59 12.21 2.49 21.7 35.43 8.12 2.13 27.1 89.49 Table XIV. — Acidity and inversion with calcium carbonate (whitiny). Sept. 27 Sept. 27 Means . 131 138 43.4 44 12.78 13.51 2.09 2.14 21.0 15.8 135 139 18.00 15.50 8.43 7.92 2.24 2.24 26.5 28.3 43.7 13.15 2.42 18.4 16.75 8.18 2.24 27.4 Neutral. t Alkaline. 03 Table XV. — Comparison •>/ Brix sjnndlca with soHih by drying. MILL JUICES FROM FRESH CHIPS. «5 sa S-c« 0 . « . Date. No. Brlx at 15.5°. 15 IS 5^5 ill u i SI la ll cr: ei 3 H-o ^ CO 0 P^ 0 0 I'r.cent. Pr.cent. Pr.cent. Pr.cent. Pr cent. Oct. 3 17G 18. 49 17.21 17.14 12.82 1.61 69.33 12. t2 73. 62 Oct. 4 183 10. 83 18.57 18.15 10.97 3. 66 5.-.. 32 11.06 60. 88 03 13.47 73.97 Me7 13. 16 74. GO Caiio (rom lowland. S^pt 11 ■"i3 18.50 1.07(i6 12.87 09. 52 Spoi t eane, 11 feet 5 iuclice loU'j. Sept. 11 u 17.22 1. 0709 3.73 21. GO OiiiHi from oairier. Sept. 12 19 20. 03 1.085.') 2. 93 14.20 Cut for two daya. Sept. 12 23 17. 92 1. 0739 12. 38 GK. 97 On») t>i>ort. Sept. 12 24 17.93 1.0739 12. 88 71.81 Amhir, Sept. 13 28 17.10 1.0704 11.37 GO. 49 Chinese. Sept. 13 29 18.37 1.0757 11.65 G:{.42 Wliitn Africnn. Sept. 13 30 17.07 1.072G 11. SO G7.12 Cam« Irom Cuueirn. Sept. 13 31 17.98 1. 07;i9 1.3. :;o 73. 97 StiiniUni: Irom Air Al;:iorH. Sept. 13 32 17. 47 1.0717 13. 18 75. 45 l-'allun from .Mr. Al;,'tei(t. Sept. 13 33 17.r.0 1.0722 9. 32 53. 25 .Amber from carrior. Sept. 13 34 16. 28 1. 0G(i2 11.45 70. 33 Or.iu^f. Sept. 13 4U l.S.OO I.(i6l3 10. 21 08.07 Do. Sept. 13 41 18.07 l.O-'TO 12.00 01. 2G . Auibor. S*^pt. 13 4i 17.09 1.0720 10.76 00. 82 Do. Soj.t. Vi 4i 15. 83 1.0G17 10.57 GG.77 Oraugc. ;.105U— Bull. 20- 98 Table No. XYlLSorglmm m«e— Continued. Total I Date. No. solids bv liiix Specific gravity. Su- crose. Purity. Character of sample. at 17.50 Ferct. Sept. 14 49 15.27 1. 0621 9.09 59. 55 Mixe«l catics. Sept. 14 r)U 8.52 1.0327 3.75 44.23 Ojan^e. Sept. 14 51 15.77 1.0613 10.20 64.64 Do. Soi.t. 14 52 16. 33 1.0669 11.99 79. 54 Do. Sept. 14 54 16.00 1.0656 10.29 64.31 Amber IVom carrier. Scj.t. 1:-) 63 17,93 1. 0739 12. 41 69. 21 Chinese. S.-pr. 17 77 17. .54 1.07''2 11.48 65.45 Orauffc. Sept. 17 81 11.57 1. 0464 5.13 42. 61 Mixed Amhcr. Sept. 17 82 15.97 1.06.)2 9.81 61.42 Do. - Sept. 17 83 15.74 1.0043 10.88 69. 12 Do. Sept. 17 84 14.14 1. 0574 8.59 60. 74 Do. Sept. 17 85 18. 32 1. 0757 12.28 67.03 Do. Sept. 17 86 17.87 1. 0735 12.03 67. 32 Do. Sept. 17 87 16.27 i.oao5 9.55 58.69 Do. Sept. 17 88 19.95 1. 0788 12.87 67.53 Do. Sept. 17 92 16.72 1.0687 10.10 60.41 Do. Sept. 17 93 18.21 1.0753 9.05 52. 99 Do. Sept. 18 95 15.79 1 0643 9.48 60.04 Do. Sept. 18 96 12.40 1.050 J 7.15 57.06 Oranffc. Sept. 18 105 15. 38 1. 0626 8.97 58. 32 Amber. Sept. 19 106 14.22 1.0578 8.48 59, 63 Jersey Or^inge. Sept. lit •107 16.19 1. OiieO 9.68 59.79 Sprout.-j from above. Sept. 19 108 13.60 1.0553 8.06 59. 26 Kansas Oran^^c. Sept. 19 109 18.92 1.0783 12. 67 66.96 Mixed Amber. Sept, 19 110 10.77 1. 0430 5.40 50.14 Lute Orange. Sept. 19 112 21.17 1, 0909 15.08 71.23 Ariiber. Sept. 19 113 19.83 1.0824 14.14 71.30 Chinese. Sept. 19 114 10.98 1. 0695 11. 52 67. 84 Orange. Sept. 21 117 9.77 1.0388 4.71 47.18 Do. Sept. 21 118 10.57 1. 0422 5.30 50.14 Do. Sept. 22 127 13.83 l.O.'iOl 9.08 65.73 Mixed Amber. Sept. 23 141 17.72 1. 0730 11.33 63. 93 Spoit cane. Sept. 26 177 17.90 1.0739 12. 46 69.55 Mixed cane. Sept. 26 178 17.75 1. 0732 12. 18 68. 59 Do. Sept. 26 187 15 06 1.0613 8.61 57. 17 Ciine red at heart. Sept. 26 189 15.77, 1.0043 8.76 55.55 Orange. Sept. 26 190 17. 23 1. 07U9 11.. 51 66.80 Amber. Sept. 28 203 10.92 1. 0439 4.75 43.49 Orange. Sept. 28 204 20.24 1.0841 15.60 77.07 Small Orange, planted cloae. Sept. 29 200 19.30 1.0801 14.65 76.00 Mixed cane. Sept. 29 207 18.49 1. 07rvl 11.72 63. 32 Cane from cairier. Oct. 1 212 19.14 1.0806 13.36 75. 02 Amber. Oct. 1 213 19.19 1.0828 14.37 74.88 Chinese. Oct. 2 227 18.10 1.0718 13.58 75.02 Amber. Oct. 2 228 18.25 1. 0753 6.36 34.85 Orancp. Oct. 3 245 18.03 1.0744 12.61 69. 99 Do. Oct. 3 246 13.20 1.0536 6.53 49.39 Do. Oci. 4 257 15.54 1. 06;U 9.48 61.00 Amber. Oct. 4 258 14.70 1. 0600 6. 21 42. Oi) Do. Oct. 5 272 17. 73 1. 0730 11.48 64.74 Do. Oct. 5 Oct. f) 273 274 17.06 20. 30 11.98 15:03- 70. 22 74.04 Do. Small cane. Oct. 5 275 18.00 12.37 68.72 White African. Oct. 5 276 19.00 12. 99 68.36 Orange. Oct. 5 Oct. 6 277 283 16.60 13.82 10.88 8.15 65. 54 58. 97 Dr.. Do. Oct. 6 287 18.34 13.13 71.59 Do. Oct. 8 300 13. 35 7. 58 56.78 Do. Oct. 8 Oct. 8 Oct. 10 301 308 322 16.67 15.29 12. 95 11.00 9.09 5.95 65.98 60.10 45.94 Do. Do. Amber. Oct. 12 342 12.19 5.51 45. 20 Orange. Oct. 12 343 17.60 11.21 63.70 White African. Amber. Oct. 1.5 371 19.23 12.42 64. 58 Oct. 18 Oct. 19 376 391 9.54 15.10 4.64 8 96 4S.67 59. 39 Orange. White African. Or.ange. Oct. 19 392 12.75 5.55 4.3.' 48 Oct. 20 398 14.27 6.88 48. 31 Orange, first frost. Oiange. Do. Do. Oct. 20 399 17.77 12.75 71.75 Oct. 20 Oct. 20 400 •J 01 17.60 15.63 12.13 8.07 69. 92 51.63 Oct. 20 Oct. 20 Oct. 20 402 403 40 1 13.78 14.56 15. 69 8.62 8.60 9.54 CI. 82 52.19 00.80 Do. Do. Do. Oct 20 Oct. 20 405 400 Menu 17. 62 16. ,38 16.39 11.85 9.75 67. 25 61.96 Do. Do. 1.0681 10.05 60.64 99 Table XV HI.— Fresh chips. Date. Xo. Total solids 1)5' Biix at 17.50. • Sucrose. Purity. Glucose. Albunii- uoid<). Sept. 14 Sept. 14 Sept. 15 Sept. 15 Sept. 16 Sept. 16 Sept. 17 Sept. 17 Sept. 17 Sept. 21 Sept. 22 Sept. 22 Sept. 23 Sept. 23 Sept. 23 Sept. 23 Sept. 24 Soi)t. 24 Sept. 24 Sept. 25 Sept. 25 Sept. 25 Sept. 20 Sept. 26 Sept. 27 Sept. 27 Sept. 27 Oct. 1 Oct. 1 Oct. 2 Oct. 2 Oct. 2 Oct. 2 Oct. 3 Oct. 3 Oct. 3 Oct. 3 Oct. 4 Oct. 4 Oct. 4 Oct. 5 Oct. 6 Oct. 0 Oct.. 7 Oct. 7 Oct. 8 Oct. 9 Oct. 9 Oct. 10 O.-t. 10 Oct. 11 Oct. 11 Oct. 12 Oct. 12 Oct. 15 Oct. 15 Oct. 15 Oct. 17 Oct. 17 Oct. 18 Oct. 19 Oct. 20 Oct. 20 Oct. 21 Oct. 23 Oct. 23 Oct. 24 56 00 01 09 73 78 90 97 101 119 123 130 134 138 143 140 150 154 158 165 169 173 179 183 191 195 199 208 214 217 220 223 229 232 235 242 247 252 259 263 267 278 288 292 290 304 309 314 318 327 332 337 344 3.i0 355 359 363 307 372 377 387 391 407 414 424 428 432 Monn. 1(5.50 18.71 16. 25 18.00 17.77 18.80 10. 51 21.34 19.25 13. 32 15.75 1.5.20 15.17 17.13 17.11 17.79 10.01 10. 10 10.82 15.23 17. 03 18.25 17.49 17. 20 15. 37 19.25 17.21 18.22 10.00 18.18 10.50 10.10 14.43 14.72 15.69 16.45 16.60 17.78 18.43 17.32 17.48 16.07 16.81 17.53 17.01 16.88 1.5.41 19.41 10.79 10.81 17.00 18.58 18.11 17.70 1.5.31 18.70 1.5.40 17.99 10.00 17.47 17.87 14.18 15.50 13. 50 18. 15 10. 05 15.23 Per cent. 9. 51 9. 75 8.^5 9.20 10.67 12.33 9.73 15.02 12. 90 5.40 9.10 9.01 7.80 11.12 10.88 10.50 10.45 9.10 10. 55 7.85 10.40 11.25 10.09 9. 75 7.72 11. 9 9.72 11 2.) 8.87 11.74 8.50 10.47 8.50 9.37 9. .51 9.03 9.19 10.03 11.20 9.88 8.99 9.19 9.12 11.81 10.88 9.70 8.29 11.30 9.83 9.37 9.32 12.35 10. 95 10.88 8.81 11.04 8.24 10.60 8.97 10. 48 9.57 7.26 8.33 7.32 10. 98 8.8^ 8.03 57.64 52. (10 54.86 51.11 00.04 65.37 58.93 70.38 67.01 40.54 57.78 03. 22 51..81 01.91 03. 59 59.30 02. 91 50.52 02. 72 51.54 01.41 07. 12 01. 12 50.70 50. 20 00 21 56. 48 01.90 53.43 04.57 51.08 05. 03 59.37 0). 65 00.01 58.54 55. 30 50. 51 00.77 57.01 51. 43 .57.00 51. 25 07.37 04. 55 57.88 53. 83 58.22 58. 55 55. 74 54. 82 00.47 00.40 01.47 50.90 01.71 53. 30 59.17 5.5. 85 00. 43 51.10 51.24 53. 77 54. 04 C<). 50 .55. 34 50 70 Per cent. 3.25 4.59 3.80 3.70 3.03 2.93 3.24 2.37 2. 10 2.72 2.90 2.81 3.21 1.40 2.81 2.58 2.58 3.07 2.00 3.93 2. 95 2.27 2.91 3.12 3.47 3.85 3.48 2.37 3.55 2. 33 3.80 2.14 2. 55 2.45 2.59 3.15 3.22 3.23 2.71 2. 95 4.20 3.03 3.13 2.21 2.35 2.85 3.30 3.35 3.U0 3. l(i 3. 45 2.25 2.95 2. T.\ 2.95 2.05 3.80 3.00 3.00 3.88, 3.43 3.02 2.98 2.81 3.09 2.93 2.81 Per cent. ......... .51875 .57187 . 53125 . 78750 1.04378 .02812 .60312 .C2fJ]2 ""."76U2 .63125 . 3o750 . 40250 . 51325 . 59002 10.89 9.88 58.34 3.01 . 01048 100 Table XIX.— Diffusion Juice. Date. No. Sept. 14 Sept. 15 Sept, 15 Sept. ]G Sept. IG Sept. 17 Sept. 17 Sept. 18 Sept. 18 Sept. 21 Sept. 22 Sept. L'2 Sept. 23 Sept. 2 { Sept. 23 Sept. 23 Sept. 24 Sept. 24 Sept. 24 Sept. 25 Sept. 25 Sept. 25 Sept. 25 Sept. 20 Sept. 2G Sept. 27 Sept. 27 Sept. 27 1 1 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 4 4 Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. 0<5t. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oi'.t. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. O.t. Oct. Oct. 57 CI m 70 74 79 91 98 102 120 124 131 i:{5 131) 144 147 151 155 ^^9 ]fi2 10!! 170 174 180 184 192 lOG 200 2<)9 215 218 221 224 230 2:iG 243 248 253 2o0 264 268 279 289 293 297 305 310 315 319 328 333 338 315 351 350 300 3G4 368 376 378 38S 395 408 415 425 429 433 Menu Total solids by IJiix at 17.5°. 7.05 G.37 5. 13 4.38 5. 44 5. 52 C.47 0. 01 0. 0;) 4.81 G. .55 4.57 5'. 45 G.3I 5. 40 5. 86 7.04 G.4S 6.00 5.33 6. 92 G. 80 8.91 9 00 8.45 10.25 11.63 9.49 9.00 8.49 8.01 8.30 8.21 7.10 7.0(5 6.55 7.91 9.12 9.00 9. .55 9.75 9.89 10.79 10.07 11.07 11.21 10. 83 9.82 9.95 9.14 10,15 8.79 7. .58 7.80 9.00 10. .54 9.07 7.52 9. 34 . 9. 38 7.70 8 39 8.25 8.23 9 22 7.75 8,34 8.00 Sucrose. Per cent. 4,16 3. 92 2.71 2.07 3.40 3. 57 4.07 4. 21 3.95 2. 78 3. 94 2.77 3.19 4,13 3. 53 3. 72 4.49 3. 92 3. 02 3.72 4.12 4.04 5. 24 5.31 4.92 5.91 0.45 5.43 5 80 4. 72 4.74 4.46 4,90 4.06 4.28 3.41 4.40 5.09 4.99 5. 15 5.61 5. 12 6 30 5.92 7.02 6.67 6.15 5,45 5.87 5.18 5.18 5.60 4.45 4.91 5.62 6.11 5.26 4.51 .5,31 5.21 4.30 4.28 4.94 4.66 5. 43 .3.99 4.80 4.69 Purity. 59.01 61.54 .52. 77 60.95 62. 93 61.07 62. 90 69.62 65. ^6 .57. 79 00.15 60.01 51.53 68. 33 dry. 37 63. 48 03. 78 60. 49 CO. 33 47.72 59. 5:i 5,s. 89 58.60 59.(0 58. 23 58 14 57.18 57.22 65. li 55. 59 ,59. 17 53 73 59.68 57.18 55.87 52. 00 55. 62 55.81 55. 07 53. 92 57.54 51.78 58. 38 58. 78 63.41 59. 50 51!, 79 :'.'> 49 58. 99 5(5. 67 51.03 63.70 58.71 61.23 62. 67 57. 97 57. 97 62, 67 57.82 55. .55 54.31 51. 13 59.91 56. 72 .58. 91 51.61 57.55 58.63 Glucose. Albuini- uoids. Per cent. 1.60 1.21 1.20 .83 .!!8 I. 00 1.11 .78 .94 1.19 .94 1.00 1.00 .82 1.03 1.08 1.15 1.05 1.18 1.10 1.20 1.28 1.60 1.49 1.51 2.20 1.87 1. .53 1.01 2.57 1.53 1.25 1.30 1.38 1.80 1.31 1,44 1,42 Per cent. 1.42 1.82 1.80 1.08 1.02 1.74 1 91 1.88 1.44 1.70 2.02 1.30 1.18 1.24 1.30 1.78 1.02 1.14 1..59 2.(0 J. 51 2.08 1..57 1..56 1.75 1.76 1.72 1.44 20250 '22366 , 33437 '33756 "3.34.50 33125 ,35660 "23125 "38775 ,34687 28137 ,28125 ,'2.5025 , 27187 '31250 , 30248 101 Tablk XX.—CJarifted juice. Date. No. Total .solids by lirix at 17.5°. «ucro8C. riirity. Glucose. Allmtni- nuids. Oct. 4.... Oct 4 Oct. 4 Oct. 5 Ocf. 0 Oct 6...- Oct. 7...- Oct. 7 Oct. 8 Oct 9 Oct 9 Oct 10 Oct. 10 Oct U Oct 11 Oct 12 Oct 12 Oct 13 (tct 15 Oct 15 Oct 17 .... Oct 17 Oct 18 Oct 19 Oct 20 Oct 20 Oct 21 Oct 23 Oct 23 Oct 24 Highest . . Average . Lowest .. 254 261 26.-. 209 280 290 294 298 306 311 316 320 329 334 339 346 352 357 361 365 369 374 379 389 396 409 416 426 430 434 9.32 9. 36 9 97 10.10 14.45 12.33 12.98 11. 56 11.04 11.86 10.34 1(1. 61 10.00 10.55 9.05 7.92 8.04 9.22 11.23 10.41 8.14 9. 45 10. 08 7.64 8.96 8.47 8.32 9.24 7.90 8.77 Per cent. 5. 26 4. 9S 5. 12 5.71 7.6,S 6.76 7. 59 7. 23 6.35 6.57 5.74 6.01 5.42 5.37 5.57 4.61 4.75 5.59 6. .34 5.46 4.88 5.20 5.52 4.17 4. 63 4.96 4.57 5.57 3.97 4.49 57. 52 54.27 .54. 36 56. 54 53. 15 5t83 58. 63 64. 29 57.22 .56. 24 55.51 50.64 54.20 50.90 61.37 58. 21 59. 08 60. 63 .%.46 52.54 59.99 55.66 44.81 54.77 51.72 58.67 54.99 60.36 50.34 51.20 Per cent. 1.48 1.68 1. 6'.) 1.46 2. CO 2.20 2.24 1.4S l.KO 1.91 1.72 1.68 1.76 2.16 1.30 1.20 1.14 1.44 1.86 1.84 1.09 l.CO 2.02 1.43 2.04 1.55 l.CO 1.82 1.75 1.77 Per cent. Lime. Sulphite used. No lime used. '■■.43437 "".30625 .325C0 .324-0 .33750 .25625 .42500 "*".3'l256' .28125 .27187 .20502 .27185 .33125 14.45 9.91 7.64 7.68 5.55 3.97 64.29 55.84 44.81 2.60 1.71 1.09 .43437 .31871 .25625 Table XXI.— Semi-sirup. Total Total - Date. No. solids bv Biix at 17.5°. Sucrose. Purity. Glu- cose. Date. No. solids by brix. at 17.5°. Sucrose. Purity. Glu- cose. Per ci. Per ct. Per et. Peret. Sept 15. 59 4tl0 22.17 53.17 9.09 Sept. 26- 180 84.00 48.52 57. 76 16.01 Sept 15. 67 34.10 18.32 53. 43 7. 69 Sept 27. 198 37. 15 22. 31 60.05 6.41 Sept 10. 72 34.87 19.17 54.97 6.99 Sept 27-1 20i 39.68 23. 03 58.04 7.54 Sept 16. 76 17.63 7.71 Oct 1. 211 35. 80 21. 56 60.12 6.82 Sept 18 94 50.40 26. 77 53. 05 8.04 Oct 2. 226 37.68 21.90 58.13 7.04 Sept. 18- 100 37. 38 23.76 63.56 5.61 Oct 3 238 39.58 23.71 59.90 6.73 Scpt 18. 104 38 42 24.80 64.55 5.35 Oct. 4. 250 38.05 22. 02 57.92 6.50 Sept 22. 122 35.68 17. 34 48. 5!> 9.86 Oct 5. 271 38.47 22. 73 59.08 6.92 Sept 22. 126 39.12 20. 12 51.43 9. 55 Oct 9. 313 36. 92 23. 08 62. 51 6.13 Sept. 23. 133 33. 16 13. 05 57. 45 6.65 Oct 10. 331 43. 93 25.62 58.32 8.23 Sept 23. 137 36. 03 20. 85 57. 87 6.90 Oct 11- 341 43.95 25. 68 58.43 8 26 Sept. 23 142 31.90 19.71 61.79 5.96 Oct 13. 354 39.50 23. 42 59. 29 6.79 Sopt 24. Sept 24 149 153 37.98 40. 30 23. 49 25. 59 61.85 63. 50 6.44 7.30 Oct 19. Oct 21. :«93 418 23 33 28.40 ■59." 05 8.81 9.39 48.10 S.pt 24. Sept. 25. 157 164 30.72 37.04 22. 73 20.53 61.91 55.42 6.87 6.72 Highest 84.00 48. 52 64. .55 16.01 Sept. 25. 172 56.40 33.54 59.40 12.49 Average 41.22 23.79 57.99 7.81 Sept 26. 1V6 45. 60 25.16 55.18 7.85 Lowest 31.90 17.34 48.59 5. 35 Sept 20. 182 48.57 29.02 51.92 9.11 102 Table XXU.— Masse cuUe, Date. No. Sucrose. Sucrose, double pol. Glucose. Moisture. Sept. 12 Sept. 22 22 128 2:.9 282 285 3(13 323 326 381 38t 411 419 439 Per cent. 39.00 53. 44 54. 34 51.31 55. 60 51.60 52. 60 53.50 50.00 40.00 50. 20 51.60 44.00 Par cent. Per cent. 21.10 15.43 17. 05 15.20 15. .'i7 18.93 16. OH 16.77 16.43 16.60 17.69 18. 35 19.02 Per cent. First strilcn. Second strike. Fourtli strike. Filtb strike. Seventh strike. Eighth strike. Sixth strike. Nintli strike. Tenth strike. Eleventh strike. Twelfth strike. Thirteenth strike. Second masse cuite. 17.59 16.50 20. 85 20. 79 16.86 19. 24 19. 10 22. 25 24.70 21.43 17.69 23. 00 Oct. 3 Oct. 8 ""'57.'20' 55.00 55.00 Oct. 8 Oct. 8 Oct. 10 Oct. 10 Oct. 18 Oct. 18 Oct. 20 52. 80 52. 80 55. 00 52. 80 46.64 Oct. 21 .... Oct. 30 nighest........ ...... 55.60 50. 48 39.00 57. 20 .53.41 46.64 21.10 17.25 15. 29 20.00 Lowest Table XXllL— Sugar. Sopt.19 Ill 129 240 283 80.80 93. 51 95. 04 95. on First strike. Second stiike. Fourth strike. Fifth strike. Sixth strike. Seventh strike. Tenth strike. Eleventh strike. IVelfth strike. Thirteenth strike. Rehoilod .sugar. Second sugars. Sept. 29 Oct. 3 Oct. 6 Oct. 10 324 ! 91.08 348 95. 00 Oct. 12 Oct. 18 . . . 383 385 413 421 423 437 440 93. 60 93.60 96. 00 96.40 94.40 99.60 94.00 Oct. 18 Oct. 20 Oct. 21 Oct. 21 Oct. 21 Oct. 21 Highest 99.60 94.45 89.80 Averai^e Lowest Table XXTV .—Molasses. Oct. 3 241 284 325 .349 382 385 412 420 422 441 36.11 38.00 38. 40 37. CO 44. 00 46. 00 39. 10 .38. 40 42. 00 42. 00 17.27 19.76 18.11 21.29 22.48 22. 86 28.85 27.66 23. 59 22.84 23. 05 27.76 26. 05 23.29 27.08 Fourth strike. Fiftli strike. Sixth strike. Seven til strike. Tenth strike. Eleventh stiike. Twelfth strike. Thirteenth strike. Ninth strike. From seconds. Oct. 6 Oct.10 Oct. 12 41.80 39.60 '""'48. 40' 41.80 41.14 44. 00 44.00 Oct. 18 Oct. 18 Oct.10 Oct. 21 17.77 18.40 20.05 17.40 Oct. 21 Oct. 30 Highest Average . • 40.00 40. 16 36.11 48.40 42.96 39.60 22. 48 19.17 17.27 25.30 Lowest 103 Table XXV.— ^x chijis. Date. Sept. Sept. Sept. Sep'. Se;.t. Sept. Sept. Sept. Se|)t. Sept. Sept. Sept. Sept. S--'i»t. Sept. Sept. St'pt. Sept. Sept. Sept. Sept. Sept. Sept Sept. Sept. (ct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. No. >3. HO 23 1 148 Total 80litl8 by Su- •rose. Purity. at 17.60. P.ct 3.81 1.43 37.53 3.04 1.43 39:29' 2. 90 1.29 44.48 2.34 .97 41.45 3.10 1.42 45. 81 3.73 1.69 4.5. 31 3.88 2.05 52. 81 2.51 .87 34.80 2.75 1.59 57.82 1.95 .^9 45.03 2.34 1.04 44.44 3.37 1.58 46.88 3.25 1.52 46.77 2. 70 1.44 52.17 2.70 1.26 46.66 3.57 1.85 51.82 1.97 .94 47.72 3.84 1.81 47. 65 3.40 1.77 51.15 2.95 1.35 4.-.. 75 2.32 1.21 50.80 3.60 1.87 51.94 3.03 1.49 49.17 3.97 2.04 51.38 3.9.3 2.04 51.64 3.18 A. 51 49.37 2.77 1.49 53. 79 3.50 1.99 50. 8.5 3.07 1.43 40. 58 2.03 1..50 59.32 1.98 l.Ol 51.79 3.00 1.36 45.33 3.42 1.75 51. 17 3.93 1.98 50.38 Gin- cude. I P. ct. .56 I .70 .50 j .35 .45 ..15 ! .34 .81 .44 .33 .40 .53 .49 .36 .47 Date. Oct. 3.. Oct. 4. Oct. 4.. Oct. 4.. Oct. 5 . Oct. 0.. Oct. 6. Oct. 7.. Oct. 7. Oct. 8.. Oct, 9.. Oct. 9.. Oct. 10 Oct. 10. Oct. 11. Oct. 11 Oct. 12. Oct. 12 Oct. 13. Oct. 15. Oct. 15 Oct. 17. Oct. 17. Oct. 18 Oct. 18 Oct. 20 Oct. 20 Oct. 21 Oct. 23 Oct. 23. Oct. 24 Mean . . No. 249 2.55 202 266 270 281 291 295 299 307 312 317 321 330 335 340 347 353 358 302 306 370 375 380 390 397 410 417 427 431 435 Total solids by IJrix at 17.5°. 3^,36 4.72 4.70 3,. 56 3.08 6.00 0.17 5.64 5.70 4. .53 4.58 4.23 4.29 3.93 5.12 3.85 5. 01 3.68 3.41 3.36 3.77 3. 30 3. 00 4.02 4.00 3.20 2.99 2.10 4.70 3.18 3.40 3.58 Su- Close. P.ct. 1.59 2.35 2. 38 1.02 1.08 2.8) 3.58 3.06 2.70 2. 25 2.39 2. 03 2. 03 1.93 2.50 2. 13 2.61 2.00 1.80 1.61 1.68 1.75 1.41 1.05 1.38 1.00 1.22 .85 2.13 1.18 1.19 1.72 Purity. 47.35 49. 81 50.61 45.51 4.5.65 40.07 58.02 54. 25 40.87 49.67 52.18 47.99 47.32 49.11 48.83 55. 32 52. 10 .54. 35 5J. 94 47. 92 4 4. .58 53. (Ki 47,00 40. 05 36. t'O 33. 12 40.06 40.47 40. 85 37.36 35.00 Glu- 47.72 P.ct. ..50 .75 '.Gl . 53 .99 1.06 .03 .62 .68 .69 .70 .69 .60 1.12 .27 .70 ..53 51 .50 .72 .00 .50 .77 ..53 .61 .61 .34 .73 .57 .47 57 Table XXYI,— Acidity of mill juices. [Calculated to malic acid.] Date. Fresh chip juice. Diffusion of juice. No. Specific gravity. N 10 c. c. of NaUO. Per cent. of acid. No. Specific gravity. N 10 c, c. of NanO. Per cent. of acid. Oct. 10 Oct. 10 Oct. 11 Oct. 11 Oct. 12. Oct. 12 Oct. 13 Oct. 15 Oct. 15 Oct. 17 Oct. 17 Oct. 18 Oct. 19 Oct. 20 Oct. 20 Oct. 21 Oct. 23 Oct. 23 Oct. 23 Mean 318 327 332 337 344 350 355 359 363 367 372 377 387 394 407 414 424 d28 429 1. 0682 1. 0078 1. 0709 1. 0757 1. 0757 1.0294 1.0613 1.0766 1.0617 1.0717 1. 003 4 1.0704 1.0720 1.0.553 1. 0626 1.0557 1. 0739 1. 0639 1.0290 6.9 9.3 6.9 7.8 8 2 7.0 9.3 7.7 7.3 8.2 8.1 5.9 7.6 3.1 4.6 3.7 5.0 5.8 2.8 .17 .23 .17 .17 . .29 .19 .23 .19 .18 .20 .20 .15 .19 .08 .11 .09 .12 .14 .07 319 328 333 338 345 351 350 360 304 308 373 378 388 395 408 415 42.5 429 1.0.^84 1. 0351 1.0401 1,0327 1.0302 1. 0294 1.03.39 1. 0409 1.035 J 1.0269 1.0343 1.0347 1. 0294 1.0322 1. 0322 1.0322 1.0359 1.02C9 4.7 5.7 2.2 3.7 (*) 3.4 3.3 4.5 4.6 5.6 4.6 2.9 2.7 2,8 2.5 2.2 2.4 2.8 .12 .14 .09 ,09 (*) .18 .08 .11 .12 .14 .12 .07 .07 .07 .00 .06 .00 .07 1.06346 0.0 .17 1, 0330 3.6 .09 * Trace. 104 Table XXVII.— i^res/t chip juice. [Coiuparison of epimllo with total solids found by drying. Tofal Total sol- Purity ca!culatod fiom— Da to. Xo. Sucrose. Glufioso. .solid, by Brix. at 15.5° idHfoiiud by drying. To assist drying. Spindle. Total solids. Per cent. Per cent. Per cent. So|)t. 20 207 11.72 2. K.-, 18.49 17.38 63.32 67.45 Sfpt. 21) 207 11.72 2. 8:> 18,49 17.36 fi3. 32 67 51 Asbcsto.s. Oct. 2 .. 217 11.74 2.33 18.18 16.60 64. 57 70.72 Oct. 2... 217 11.71 2.33 18.18 16.68 64. .57 70. 38 Do. . Oct. 8... 304 9.76 2. 85 l(i.88 1.5. 49 57. 8-1 63. 01 Oct. 8 . . :^04 9. 7() 2. 85 16. 8S 15. 52 57. 8H 6.'. 88 Do. Oct. U.. 332 9. 32 3. 4r, 17.00 15.24 54. 82 61.15 Oct. 15.. ■S^^9 11.64 2.65 18. 70 17.05 61.71 C8. 27 Oct. 19.. 387 9. 57 3. 43 17.87 1.5. 9S 54. Hi 59. 88 Oct. 21. llcan , . 414 7.37 2.84 13.56 11.91 54.04 59.63 61.88 65.31 10."43 2.84 17.42 15.92 Table XXVIIl.—Diffusion juice. Oct. 1 ..' 209 5. 86 1. .53 9.00 8.14 65.11 71.99 Oct. 1... 209 5.86 1.53 9.00 8.13 6.5. 1 1 72. OS ABbostos. Oct. 3... 236 4.28 L38 7.66 6.62 5.5. 87 64. 65 Oct. 3... 236 4.28 1.38 7.66 6.63 55. S7 61.55 Do. Oct.. 10.. 319 5.87 1.44 9.95 9.01 58. 99 6.-). 15 Oct. 12.. 345 4. 45 1.18 7.58 6.74 5t.8-J 6i). 02 Oct. 17.. 373 5.31 1.59 9.34 7. 1)9 57. 82 66. 46 Oct. 23.. 425 5.43 1. 75 9 ''2 8.30 58.91 65. 42 Oct. 24.. 433 4.80 1.72 8.34 7.34 57.55 65. :-;9 5.13 1.50 8.64 7.66 58. 89 66.86 WORK DONE AT THE STERLING EXPERIMENT STATION. REPORT OF A. A. DENTON AND C. A. CRAMPTON. The experimental work which lias been clone at the Sterling Sugar Experiment Station was wholly in the line of improving the sorghnm plant with a view to increase the yield of sugar from sorghum canes, to obviate certain physical or outward faults of the plant, and to obtain varieties which are less variable in their yield of sugar. It is probable that the extraction of juice from sorghum canes has nearly or quite reached its practical limit, and that diffusion apparatus needs only to be improved in details of construction which is more prop- erly the work of machinists. It is i)rol)able that the evaporating apparatus used in sugar manu- facture, the triple effect, the vacuum pan, etc., will not soon be very greatly improved, for they are the result of vrnxDy years of experiment by scientists, aided by the most skilled engineers. There remains, however, a very important and promising field for ex- perimental work in the line of sugar manufacture, and that is the im- provement of the sorghum plant upon which the sorghum-sugarindustry depends for ultimate success. The importance and necessity of such work has been recognized by every one who has been engaged in the development of the industry, but very little has been actually done in that direction ; the greatest atten- tion has been devoted to the methods of extraction and manufacture, while the quality of the raw material has been neglected. If improved varieties of sorghum were developed, as improved va- rieties of the sugar-cane or of the sugar-beet have been develope 106 similar improved sorghum scetl, for the sorghum plant has yet to bede- veloped and improved. As an instance of the necessity for the exer- cise of care in the selection of seed, the experience of two of the new factories this season may be cited. One of us visited the factories at Douglass and Conway Springs at the beginning of the season, about September 7. At the latter place there was great complaint of the qual- ity of the early cane ; seed had been obtained, supposed to be pure Early Amber, but seed of later varieties, such as Orange, had been allowed to become mixed with it in considerable quantities, and the result was a field of cane of which the greater part was fully ripe and ready for working, while a portion was still green, with the seed not yet out of the dough. It required entirely too much labor to separate it in the field, and when the cane was cut and brought to the factory the green cane lowered the average of the whole to such an extent that it was hardly fit to work for sugar. At Douglass about 100 acres had been planted for early cane, with seed supposed to be Early Amber. As the factory was greatly delayed in starting up, fears had been entertained that this cane was overripe and deteriorating. Examination showed this "early cane" to be not Early Amber at all, but the old-fashioned Chinese, a variety which, with us at least, did not attain its maximum of sugar content until quite late in the season. Had the factory got- ten into operation by the middle of August, as they expected, they would have found their ^^ early cane" entirely too green to make sugar. THE ORIGIN OF THE EXPERIMENTAL WORK AT THE STERLING SUGAR EXPERIMENT STATION. In the spring of 1888 the Sterling Sirup Works planted all the varie- ties of sorghum which, with the time and means at their command, they could procure in this or in foreign countries, in an experimental field, under as similar conditions as possible, in order to enable them to com- pare the qualities of the canes of the numerous varieties, with a view to selecting the best varieties for future cultivation. They had in mind a similar experimental plantation in Jamaica, where sixty to seventy varieties of the sugar-cane have for many years been grown in order to select the varieties which were best suited to the West Indies,* the re- sult of which is shown by the fact that an improved variety of sugar-cane, which is sometimes called "Jamaican," because it was grown at and in- troduced by the Jamaica experimental station, is now giving an ex- traordinary yield of sugar in many places. They were induced to undertake this experimental work by the ne- cessities of their business. In the past seven years they have produced, each year, from 500 to 700 acres of cane, and have manufactured the *' Analyses of samples of these different varieties from a collection exhibited at the New Orleans Exposition in 1885 were made by C. A. Crampton, at the Sugar Labo- ratory of the Department of Agricnltnre, in its exhibit. The results of these analyses were published by Prof. Morris in the Jamaica Official Gazette. 107 crop. Each year tbey have planted tlie coininon varieties, and also varieties new to tbem which they con Id readily procure. The selection of better varieties and the improvement of the quality of the canes is a matter of importance to tbem, as it is to all others who are concerned in the sorghum industry. It appeared to the Sterling Sirup Works that the first step to be taken in improving the sorghum plant was to collect as many varieties as possible, from all localities where sorghum is grown, to acclimate them, and to practically test the numerous varieties in all the points which constitute a good variety of sorghum. It is now to be regretted that a much more extended search was not made, in this and in foreign countries, for other rare and unknown varieties, but they then regardy ^vill doubtless prove iiew and valuable acquinitious as forage plants. 113 cliiiich bu^.s in one plot iiiid not in another, ii sandy si>ot in one and not in another, iniperiect gerniination of seed in one plot causing a thin stand, while in other plots the caues stand close together, and it will be seen that the task of differentiating between varieties by growing theni in plots and submitting the canes produced to analysis is by no means an easy one. It is a very complex problem. One season's work shonld never be held conclusive ; a variety may have been placed at a disadvantage from some one of numerous possible causes. In the work here the varieties were analyzed as often as possible, to avoid the error of having analyses of either unripe or overripe caues to com[)are with the analyses of other varieties at their maximum; the high- est analysis in the series may be taken as the basis of comparison. The eiror of sampling was avoided as much as possible by taking good sized samples, and by having them all taken by one and the saiue person.* Tlie errors arising from differences of growth were augmented, unfortu- nately, by irregularities in the time of planting; some lots of seed being received very late in the spring. The time of planting is noted with each plot. EARLY VABIETIES. Several of these gave very satisfactory results, so far as early ripening was concerned. The late date at which the laboratory was established at the station did not admit of many analyses before they had passed their maximum of maturity. In the case of the Early Tennessee and Whiting's Early Variety this point had probably been passed before any analysis was made. Plot. Date. No. of aualysis. Degree iJiix. Sucroao. Glucose. Co-efficient of purity. Remarks. Per cent. Per cent. C Swain's Early Golden. ( Aug. 24 3 18.03 12.88 1.92 71.44 planted May 8, produced 93 < Sept. 1 Sept. 10 16.09 15.99 11.24 10.53 2.04 1.54 69. 86 65.85 from seed which was ten i years old ; tJjo cano.s I 134 [ were good ; unmixed. Ertrlv Tonno.s,see. planted May 8, matures at least 102 j Aug. 24 Au;,'. 31 56 15. 54 13.08 8.45 6.44 2.55 1.90 51.. 38 49.24 ten days earlier than Amber. The canes aro small, but it is worthy i of further trial on ac- ( count of its earliness. fWliiting's eaily variety, plauted May 19. This originated in New York from a single cane, which was the only one wliicli ripened before frost in a tield«»f Early Ainb< r. The ciuie8;u'o siiiiiU ;ind C Auk. 25 12 !6. G4 10.42 2. 89 62. 62 ripen two wrcks «ail.«T 23.J \ Sfpt. 6 113 15.72 9.60 1.98 61. 45 >, than Early Aniber. In I Sept. 8 126 14.52 7.43 2.G8 51.17 these lots several eancs showed reversion to the Eiuly A m b e r type, which seems to indicate that this variety was formed by an accidental cross, and that a cross njay bo earlier than either parent. 234 Au-. 30 46 15.63 10.30 1.48 05. 90 Auothor plot of the same. " Mr. UentOu di«l all the sampling himself. 14056— Bull. 20 8 114 EARLY AMBER. This is the most widely known of all the varieties of sorghum. Il was included in almost every collection of seeds obtained in this or in foreign countries. It was obtained from Australia, from Algeria, and from South Africa, which shows its wide distribution. It is an excellent variety for sirup and for sirup-making if the canes are cut when in their best condition. The juice is then comparatively pure and has a pleasant taste. It deteriorates rapidly in this climate soon after it matures. This is a serious fault in sugar manufacture where very large helds of this variety are grown. It also yields less weight of cane and less seed than many other varieties. It will, however, re- tain a place in the list of varieties planted for sugar manufacture. It probably succeeds better in Minnesota and Iowa than in Louisiana and Texas. There are several subvarieties of Early Amber; the Black Amber, the White Amber, the Golden Sirup, the Cape May Hybrid, etc. The early varieties given above might be considered subvarieties of the Early Amber, as they were undoubtedly derived from it. In the experiniental field Early Amber was planted at intervals from May 5 to July 5, and one lot ripened after another, x)rolonging the time lor analyzing the canes. Seeds of Early Amber received from widely dif- ferent localities were planted to compare the qualities and to observe 4 13.18 1.07 75.14 Keraarks. Black Amber, planted May 8, produced fiuo canes, wliich ripened a week earlier than Early Anibev. It was overripe when saniples were taken for analysis.- Wliite Anibcri ]»lanted May 8, itroduced lino canes, puie and un- mixed, with hut alight differences from Early Amber. EarlyAmber, planted May ■ 22; seed received from Sydney, Australia. Early Amber, from seed Avhich had been grown by the Sterling Sirup Works at tliis place for six years; planted May 5 ; produced largo cauca. 115 ri..t. Date. No. of analysis. Degico IJri.N-. Sii cruse. Glucose. Coemcieiit of purity. llouiatkH. Per cent. Per cent. f Early Aiuber,)»lanted May - \ Aug. 30 i'\ 1.5.17 9. 30 2.83 61.90 1 21, reci.'ived fioiu Capo Sei»t. 8 129 12. ^9 6. 56 2.82 50. 89 •I Town, Soulli Africa. 1 lubolod " Holcus Sac- S» pt. 26 340 12. 00 6.11 2.09 50. 92 ( cliiiraturt." 23 Aug. 24 4 18.10 13.70 1.12 75.69 Early Amber, from Now York, planted M.iy t*, pKHluced I;.rgo aiiu iiaixlsome cniie.s. 248 Aug. 31 49 15.38 10.80 2.10 70.22 Folger'rt Eiirly viirirty, jdaiitrd May 21. It orig- luated in conlinuou.H hc lections, niailo in Iowa, from Early Aoiber; pro- iluced giiod cuues. r S.pt. 8 125 16.02 10. 91 l.rA 68. 10 1 Sept. 17 224 16.16 11.43 ^ 1.09 70. 7:{ 1 Stpt. 26 34J 16. LO 11.48 1.67 70.86 1 249 Oct. 4 Oct. 9 4C0 539 16.78 15.62 11.94 10.25 1.46 2.28 71.16 65. 62 V Auotlicr plot of tbe same. Oct. 15 590 14.68 9. 9 i 1.51 67.S5 Oct. 19 6:jo 15. 81 10. 99 1.31 69.51 Oct. 22 658 15.41 10.22 1.82 66.32 The following lots of ^'Oliiuese'^cano showed interesting differences in habit, owing probably to conditions in which they had been pre- vionsly grown ; riot. Date. No. of aualysis. Degree lirix. Sucrose. Glucose. Coefficient of purity. Remarks. Per cent. Per cent. r Aug. 29 28 13.94 6.02 4.07 43.19 ) 62. ...< Sept. 7 Sept. 17 Sept. 26 Oct. 6 123 2)4 3.i5 488 1.5.27 16.20 15.84 17.18 8.44 9.27 9.41 11.42 2.96 2.71 2.00 1.84 5.5. 27 57. 22 59.41 06.47 j Chinese, received a» " tbe 1, New Sugar-cane," froni Central America, planted May 7. Oct. 8 510 16.00 9.48 2.16 59.25 Oct. 15 593 17.37 11.79 1.35 67.88 Aug. 30 41 14.10 6.51 3.67 46.17 Another lot of sarao. j planted May 18. 216 < Sept. 18 Sept. 29 233 406 15.00 16.56 7.90 9. 90 2.45 2.28 52. 67 59.78 Oct. 8 512 16.50 10.49 2.09 63. 58 Oct. 13 592 15.34 8.97 2.04 58.47 ' ] Chinese, received as ''Sor- Aug. 30 42 14.10 7.55 1.51 53.55 1 ghum aac char a turn," [ from New Sontli Wales, "I'i Sept 17 216 16.29 9.76 2.25 59.91 ..JJ Sept. 29 405 16.06 9.43 2.08 58.72 " planted May 19. IJnt few seeds grew and c lues Oct. 8 509 15.11 8.83 2.19 58.44 were poor. 1 Aug. 30 Sept. 17 Sept. 28 Oct. 3 Oct. 8 44 219 •395 445 .508 15.10 15.35 18.20 16.49 17.98 7.13 8.62 11.57 11.02 12.46 4.19 2.48 2.19 2.03 1.44 47.22 56.16 63. 57 66.83 69.30 Chinese, received as ''.Sor- ghum saccharatitm," • irom Cape Town, A frica, planted May 15. Good I Oct. 15 591 17.22 11.26 1.83 65.39 canes. f 37 Aug. 25 Sept. 10 Sept. 11 Sept. 17 Sept. 26 Oct. ^ 9 140 148 213 . 348 511 14.94 17.41 18.52 17.45 18.65 19.00 7.71 10.43 12.31 10.83 12.95 13.23 ' 3.66 2.40 2.08 2.16 1.67 1.40 51.61 59. 91 66. 47 62. 06 69.44 69.63 f Chinese, grown in the United States, planted May 5; ])rodnced better canes than the foregoing lot-", whith seems to in- dicate that it has become adapted to this country, f White India, planted May 1 8; pn)duces large and ' Sept. 19 255 15.30 9.90 1.66 6.5. 10 handsome canes, free 69 I Sept. 26 360 16.16 10.18 1.68 62.99 from oftshoots; yields Oct. 5 476 16.50 10.53 .1.12 67.94 1 "1 seed well. The seed did Oct. 9 531 17.67 13.07 1.02 73.96 not seem to germinate wfll and the stand was poor.. . 116 Plot. Date. No. of analysis. Degree Brix. Sucrose, Glucose. Coefficient of purity. Kemarks. '• 1 " 1 Sept. 19 Sept. 26 Oct. 5 Oct. 9 Sept. 19 Sept. 26 Oct. 5 Oct. 9 '461 359 477 530 256 353 474 633 15.82 19.05 18. 10 16.70 16.92 16.46 16. Xi 16.95 Percevt. 10.09 1,3.26 12. 74 11.61 12 04 11.14 11.90 11.50 Per cent. 2.04 1.61 1.47 1.59 1.47 1.44 1.26 1.24 63.78 69. 61 70. 39 69. 52 71.15 07.68 72.87 67.85 ( This lot was planted with 1 seeds labeled " Euya- 1 ma," from Louisiana; ^ planted May 8. Thu 1 canesarevi-ry siniilarto, 1 and probably identical ( with, the White India. r White Mammoth* planted May 8. There 1 is apparently no dilft-r- eice between these canes and the White lu- . dia or the Enyama. * The botanical description of the White Mammoth is (Ann. Kep. U. S. Dept. of Agrlcnlture, 1880, 40) 'Heads very densi-, expanding toward the fattened top: glumes shining, black, prominent; se- d wliite, large hiltim, inconspicuous." This api)lies well to the White India, Enyama, and White Mam- imiih, as giown in the above lots, but the seeds may have been incorrectly named by those who sent til em. VARIETIES OF ORANGE. A large number of subvarieties of tbis standard variety exist, but the differences in character are probably less than with other varieties, con- 8idering the opportunities that have been offered it for variation ; that is to say, the predominant race characteristics hold their own better throughout the crosses. Doubtless this is due to the fact that it has been grown a long time and become well established. Some of the plots of Early Orange showed remarkable uniformity, not a single important variation being found in them. This stable quality will make the variety very useful in crossing where certain stable qualities are desired. Plot. Date. No, of aualysis. Degree lirix. Sucrose. Gluco.se. Coefficient of purity. Kemarks. Per cent. Per cent. Sept. 3 87 12.55 .5.35 4.48 42.62 ") Early Orange, received - Sept. 5 97 13.78 7.51 3.58 .■i4. 50 from Department of Ag- 236 <^ Sept. 17 222 15. 60 9.25 3.61 59.29 > liculture; planted May 1 Sept. 24 316 14. 63 8.60 2.90 58. 78 22. Mixed and irregular I Sept. 2G 342 17.12 11.29 2.70 65. 95 canes. 81 Sept. 27 371 17.58 12. 82 1.33 72.92 Early Orange, from Foit Scott, Kans. ; planted May 8. r Sept. 2 161 16.68 10.49 2.80 62.96 1 - \ Sept. 19 Sept, 27 Oct. 9 269 370 538 16.53 16.88 17.59 10.02 10.52 11.53 2.64 2.30 2.74 60. 62 62. 32 65. 55 ^ Early Orange, from South [ Carolina; planted May 8. I Oct, 19 631 1.5. 52 9.54 2.59 61.47 J 87 Sept, 19 270 16. 53 11.39 2.20 as. 91 Early Orange, fiom Ar- • kaiisas ; planted May 8. f 08 ^ 1 Sept, 12 Sept. 19 Sept. 25 Oct. 9 Oct, 15 157 259 337 532 601 17.80 16.77 17.77 17. 77 17.90 11.37 10.53 10.98 12.87 12.90 2.70 1.96 3.05 1.55 1.13 63. 88 62. 79 61.79 72. 43 72.07 lleceived from Louisiana as White Mammoth, but produced Early Orange canes; planted May 8. - \ Sept, 19 Sept, 27 267 369 15.10 14.88 9.53 9.23 2.14 1.77 63.11 62.03 ^Kansas Orange; planted V May 8. Strong and ) stocky canes. ( 1 Aug. 29 25 11.85 6.02 3.23 50. 80 ] ^ Sept. 11 145 16.20 10.81 1.89 66.73 *' 1 Sept. 18 247 15.57 10.50 1.71 67.44 } Same ; planted May 8. Sept, 26 354 18.04 12.19 1.62 67.57 I Oct, 9 523 16.91 12.17 1.20 • 71.97 ( Sept. 12 156 14.02 5.97 4.16 42.58 ) Xew Orange ; planted 88 > Sept. 19 271 14.12 6.47 8.06 45.82 V May 8. Plot was injured I Sept, 27 375 16. 25 9.53 3.07 58.65 ) by chinch-bugs. * Plot 228, same as 83 ; planted May 21. See experiments in development, page 123. (This plot was very uniform, not a single variation being found in it.) 117 Plot Date. No. of analyaia. Dejrree Brlx. Sucrose. Glucose. Coefficient of purity. Remarks. Per cent. Per cent. Late Orange, from New Jersey; planted May 8: prodnced larg(i and f Sept. 12 158 16.12 9.94 2.41 61.06 f9 1 Sept. 19 274 17.02 10.58 3.07 62. 16 • s \ Oct. 9 540 17.99 12.73 2.32 70. 76 strong canes, wliicli re- Oct. 15 600 16.97 11.43 2.30 67. 35 mained long in good cunditiou. f Aug 29 29 10.48 3.15 4.32 30.06 1 Sept. 11 151 16.82 10.31 2.80 61.30 Sei)t. 19 2tiG 17.18 11.06 2.75 64. 38 lleceivcd as "Early Sfipt. 'j7 368 18.85 1.}. 38 1.83 70. 98 Goo.seneck ;" planted 75 ■\ Oct. h 47:{ 17.48 12.48 1.58 71.40 ( May 8. T h e canes Oct. 9 5:{7 18.32 12.79 1.46 09.81 w«>re apparently iden- Oct. ir. 602 15.70 10. 22 1.98 6.5.10 tical Willi tbo Late Or- Oct. 19 649 17.60 12. 63 1.03 71.76 anije. Oct. L2 663 16.81 11. 15 1.78 6(i. 33 1 Oct. 24 683 16.10 9.72 2.72 to. 37 fMcainm Orange; said to i ho a cro.s8 betweiu ( Auff. 29 30 15.90 10. 48 1.60 05.91 Enrlv Anibci- aua Kau- 81 .< Sept. 7 122 16.70 11.35 1.07 67. 96 -^ sas Oningc ; leccivcd I Sept. 12 160 15.56 9.91 1.24 63.69 1 from Illinois; canes 1 much resemhle the [ Amber; plnnted May 8. f Auji. 31 47 11.81 5.92 2.48 50.13 1 ^ Same; planted May 22. 235 ... Sopt. 8 vSept. 17 127 218 It. 48 14.8.-) 9. 22 9.67 1.28 63. 67 6i. 12 Sept. 26 311 16.70 11.84 1.U4 70. -fO RED LIBERIAN. This old variety-, known nndcr so many synonyms, made a very good showing' in this season's trial. It isvery distinctive in its cliaiacier, gives a good yield jieracre, and has a good contentof sugar. I ts greatest fault is to be found in the small round seeds it produces. These produce plants which are very small and feeble at first, and when the planting is done with a corn-planter the seed is apt to be too close in the hill. ■- Plot. Date. No. of .inalysia. Degree Brix. Sucrose. Glucose. Coefficient purity. Kemarks. Per cent. Per cent. r Sept. 19 262 16.42 9.09 3.68 .55.36 1 Red Liborian, received 1 Sept. 27 363 18.27 12. 15 2.73 66.50 1 from .Missouii us " Lil- 72 ) Oct. 4 462 18.80 13.25 2.74 70. 48 } tie Sumac ; " plant, d Oct. 5 470 IS. to 12.45 2.40 69.17 :| May 8; largo yield of Oct. 9 5:{4 18.25 12.07 2.94 66. U I 1 ;iO(,d c:ines. 1 Sept. 19 263 19.91 14. 26 1.90 71.62 ) lied Liherian, received 73 Sept. 27 367 19.92 14.76 1.81 74. 10j\^ iVom Texas under the "1 Oct. 5 471 18.80 13.52 1.67 71. 9J ( nimo ot " l{.d Top; " k 71.47 ) idiuited May 8. Oct. 9 535 19.45 13.90 1.71 ( Sept. 17 225 16.06 12.34 2.51 74. 07 ) 1 Sept. 19 264 17.38 9.69 4.11 55. 75 1 lied Libcri;'M. received 74 .... 1 Sejit. 27 366 18.82 11.64 3.24 61. S5 j l^ under the name of ■ ) Oct. 5 472 18.28 11.71 3. 16 64. 00 1 1 "(i<»o.seneck ; " pliiutud Oct. 9 5:i6 20. 25 13.80 2. 31 68. 15 i May 8. ( Oct. 30 692 15.70 4.89 4.94 31. 15 J 222 Sept. 28 390 17.66 n.i2 3.22 6i. 97 (Same as No. 74; jdanted Oct. 5 481 19.20 13.56 1.42 70.63 S May 18. f GoMeu Hod. from Geor;:ia; planted May 8. 'Jhc seed jdanted in the pl>l. 95 Sept. 5 99 14.35 6.96 4.48 48.50 } ditl not germinate, and ) a.sample wa.Htakiii from a Held of thi) S irup Works. ltwa.s probably I overripe. 118 Plot. Date. No. of aualysis. Degree Brix. Sucrose. Glucose. Coefficient ofpuritj-. R(!mark8. f Honey Dew, from Indi- aua ; planted May 8 ; pro- duced fine caues : yields 99 Auff. 31 Sept. 7 Sept. 11 Sept. 5 61 118 153 103 14.52 14.77 11. 98 17.53 Per cent. 5.57 8.36 4.09 11.34 Per cent. 3.78 1.19 1.09 1.02 38. 30 56. 60 41.65 64.69 Miiite, clean seedin large quantities. This plot did not have favorablo con- dition.s; a largo field planted by tlae Sirup Works gave better re- sults, 'i he last analysis given was taken ironi this field, not fioni tbo ( plot. f San;e; planted May 18. c Oct. 4 457 16.60 10.78 1.33 64.94 259*... \ Oct. 16 613 15. 75 9.34 1.04 59. 30 } This plot did belter than I Oct. 22 6C0 18.10 11.92 2.62 65. 86 ( the earlier planting. 98 Aug. 25 S'^pt. 3 11 85 15.84 16.24 8.29 10.50 4.27 2.14 52.31 04.06 Dutcliev's II3 brid ; origin- ated in Iowa; planted Mi.y 8. Aucr. 28 19 12.74 5.56 3.86 43.64 223... Au^^ 28 29 13. 15 0.10 3.73 40. 39 Same ; planted May 18. Sept. 18 229 16.50 10.05 2.28 CO. 91 ) Link's Hybrid ; pbmtcd May 8. This plot with the New Oiaugo, and bevenil others ueai- this, were injured by drought and insects so tliat 97 Aug. 31 58 12.00 5.76 2.55 48.00 ! analysis were not con- tinued on it. A largo series of analyses were made on another plot of the same variety, which arc given under the ex- periments i n devilop- [ nient, page ]22. 101... i ■i I Aug. 25 Sept. 3 Sept. 6 10 84 111 12.42 10.84 16.10 4.57 10. 77 9.20 4.76 2.71 2.96 36.79 63. 95 57. 14 ■j Prices Hybrid; Kaidtobo [ a cross between Amber f and Honduras; planted j Mav8. f Tlie Planter's Friend; re- 1 ceived from Australia; planted May 18. This vnriety was tested at the ( Sept. 18 231 17.00 10.81 1.79 03. .09 (lovernment farms iu 214.... .] Sept. SO 418 20. .^0 13.83 1.66 07.40 <; Madri.8, India, in 1882, } Oct. 4 455 18 06 10.90 3.38 00,08 witli two other varieties, and was considered the best in saccharine qual- ities. It is a promising ^■ariety. * Plot 100. Honey Drip, from Texas; planted May 8. Large .stocky canes ami largo seed-heads. Analyses given under development experiments, page 123. HONDURAS. This variety is widely known and distributed under its various names of Spraugle top, Broom cane, etc. It produces a larger yield per acre tlian any other well-known variety of sorghum. It has been known at Sterling to yield as high as 33 tons of field cane per acre. In none < f the plots i)lanted with it did it ripen sufficiently to show maturity. The hope for this variety lies in its improvement by selections of early maturing canes. 119 Plat. Date. No. of aualysia. Dojrreo IJrlx. Sncrosc. Gliirosc. Coefficient of purity. Reniaika. Per cent. Per cent. C IIoi)«liira.s irom Louisiana. Gl .... Oct. 6 480 15.75 9.34 3.35 59. 30 i very lai«ro raiins Imt Oct. ir> 595 15.54 9.54 3. 24 61. 39 ] inorcivflc«tcd by droiiglit 1 than No. &{. on Mny 8 ( IIoiMlurrt.s, from Arizona. } No analysis was made. ■ Honey ca'no tVom I'cxas. G.-) ... May 8 Slight diflcrcnces Irom Honduras. No unalysiri made. ' "Silver Top or Ift-oom Cane" from Texas: GO .... { S(>pt. 10 Oct. 22 254 054 14.92 15.15 8.35 9.84 4.19 2.72 55. 90 61.95 planlcd May 8. Tiie hand.soniest "lot of the 1 llondur.is canos ; lar^o 1 wei;:htof cane did not { riprn. Gooseneck from South Camlina; planted May 7G { Oct. 22 6G4 17.20 11.38 2. 59 GG.IO 8. Larj-o canes; tho Oct. 21 681 18.00 11.78 2.60 05.44 ) nio.st popular vai iety in some parts of tho South ; did not ripen wcjl. r 1 \ 1 Aiiff. 30 45 14.29 7. 65 3.03 53. 53 Waubansee. This was formerly a popular va- riety in Kansas, but has Sept. 17 Sept. 21 Oct. 5 Oct. C Oct. 15 221 1.5.59 10.07 lo. 32 15.87 15.77 10. 38 10.82 11.71 11.10 10.91 1.42 1.37 .91 .92 1.21 60.58 07. 33 71.75 69.91 G9.37 230.... 408 498 lost favor ; larfro canes*, stron-ily rooted ; lar^o 80c<. CO 17.27 18.64 17.50 17.10 13.49 16.10 14.84 14.80 14 92 17.09 15.70 18.42 17.10 15.69 14.30 16.31 13.50 16.20 12.08 13.90 14.44 16.97 16.97 16.88 17.08 10.14 15.32 14.06 13.22 16.47 18. 32 17.20 16.70 14. 85 18.23 17.26 17.36 16.73 15.62 18.40 14.97 17.44 17.58 17. 52 Sucrose. Per cent. 7.40 10.58 11.48 8.01 3. G6 6. 55 3.80 4.05 10.46 9.33 12.58 10.00 11.31 13.84 11.39 12.87 11.31 11. 2i 7.57 10.70 8. GO 9.05 10.40 11.54 8.57 12.72 11.09 8.53 6.16 11.48 8.14 11.38 5.77 7.30 7.64 10.87 11.85 11.59 11.48 3.76 10.29 8.97 6.69 10.94 13.32 12. 79 12.19 9.39 12. 29 11.07 10.83 11.29 10.12 12..M 9. 05 11.87 11.71 11.24 Glucose. Percent. 2.76 1.66 1.29 2.04 3.04 2.05 3.34 2.80 3.25 3.75 2.48 2.92 .77 .55 .77 .72 1.94 1.31 2.55 2.16 1.74 1.49 3,G8 2,86 2.98 1.38 2,24 1,00 2.12 1.41 1.22 .63 .79 1. 54 1.06 .67 1.88 1.23 1.80 1.3G 1.42 1.44 1.25 1.86 1. 05 1.22 .73 Coefficient ot purity. 52.37 67.30 70.60 55.24 37.81 53. 69 35.98 38.57 59.20 .56. 41 67.20 61.09 64. 63 74.41 6.5. 95 69.05 fi4. 03 65.73 56.12 66.46 57. 95 61.15 69.71 67. 52 54. 59 69. 06 64. 85 54.37 43.08 70. 39 60.30 70.25 2.73 47.76 2.80 52. 52 2.80 52. 91 2,08 64.05 1.41 69. 83 1. 2 5 68.60 1.81 67. 21 37.08 67.17 6}. 80 50.61 66.42 72.71 74. 3G 72. 99 63.23 67. 42 64.14 62.38 67.48 04.79 67.99 60, 45 68.06 06.61 64.16 ^Remarks. ] Planted May 8. Canes if. ^ rogulai; badly mixed, J Ftoru this country. Planted May 8. Rema'k* ably large, but short canes, very heavy set (!- heads ; not a promising variety. From Soutli Africa. Planted Alay 8, Large, hand.somo canes, free from all offshoots nntll over-ripi'; a promising variety. From this country. Plantel May 8. Every cine formed sever.'ll heads: liiihtsecd-beaier; notable in its low con- tent of glucose. Fiom India. Planted May 8. Samehablt as No. 15. From South Africa. Planted May 8. Largo stocky canes, free from oftshoots; heavy seed- top. From this countiy. Planted May 8. Large ai'iil fine canes, free from olf- shoots until over-ripe; light seed-bearer. From Afric.i. Planted May 8. Shor', stocky canes ; heavy seed-tops. From South Africa. Planted May 8. Not a promising variety. From Africa. Planted May 8. Good canes, free from off- shoots until overripe. From this country. '(-Planted May 8. The ' largest canes in the ex- ■{ porimental field; did (not fully mature. From Africa, f Planted May 8. Good I cnnes; few offshoots. I Frotn Africa. Remark- "1 able from its low con- tent of glucose and high purity. Planted May 8. Good canes, tall and slender; mixed varieties. From this country. Planted May to No. 15. 8. Similar 121 Plot. Date. No. of aualysis. Desrroo Brlx. Sucrose. Glucose. Coefficient of purity. Itemarks. Per cent. Per cent. 48 .{ Sept. 1 Sept. 11 Sept. 18 82 144 240 16.71 14.50 18.45 9.42 7.34 13.09 3.73 3.28 2.04 50.37 50. 02 70.95 ) riantea May 8. Diff. rs J- but slightly from Orau-o J caues. i Sept. 26 3.'iO 19.21 13. 52 1.98 70. 38 f Aug. 29 26 10.68 4.90 2.65 4.5. 88 1 Sept. 1 C9 13.82 7.65 2.72 55. 35 50 Sept. 1 Sept. 1 70 71 12.32 17.34 5.07 10.76 3.40 2. 90 41. 15 02.05 [riant 6(1 May 8. Mixed Sept. 18 2.')2 17.02 12.15 1.25 71.39 can 08. Oct. 6 495 17.84 12.90 1.66 72. 31 I Oct. 9 5-.'4 18.00 13. 28 1.01 73.78 j Sept. 10 141 14.41 7.95 2.90 5.5. 17 61 . 4 Sept. 18 Sept. 26 Oct. 6 250 352 49;i 17.07 17.44 17.77 11. 26 11.73 12.80 3.22 3.06 2.27 65.96 67.26 72, 03 Reaemblea Cliinese, but Hliorter aiul more stocky Oct. 15 590 10.87 11 54 2.25 68.41 '■ canes. From this couii- 1 try. Oct. 19 6:{2 17.78 12.65 2.27 71,15 I Oct. 22 6G5 16.00 11.19 1.99 69.94 J i Sept. 18 2y.i 18.07 1 1. 06 .91 64.53 Similar to No. 15. Planted Oct. 6 492 15.47 10.67 .99 68.97 52 1 Oct. 9 526 16.70 11.02 .61 65.99 ■) Oct. 15 597 17. 37 11.08 .66 63, 79 ; May 8. Oct. 19 633 17.50 11.15 ,97 63. 71 i I Oct. 20 652 16. 85 10.47 1.02 62.14 r Sept. 18 Oct. 6 251 490 13.47 16. 85 4.90 10.57 4 18 2.96 36 38 62. 73 ] Planted May 8. Stronj: 53 Oct. 15 598 14.37 7.18 4.00 49.97 ;• .stoclsycaues; large seeil- 1 heads; good canes. [ Oct. 19 635 12. 08 4.81 4-01 39.82 ., Sept. 19 2G0 14.77 6.15 4,72 41.61 Planted M.iy 8. Good Sept. 26 .349 17.70 9.52 4.24 53,79 canes; lijjlit seed-bearer, ■ spi angled .seed-top; no 57 Oct. 6 489 18.20 9.58 3.65 52.64 Oct. 15 59J 18.36 9.97 3.87 54. 30 1 offshoots iintrl over- Oct. 19 634 18.00 9.93 3.50 55.17 J ripe. Fromthiscountry. f Planted May 8. Larue, hand.some canes, the finest in the experimen- tal fiehl, has thi'sniallest seed-heads an«l produces less seed than any othi r; c Oct. G 487 IS. 78 13.07 2.26 69.60 no offshoots until uiJi- tnre, when it shows a tendency to prodncc sec- ondary seed-heads; did 61... . .\ Oct. 15 594 18.92 13.13 2.40 69.40 I Oct. 19 636 18.60 13.06 2.32 70.22 not fully mature bef.TO frost, it will ]»eiliaps succeed better witen fully acclimated. It is a very promising y.- l riety. 122 DEVELOPMENT OF SOEGHUM. Four plots of different vaiietics ^eie selected for the piiiposc of makirjg frequcDt analyses to trace the development of tbe canes. Tlio analyses were begun tlie first week in September, and samples were taken every other day until after frost. The results are given in the following tables: Development of White African, plot 229. Date. Sept. 4 Sept. () Sept. 8 Sept. 11 Sej.t. i:? Sept. 15 Sept. 18 Sept. 2() Se])t. 22 Sept. 25 Sept. 27 Sept. 29 Oct. 2 Oct. 4 Oct. G Oct. 9 Oct. II Oct. 13 No. of au'-ilysi.s. Dojiree Bii.K. Sucro.sc. Glucose. Coefli- cient of purity. Per cent. Fcr cent. 91 14. C4 l.Al 2. 52 51.02 luG 15.30 7. 95 2.06 51. 90 124 14. 78 7.87 2.06 53. 24 143 14. 70 8. 20 2.22 56. 20 1G8 • H.82 8. 00 2.24 54. 39 ]9l 1.5.53 9. 11 2.02 58.06 230 14.10 7. 19 2.32 50. 99 276 14. VI 7.19 2. 42 50. 92 305 17.20 11.10 I.C.7 04.54 327 15.82 9. 08 1.^8 61. 19 3(5.') 14. 27 7.33 2. 42 51.36 4(12 13. 58 0.00 2.44 49.04 433 12.87 5. 15 2.32 40.01 4.52 12. 23 5. 81 2.34 47.50 48.> 11.07 5. 22 2.22 44.73 519 13 39 8.03 2. 22 64.45 SS.l 14.18 7.87 2.20 55. 50 582 15.70 9.14 1.85 &<. 00 Ilemnrlis. Seed soft. Do. Do. Seed petting hard. Do. Seed hard. Seed mature. Seed hard. Do. Seed brittle. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Development of Linlc's Hyhrid, plot 0. Sept. 3 88 1.5. 59 8. 53 2.13 51.71 Sept. 5 90 14.20 7.78 2.41 54.79 Sept. 7 117 15.27 9.37 1.94 61.36 S.pt. 10 135 1.5. 42 9.28 2.21 00.18 Sept. 12 1.54 16.10 10.18 1.90 03. 63 Sept. 14 181 15.20 10.22 l.hG 07.24 Sept. 17 215 15.75 10. 41 1. 75 60.10 Sept. 19 2.57 16.15 10.55 l.i;6 65. 33 S«pt. 21 285 17.35 12. 21 1.43 70. 37 Sept. 24 314 18.00 12. G9 l.Ol 72.17 Sept. 20 338 18.08 12. 75 1.33 70. .52 Sept. 28 38« 19.02 13. 99 1.11 73. 55 Oct- 1 419 18.88 13. 02 1.14 72.14 Oct. 3 413 18.92 14. 09 .99 74.47 Oct. 5 466 18.45 13. 97 .82 7.5. 72- Oct. K .507 18.38 13.50 1.06 73.45 Oct. 10 513 18.05 13.27 .79 73.52 Oct. 12 571 18.72 13.91 .75 74. 31 ().t. 15 585 16.04 11.49 1.40 09. 05 Oct. 17 620 17.31 12. 24 .99 70.71 Oct. 20 651 18.20 13.45 . !;o 73. (0 Oct. 23 071 17.31 12.15 1.29 70.19 Oct. 24 078 17. 00 11.05 I.IO 60. 19 Oct. 28 083 10. 8.! 9.45 50. 15 Oct. 30 094 20.40 8.25 0.04 40.41 Seed soft. Do. Do. Do. Do. Seed getting hard. Do. Do. Do. Seed becoming brittle. Seed brittle. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. 123 Devclojmient of ffoneydrip, plot 100. Date. No. of analysis. Dejiree Bri.\-. Sucrose. Glticosc. Coeffi- cient of purity. Cotuarks. Per cent. Per cent. Aug. 31 59 11.47 .5. 14 3.00 44.81 Seed Foft. All jr. 31 CO 14.52 G.OC 2.04 41.74 Do. Sept.. 4 02 13. 50 0.08 3.05 45.01 J)o. Sept 6 ]07 15.20 8.05 3. 39 52. 95 Do. Sept. 8 131 14. 99 8.13 3.10 5».24 l3o. Sept. 11 142 14.87 7.91 3.09 5.3. 19 Do. Sept. 13 107 15.23 7.91 3.04 52. 13 Do. Sept. If) 100 l.'>. 12 8. 05 3. 32 53.24 Soe«l geltin;;lt.iid. Sept. 18 2.V> 10. 20 9. 57 2. .50 59.07 Seed iii.ll lire. S«M)t. 20 '111 10. 02 10.98 2.04 00. 0(; Seed brittle. Sept. 22 303 17.85 11.75 2. 30 6.-). 83 Do. Sept. 2v> 320 15.00 8.48 2.41 .'»G.3l Do. Sept. 27 3C4 10.77 10.22 2.30 00. 94 Do. Sept. 20 403 15.82 9.09 2.01 57.40 Do. Oct. 2 432 10. 89 10. >^0 2.05 03. 94 Do. Oct. 4 453 18 00 11.29 2. 12 02. 51 Do. Oet. 0 484 17.74 12.41 1.00 09.95 Do. Oct. » 52(» 17. 38 11.37 1.9J C5.42 Do. Oct. 11 .'■>.')(j 10. 18 9.71 1.87 CO. 01 Do. Oct. 13 581 18..'-.G 12.40 1.40 07. 13 Do. Oct. 16 014 17.15 10.74 1. .58 02. 02 Do. Oct. 19 029 10. 8r> 10.75 ].f8 03.80 Do. Oct. 22 COG 15.70 10.02 1.C2 07.64 Do. Oct. 28 C8i 10.80 9.11 3.40 54. 2.3 Do. Oct. 30 090 14. CO .5. 31 5.24 30.37 Do. Oct. 30 697 10.80 '■■" 4.24 37.41 Do. Development of Early Orange, i)lol 228. Sept. 7 119 10.30 10. 03 3.07 01.31 Seed soft. Sept. 10 130 15.52 9.17 3.30 59.09 Do. Sept. 12 155 10.07 10.59 2.71 03. 53 See«l uettins h aid. Sept. 14 181 17. 70 11.90 2.48 07. 23 Do. Sept. 17 217 16.52 10.72 2.03 64.89 See0.47 T>. 05 75. 0'.> 75.14 71.16 67 88 50.01 60 30 6.1 6;'. 73. 00 72. 87 72. Oi 72. r.o 68.91 72. 07 71.!'7 58. 05 70.70 70. 90 70.48 74.10 48.50 05. 80 01.00 75. 72 03. 05 07. 40 01. .39 01.05 00. 10 71.75 04. 54 08.14 70. 00 53.69 74.41 69.05 66.40 67. 52 69.06 70.39 70.25 .63 .60 1.05 l.Oi 2.27 2.90 3.50 2.32 1.85 07.17 74.36 08. 06 73.78 72.03 02. 73 55.17 70. 22 02 126 Tbese results arc quite interesting as iiiruisliing a meaus of conipar- isou of'tlie relative meiits of tlic diliereut varieties. The ten varieties which stand highest in each of the three essentials are given below, in the order of their value. List of ten varieties giving hest rcsuUs. Variety. Sucrose. Variety. Glucose. Variety. CocflTuieut of imrity. rcr cent. I'er cent. 1. l?e«l LiberJan ... 14. 7(5 1. PlotXo.l4,Uuitcd .55 1. Liuk'8 Hybrid... 7:'. 72 2. Liiik'.s Hybrid... 13.97 StJktfs. 2. Eaily A III bur 1:,. (.!> 3. I'lotNo. 14 13.84 2 ri()tNo..3!),Afiica .GO 3. I'lot/No. 14 74.41 4. T'lniiter'sFriiud 13.83 3. I'lofc No. 3(5, Africa .(53 4. Plot No. ::9 74. 3 C. 5. Texas lied 13.80 4. I'lot. No. 15,lii(lia. , (55 : f). K.d Libcrian... 74. 10 <;. Ka-lv Ambor... 13 70 ;>. Link'.s Hybrid... .82 0 While India.... 73. 0(5 7. Early Orange.... 1.3. fi2 0. \\'aubaji.s<^o .91 i '^• Plot No. 50 7!!. 16 S. riot Ko. 50 13.28 7. Plot No. f,0 l.Ol 1 y. Eailv Oran™ ... 72. 9J {). Cliineso 13.23 8. Wliite India ... 1 . 02 i !»• Plot No. .^.1 72. .^3 10. Whitoludiiv 13. 07 9. 10. TVIcdiutn Oianao . PlatNo.41,U lilted States. 1.01 1.05 110. KaHsa.s Orange.. 71.97 These lists comprehend altogether eighteen varieties, of which four appear in all three of the lists, four on two, and ten on only one, as follows : Variety. No. Variety. No. Variety. No. Plot "No. 14 3 3 3 3 2 2 Red Liberian Early Orani;o Plot No. 3G 2 2 1 1 I 1 Plot No, 44 Liuk'.s Hybrid Plot 50 Plot No. 57 Kiinsa.s Orange I'lantf'.s Friend . .. Texas lied White India ' Plot No. 15 . Plat No 39 AN'^aubanseo : Medium Orange 1 Early Amber Chinese From this it will be seen that four varieties combine in a high degree the three good qualities of a large percentage of sucrose, low content of glucose, and high purity of juice. Link's Hybrid and the unnamed va- riety No. 14 divide honors for the first place, both standing very near the top of the list in all three essentials. The former has always proved a good sugar producer where it has had time to mature before frost. The Early Amber is noticeable for its high purity, live of the plats of its subvarieties giving a i^urity of over 70. From this quality doubtless arises ifs superiority as a sirup-making variety. The low content of glucose in several of the unnamed varieties from tropical countries is remarkable, as most of them were not entirely mature before frost. It must not be lost sight of iu comparing the varieties on the basis of the analyses that the outward faults of a variety may entirely overbalance its value as shown by ciualysis. The Link's Hybrid, for instance, which gives such good results on analysis, has a fault of form that almost de- stroys its practical value. This point will be considered further on. 127 II. Experiments in Hybridizing or Crossing Varieties.— III. Experiments in Preserving Spokts or Variations. These two nictliods of improvement may as well be considered to- {j^ether, for in the present condition of the sorghum plant it is hard to draw the line between them. The different varieties which have be- come established cross so readily with one another that where variations occur, in a field of cane for instance, it is often difficult to say positively whether it is a true sport, whether it is from one seed of a distinct va- riety accidentally introduced, or whether it is from a seed that had been cross-fertilized from a different variety. Doubtless both causes of variation obtain to a large extent, for the one is a natural consequence of the other; that is, on account of the readiness with which two in- dividuals cross, a large number of vaiieties have been produced, and as many of these are not Avell established or fixed they exhibit a constant tendency to revert to original types, thus showing variations. Whether the wide variations shown in the different kinds of sorghum are due more to crossing or more to type variation, is a question it is unneces- sai-y to discuss here. It is sufficient to show that such capability for variation does exist. In the work done at this station no distinction could be made between variations produced by crossing and those which were true sports. As this season's work was only the beginning it was impossible to obtain true artificiality-produced crosses; that is, varia- tions produced by the careful cross-fertilization of two distinct and definite types. The plots called " crosses " were planted from seed- heads obtained by Mr. Denton from various fields of sorghum, and were simply variations from the general type of the cane growing about them. In the great majority of cases the canes produced from this seed showed such well-marked reversions to two well-defined types that it was a pretty fair i)resumption that they actually did result from the cross-fertilization of those types. But of course such work should, in the future, be carried out upon known types artificially cross fertil- ized. general observations on crosses. Kolreuter says, *MIe who would produce new varieties should cross varieties." Darwin says: "In regard to the beneficial effect of crosses between varieties there is plenty of evidence." "The crossing of two forms ;vhich have long been cultivated implies that new characters actually arise, some of which may be valuable and permanent." "It would be superfluous to quote more, for Gartner, Herbert, Sagcret, Lecoq, Nau- din, and many other eminent experimenters speak of the wonderful vigor, size, tenacity of life, precocity, and hardiness of hybrid produc- tions." It is stated in the Sugar Beet* that "if a superior variety of beets be placed near another variety, the result will be most advantageous, and * The Sii«;;ir Boot, by Lewis E. Ware. 128 it may be concluded from these experiments, wliich we can indorse, tliat the resulting race will, for the time being, be richer in seed, and that the roots grown therefrom will coutain a sngar content, more regu- lar, etc., than had existed in either." In regard to the efl'ect of crossing varieties, it can be said that it seems to increase the vigor of the plants sometimes in a wonderful degree. The crossed canes are often much larger and taller and often have much heavier seed-heads than either parent form. A crossed cane is sometimes earlier, often later, in maturing than either parent. Some crosses breed true to the new type from tlie start, and show no tendency to reversion, but usually the first season the crossed seeds are planted some of the plants revert, some to one psireiit form, some to the other; some are intermediate forms. If, now, seed of the type preferred is selected and planted again, the new plants show less tendency to revert j by continuing the selection and throwing out varying forms the new type is fixed and becomes a new variety. There is greater tendency to reversion in ^'violent" crosses between dissimilar forms than in crosses of allied forms. A cross may be slight or complete; in fact there may be several crosses between two varieties. For instance, a fixed cross between the Early Amber and the Orange may resemble the Early Amber more. Another cross between the same varieties may resemble the Orange more. Three canes taken from a plot of this last cross showed by analysis a higher percentage of sugar than any other in the season's work, with one exception. ADVANTAGES OF SOKGHUM OVER SUGAR-CANE ON ACCOUNT OF TKE EASE WITH WHICH VARIATIONS ARE PRODUCED IN THE FORMER. Dr. Morris, formerly director of the Jamaica Botanical Gardens, Avhere an experimental plantation of sixty to seventy varieties of the sugar cane is maintained, in an address before the London Chamber of Commerce said : '*It is well known that tlie sugar cano does not produce seed, and hence it is im- possible to improve it by any processes of hybridizing and crossing found so benefi- cial to other plants. New varieties amongst sugar canes arise generally in the form of bud variation. These occur very seldom, and possibly amougst thousands of acres not one cane will be detected which exhibits any well-marked characteristics. Plant- ers, however, shoukl be keen to notice any canes tha*"- show a departure from the types, and should cultivate them separately. If the sugar cane were capable of be- ing improved purely by cultivation and experimental processes like those which have improved the beet, this would be one of the most elfective means of benefiting the industry." GENERAL OBSERVATIONS ON SPORTS OR SPONTANEOUS VARIATIONS. It is well known that new varieties sometimes suddenly and spon- taneously appear in plants. They are created by bud variation. A peach tree suddenly produces a branch which yields nectarines ; a plum tree which had j ielded yellow plums for forty years produced a single bud which pi'oduced a new and valuable permanent variety, the Red Magnum Bonum plum. 129 The variations in the tropical sugar cane are entirely produced in tbat way, as lias already been shown by the statements of Professor Morris just quoted. In Mauritius a sugar cane of the ribbon variety produced two new canes, a green cane and a red cane. This was considered an astonish- ing variation there. The causes of such variations are unknown. It is only known that they do occur, and that valuable new varieties some- times suddenly appear in that way. The history of some of the varieties of sorghum would seem to indi- cate, so far as it is possible to obtain accurate information of such mat- ters, that they originated in this way. In Indiana, in a field of Chinese cane, a single cane ripened two weeks earlier than the. other canes. This variation was preserved and named the Early Amber. It is the most widely known of all the varieties of sorghum. In the experimental field of this station there were growing Early Amber canes received from New South Wales, from Cape Town, and from many places, showing its wide distribution. In New York, in a field of Early Amber, only one cane ripened before frost. This variation was preserved and named by us Whiting's Early Variety. It matures ten days earlier than the Early Amber. It seems to be a sport from a sport. In Tennessee, in a field of Honduras, a single cane ripened two weeks earlier than the other canes. This variation was preserved and was named Link's Hybrid. It is one of the best varieties of sorghum for sugar manufacture. It is probable that other cane-growers have seen as valuable vari- ations in their cane fields, and have not recognized their importance. It is worthy of remark that each of these variations was noticed and was preserved merely because it chanced to ripen earlier than the other canes in the same field, and not because its other qualities were recog- nized at the time. . In the effort to improve the sorghum plant all such variations from type should be analyzed to determine their value in sugar manufacture. WORK AT THE STERLING STATION ON CROSSES OR VARIATIONS. It may be said of the work done here in this direction that in the first place it established positively, in the judgment of those in charge, the fact of the very strong tendency of this plant toward variability. This fact has, of course, been frequently noticed and commented upon here- tofore, but as it seems essential that it should be thoroughly and gen- erally understood, we think it advisable to enter into an exposition of the evidence that was obtained to justify us in coming to the very de- cided conclusion we adopted upon this point. The plots which were planted as " crosses " at this station were in every case from single seed- heads, selected by Mr. Denton, which were very carefully thrashed and cleaned, special precautions being taken to prevent any accidental ad- 1405G— Bull. 20 9 130 mixture of seed from other sources. These plots were then in every case the product of a smgle head ; they showed, in the majority of cases, the greatest variation among the individual canes. This variability is well shown by a series of photographs taken by us, which were intended to be reproduced as illustrations of this re- port. Unfortunately the fund provided for such illustrations was ex- hausted at the time this bulletin was sent to the press, so that they had to be omitted. They represent a number of seed- heads, all taken from the same plot, which showed striking variations from either parent type, as well as gradations running back to each. In a plot planted from a single seed-head which was evidently a cross between the Orange and India, for instance, heads were selected which gave the greatest variations and gradations between the India type, with its white seeds and rather loose head, to the Orange, with its reddish-colored seeds and compact head. Another represents the range of variations between the Honduras and Eed Liberian, two widely different varieties, with the small round seed of the Liberian type set closely on the sprangle top head of the Honduras. These photographs of the widely different types produced from a single seed-head would convince any one, we think, of the great ease with which variations can be produced in sorghum. LIST OF CEOSSES. The following list gives the number of the experimental plot with the probable parents of some of the crosses grown this season. Many plots are not included, as the characters shown by the canes did not distinctly indicate the origin of the variation. No. of Plot. Probable cross. No. of Plot. Probable cross. 110 New Orange and Early Oraoge. 163 India and Orange. 111 Chinese and Liberian. 165 India and Amber. 112 Kansas Orange and Amber. 166 Do. 114 Golden Kod— cross. 167 India— cross. 115 Or.ange and Iruber. 168 Do. 117 Kansas Orange and Amber. 171 Kansas Orange and India. 118 Liberian and Golden Kod. 172 New Oiange— cross. 120 Amber and Kansas Orange. 173 India— cross. 121 Orange and White India. 174 India and Amber. 122 Orange aud Chinese. 175 New Oiange and Early Orange. 124 India— cross. 176 Orange — cross. 127 India and Golden Rod. 178 India and Orange. 128 Do. 179 India— cross. 129 Do. 180 Orange aud India. 331 Orange and India. 181 Do. 132 India and Golden Rod. 182 India and Amber. 133 Kansas Orange and India. 183 India— cross. 134 Orange and Golden Rod. 184 Orange and India. 135 Early Orange and Amber. 185 Orange— cross. 136 Orange and India. 186 Orange and India. 137 India and Amber. 187 Do. 138 Do. 188 Do. 139 Orange and India. 193 Orange— cross. 140 Do. 194 Do. 142 India-cross. 195 Orange and India. 144 Orange and Amber. 196 Kansas Orange and India. 14<5 Kansas Orange and Golden Rod. 197 India— cross. 147 Kansas Orange and New Orange. 200 New Orange— cross. 151 Orange and India. 201 Do. 153 Kansas Orange and Early Amber. 202 India — cross. 154 Amber and New Orange. 204 India and Orange. 155 Orange— cross. 205 Oninge— cross. 157 Amber — cross. 208 India— cross 158 India apd Orange. 211 Orange and India. 161 Kansas Orange and India. 212 Do. 162 India and Orange. 131 ANALYSES OP THE CROSSES. The following table gives the analyses made of average samples taken from the ditfereut plots: Analyses of Byhrids and Crosses. No of plot. Date. No of analysis. Degree Sucrose. Glucose. Co-effi- cient of purity. Percent. Per cent r Aug. 29 31 14.65 9.45 2.19 64.50 Aug. 31 55 15.16 9.24 2.69 60.95 no Sept. 6 110 16.42 10. 65 2.46 64.86 Sept. 20 280 18.32 13.08 1.28 71.39 Sept. 27 374 17.56 12.39 1.48 70.41 Oct. 9 541 18.04 12.54 1.96 69.51 112 Aug. 29 32 13.82 9.04 1.36 65.41 113 Sept. 12 162 17.42 11.40 2.36 65.44 St pt. 27 376 18.78 13.49 1.77 71.83 ,„j Sept. 12 163 13.70 6.08 3.76 44.37 Sept 12 164 16.36 10.08 2.57 61.61 Sept. 24 324 H.22 7.25 3.57 50.98 117 Sept. 27 377 14.26 7.78 3.00 54.56 120 j Aug. 31 57 11.50 4.44 3.40 38.60 Sept. 12 166 13.51 7.63 3.08 56.47 122 Aug. 30 35 8.14 2.42 2.53 29.73 132 Oct. 11 562 15.67 10.90 1.47 69.56 133 Oct. 11 561 16.15 10.39 2.83 64.33 -1 Sept. 13 169 13.90 6.96 3.47 63.03 Oct. 11 560 15.67 9.82 2.18 62.66 135 Oct. 11 559 16.65 11.05 1.96 66.36 136 Oct. 11 558 18.15 12.24 1.82 67.43 137 Oct. 11 557 19.35 14.49 .90 74.88 144 Sept. 27 379 16.06 10. 02 2.29 62. 39 146 Aug. 30 34 10,72 3.89 3.65 36.29 147^ Sept. 12 165 14.70 7.85 3.15 53.40 Sept. 27 378 16.82 10.97 2.48 65.22 148 Sept. 6 112 13.09 6.34 2.30 48.43 ( Aug. 31 52 12 62 6.30 2.38 49.92 152 < Sept. 6 109 13.34 6.93 1.96 51.95 i Sept. 13 172 15.97 10.38 1.35 64.99 153 Sept. 13 179 15.63 9.58 2.12 61.29 C Aug. 30 36 14.25 7.49 3.35 52.56 154^ Sept. 6 108 14.63 8.65 2.95 59.12 I Sept. 13 171 15.80 9.65 2.23 61.07 205 j Sept. 15 201 16.33 9.77 3.41 59.83 Sept. 29 407 16.94 10.77 2.34 63.58 20G Sept. 15 200 12.73 6.20 3.12 48.70 207 Sept. 15 203 11.52 4.84 3.01 42.01 208 1 Sept. 28 18 12.60 6.06 2.59 48.10 Sept. 15 • 205 17.23 11.35 1.53 65. 87 209 Sept. 15 206 13.92 8.24 2.37 59.20 210 Sept. 15 210 15.30 8.35 1.90 54.57 211^ Sept. 15 209 14.40 7.74 2.80 53.75 Sept. 20 281 14.82 8.75 2.39 59.04 212 Sept. 15 211 14.53 8.67 1.99 59.67 158 Sept. 14 180 15.62 9.85 2.69 63.06 161 5 Sept. 13 173 13.06 6.74 1.83 51.61 Sept. 14 183 15.72 9.80 1.68 62.34 162 Sept. 14 186 15.90 9.94 1.84 62. 51 163 Sept. 14 185 15 90 10.18 2.16 64.02 ( Aug. 30 38 10.75 5.09 1.53 47.35 105^ Stpt. 13 170 15 60 9.95 .88 63.78 ( Sept. 29 404 16.70 10. 92 .99 65.39 160 J Aug. 30 39 10.32 3.90 2.65 37.79 Sept. 13 174 12.04 6.27 1.98 52.08 108 1 Aug. 28 22 12.67 5.91 3.00 46.64 Sept. 13 175 14. 9'^ 9.94 1.04 66.62 ( Aug. 30 37 11.38 5.18 3.39 45.52 170^ Sept. 13 176 13.47 8.37 1.68 62.14 ( Sept. 15 204 13.82 8.30 1.74 60.05 171 1 Sept. 13 177 15. 07 7.92 3.20 52.55 Sept. 14 188 14.20 7.29 3.13 51. .14 172 J Sept. 13 178 14.04 7.46 3.61 53.13 Sept. 14 182 14.82 8.31 3.08 56.07 173 Aug. 31 53 11.32 4.24 3.64 37.45 ( Aug. 31 51 12.76 5.80 4.42 45.45 185 < Sept. 14 187 14.40 7.63 2.96 52. 98 ( Sept. 20 279 15.70 9.06 2.21 57.70 191 Sept. 14 189 14.40 7.49 3.02 52.01 193 Sept. 14 190 12.73 5.90 2.95 46.34 132 Analyses of Hyhrids and Crosses— Continued. N-o. of plot. Date. No. of analysis. Degree Brix. Sucrose. Glucose. Co-effi- cieut of purity. Per cent. Per cent. 394 Sepf.. 14 191 • 12.93 6.54 1. 33 50.58 ]S.6 Sept. 15 198 lti.82 11.12 2 34 60.11 197 Sept. 15 197 14. 62 7.53 3,64 51.50 199 S.q)t. 15 109 16.12 9.83 2.72 60. 98 200 Sept. 15 202 13. 00 6.05 3.15 46.54 202 1 Aug. 28 21 13.04 6.82 3.55 52. 30 Sept. 15 207 1.5. 54 9,42 2.05 60.61 203^ Aug. 30 40 12. 64 C.35 2. 63 50.23 Sept. 15 208 13. 42 7.57 1.71 56.41 After a uumber of these analyses of large samples had been made, it was concluded to discontinue them, for the individual canes varied so much that it was impossible to obtain samples which would represent the plot, except in the few cases where the character of the plot was uniform. In some cases the plot could be thrown out, where the aver- age samples showed a very poor analysis. The work was thenceforth confined to analyses of individual canes, selected With a view to per- manence of type. A very large number of samples were taken in this way, the seed heads removed, marked with a number corresponding to the analysis and preserved. The juice was polarized, and from each plot one or more samples which gave the best results, and which were to be reserved for future planting, were subjected to complete analysis, so as to have a complete pedigree of the cane. The following table gives the results of some of the individual canes from the crosses ; only the best samples in each plot are given, and these analyses are only a frac- tion of the whole number made and recorded at the station : Analyses of Crosses. No. of plot. 109 113 < 120 < 123- 124 128 < 129 < 130 < 131 < Date. Sept. 24 Oct. 10 Oct. 10 Oct. 10 Sept. 28 Sept. 28 Sept. 24 Sept. 28 Sept. 28 Sept. 28 Sept. 28 Sept. 28 Oct. 10 Oct. 10 Oct. 10 Sept. 28 Sept. 28 Oct. 10 Sept. 28 Oct. 10 Oct. 10 Oct. 10 Sept. 28 Sept. 28 Oct. 10 Oct. 10 Oct. 10 Oct. 10 Xo.of inalysis. 463 10G9 1070 1073 535 537 469 539 531 542 546 549 1049 1050 10.32 550 552 104(5 558 1040 1041 1042 560 5t31 1054 1055 1058 1059 Degree Brix. 10.54 18.50 18,00 18.50 17.12 15.12 17. 00 18.12 17.20 18.78 18.28 16.41 17.30 18. 50 17.35 13.81 15. 6G 17.00 18.37 18.88 18.78 20.48 19,37 19.37 19.00 19; 60 19.20 20.00 Sucrose. Per cent. 10.31 13.11 13. 24 13,16 11.30 9.43 11.37 12. 61 11.33 13.63 13.43 11.33 12. 95 13.81 12.63 6.87 9.45 12.65 13.37 14.11 13.96 15.20 14.29 14.39 13.66 14.39 13.65 14.48 Glucose. Per cent. 2.31 1.16 1.12 i.'73 1.20 1.09 'i.'is" 2.03 Coeffi- cient of purity. 62. 83 70.86 73.56 71.14 66.00 02.37 66.88 09. 59 65.87 72.58 73. 47 69.04 74.86 74.65 72.80 49.75 60.34 74.41 72.78 74.74 74. 33 74.21 73.77 74.29 71.89 73.42 71. 09 72.40 133 Analyses of Crossfs— Contiuued. No. of plot. 132 [ 133 j r 135 j 13G 137 138; 139^ 142 > 143 114 < 145^ 14G "1 151 152 153 Divto. i 155 j 156 5 157 159 1 161 1 1G2J 163 < 165 i 166- Sept. 28 Sept. 28 Sept. 28 Oct. 11 Sept. 29 Sept. 29 Soi)t. 29 Sept. 29 Sept. 29 Oct. 11 Sept. 29 Sept. 29 Sept. 29 Oct. 11 Sept. 29 Sept. 29 Sept. 29 Sept. 29 Sept. 29 Sept. 29 Sept. 29 Sept. 29 Oct. 13 Sept. 29 Sept. 29 Sept. 29 Sept. 29 Oct. 10 Oct. 10 Oct. 10 Sept. 29 Sept. 29 Sept. 29 Oct. 10 Oct. 10 Sept. 29 Sept. 29 Oct. 10 Stjpt. 29 Sept. 29 Sept. 29 Sept. 29 Sept. 29 Oct. 1 No. of aualysis. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Out. 562 563 565 1229 571 572 573 574 577 1218 578 582 583 1200 584 585 53f> 587 588 589 1643 612 613 614 616 1104 1105 1092 621 623 624 1095 1099 625 628 1087 602 603 606 607 611 640 1233 1237 1242 647 f51 652 1134 660 661 663 664 606 673 674 1277 1287 691 695 705 706 707 710 711 714 1332 719 722 724 725 726 1480 1483 1491 Degree Brix. 19. 42 18.37 15.55 20.65 16.07 19.57 19.87 20. 37 18.40 21. 13 17.90 16.00 17.00 19.03 18.70 20.20 21.50 18.70 18.00 18.68 17.78 17.18 21.21 19.88 20.78 19.14 19.81 20.07 18.07 19.00 19. 28 17.38 16.98 18.20 18.27 19.28 18.70 17.60 16.58 15.87 18.28 17.68 20.88 18.20 20.30 19.20 21. 33 18.00 18.00 22.50 22. 50 20.09 16. 82 16.63 18.62 18.2'> 17. 65 18.17 20.70 19.70 18. 85 16.90 17.97 20.47 18.40 19.37 19.47 18.50 19. 42 18.50 10.50 18.00 18.03 16. 52 20.00 20.50 19.78 Sucrose. Per cent. 13. 52 12.90 8.87 15.03 10.94 13.39 14.34 14.01 12.58 10.33 12.51 10.80 12.36 13.09 13.68 15. 32 16.26 13.59 13. 24 13.54 13.45 11.44 13.75 14.44 15.54 13.62 14.31 14.95 13.14 13.86 14.68 11.92 11.54 12.74 13.71 13.91 13.07 12.39 11.47 11.61 12.41 12. 58 15.78 11.29 14.75 13.60 14.75 12. 36 13. 33 17. 18 16. 85 14.27 11.90 10.00 12.15 10.90 12.49 12.41 15.40 14.89 13.84 12.00 12.97 15.53 13.09 14.29 14.52 14.06 14.35 12.95 1J.59 12.78 12.83 13.40 14.15 14.80 15.04 Glucose Per cent. 1.65 93 1.29 "*."77 1.21 .81 .69 2.33 "i.'98 1.10 1.82 1.09 i.'es 1.57 Coeffi- cient of purity. .58 .91 1.00 .80 .81 1.24 1.30 .53 '.69 .75 69.02 70.22 57.04 72.78 68. 08 68.42 72.17 69.21 68.37 77.28 69.89 67. .50 72.71 68.79 73.16 75.84 75. 63 72.67 73.56 72.48 75. m 66.59 64.83 72.64 74.78 71.16 72.24 74.49 72. 71 72. 95 76.14 68.58 67.96 70.00 75.04 72.15 69. 89 70. 4t) 69. 18 73.16 67.89 71.15 75.57 62. 03 72. 66 70.83 69.15 68.07 74.00 76.36 74.89 71.03 70.75 60. 13 65. 25 59. 60 70. 76 68. 30 74.40 75.58 7.3.42 71.01 72. 18 75.87 71.14 73.77 74.58 76. 00 73.89 70. 00 70.24 71.00 71.16 81.11 70. 75 72. 20 76.04 134 Analyses of Crosses — Continued. No. of plot. Date. No. of analysis. Degree Brix. Sucrose. Glucose. Co-offi- cient of purity. 167^ 168 5 „,{ r 1 173 -j f -{ 176. 178. 180 J 181 j 182 r 1 184. 187 208 J 209 j r 212 238 239 < Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct, Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 10 12 12 12 12 2 2 12 12 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 13 2 2 2 2 2 2 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 13 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 13 9 9 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 8 8 8 8 8 t 8 8 8 8 16 730 731 735 737 738 748 749 750 751 7.53 754 758 1067 1429 1430 1431 1433 762 763 1412 1417 709 771 776 777 778 784 788 789 793 795 1580 802 804 811 812 818 820 1357 1339 1340 1342 1344 1345 1346 1578 839 840 832 833 821 823 827 828 829 830 831 1516 1028 1030 981 982 983 .984 985 994 995 1002 1005 1008 1010 1011 1012 1014 1015 1020 1021 1023 1815 17.98 17.96 16.68 18.20 18.60 18.00 18.82 16. 93 17.33 20.30 19.00 19.83 21.20 23. 00 22.00 22.50 21.70 18.43 18.03 21.60 20.78 18.20 17.50 19.93 18.35 18.95 19.00 19.00 19.50 18.70 17.20 21.00 17.20 17.20 20.00 18.50 17.00 17.00 20. 28 20. 45 22. 26 20.96 21.78 21.48 21.00 20.00 19.00 19.00 18.20 20. 03 18.27 18.00 17.43 18.23 19.09 19.63 18. CO 20.82 17.48 18.88 17.82 19.05 18. 20 19.50 18.70 18.70 18.20 19.00 19.10 18.30 20.14 19.17 19.84 18.64 18.70 18.77 19.17 19.20 20.00 Fer cent. 12.55 11.77 12.08 13.51 14.98 12. 57 13.96 12.13 12. 00 14.44 13. 51 13.89 14. 28 14.77 15.73 16.28 16.29 13. 25 12.35 14.86 14.32 12. 11 11.61 14.81 12.97 14.14 13.91 13.33 14.32 13.54 12.41 15.81 11.97 12.31 14.14 13. 26 11.78 10.47 13.96 14.97 15.70 14.90 16.40 15. 38 15.27 13.56 12.46 12.99 13.08 14.43 13.45 13.38 12. 40 13.08 14.19 14.84 13. 14 15.71 13.14 12.63 13.28 13.84 12.94 14.65 13.44 13.25 12. 88 13.47 14.00 12.98 15.24 13. 42 15.17 13. 55 14.13 13. 25 13.28 13. 5) 13.71 Per cent. 69.80 65.53 72. 42 74.23 80. 54 69.83 74.18 71.65 69.24 71.13 71.11 70. 05 67.36 64.22 71.50 72.36 75. 07 71.89 68.50 68.80 68. 91 60.54 66. 34 74. 31 70.68 74.62 73.21 70. 16 73. 44 72.41 72.15 75.29 69.59 71.57 70.70 71.68 09.29 61. 59 68.84 73.20 70.53 71.09 75.30 71.60 72. 71 67.80 65.58 68 37 71.87 71.99 73. 62 74.33 71.14 71.75 74. 33 75. 60 73. 00 75. 46 75.17 66. 90 74. 52 72.05 71.10 75.13 71.87 70.86 70.77 70.89 73.30 70.93 7.^1. 67 70.01 76.40 72.09 75.56 70. 59 69.27 70.78 68.55 .75 1.53 1.90 i.'io' 2.02 2.65 2.82 1.76 i.'29' 1.05 1.53 1.01 1.28 1.17 1.38 2.07 1.04 1.55 2.23 135 Plots No. 153 and 184 gave some of the best results, the latter espe- cially giving a great many individuals with a high sugar content j there was a great deal of variation in type, however. ANALYSES OF VARIATIONS IN STANDARD VARIETIES. The following table gives the results of analyses of individuals canes which were taken from the plots of some standard varities, and which showed some desirable variation from the type of the variety. The va- riations chosen were in the line of the improvement of the variety. For examide, the variations of Honduras were individuals which ripened earlier than the rest of the plot; those of the Link's Hybrid were canes that showed more or less freedom from the faults of the variety, etc. As with the crosses, the analyses given are the chosen ones of a large number of analyses, for none of the canes which showed simply an improvement in external characters were saved unless they showed at the same time a good content of sugar and a high coefficient of purity. The samples in which glucose was determined are the individuals chosen for future planting. Analyses of varialions in standai-d varieties. HONDURAS. No. of plot. Date. No. of analysiii. Degree Brix. Sucrose. Glucose. Coeffi- cient of purit3\ 62. 88 62. 53 61). 58 68.05 67. ?5 66.99 72.90 69.47 67.25 70.00 70.25 74 50 225-6 Sept 3 Sept 3 Sept 3 Sept 17 Sept 17 Sept 17 Sept 20 Sept 20 Sept 20 Oct. 20 Oct. 20 Oct 20 263 266 267 306 313 316 330 338 339 2110 2117 2118 14.43 13.53 13.47 17.84 18.72 18.33 15.35 18.28 14.78 19.10 20.00 20.00 Per cent. 9.07 8.46 8.16 12.14 12.59 12. 28 11.19 12. 70 9.94 13.37 14.05 14.90 Per cent. 1.83 2.37 .7!) 1.18 2.74 2.65 1.02 WAUBANSEE. 230 Sept 21 Sept 21 Sept 21 Sept 21 Sept. 21 Sept 21 340 341 342 344 347 393 18.32 17.52 15.31 14.85 15.85 15.35 13.01 12. 07 9.57 9.74 10.19 9.58 .99 .81 71.18 68.89 62. 47 65.59 64. 29 62.41 1.13 WHITING'S EARLY. 234 Sept 25 Sept 25 Sept 25 Sept 25 Sept 25 Sept 25 Sept 25 Sept. 25 Sept. 25 471 472 474 475 476 477 478 480 481 18.75 16.18 17.30 16.62 18.18 18.58 18. 13 16.65 16.65 • 13. 25 11.63 11.72 11.71 12.21 12. 63 13.96 12. 05 11.71 70.67 71.88 67. 75 70.46 67.10 67.98 77. 00 72.37 70.33 .91 136 Analyses of variations in standard varieties— Coniinued. LATE -ORANGE. No. of plot. Date. No. of analysis. Degree Bnx. Sucrose, Glucose. Coeffi- cient of purity. 80 Sept. 25 Sept. 25 Sept. 25 492 498 500 16.68 18.18 18.78 Per cent. 10.73 12.07 13.64 Per cent. 64.33 66.39 72.63 2.94 EARLY ORANGE. • 68 Sept. 28 Sept. 28 Sept. 28 Sept. 28 520 521 522 529 17.91 17.21 10.31 15.83 12.89 14.42 14.43 10.21 71.07 83.79 88.47 61.50 "■■ .'76 AVniTE MAMMOTH. 67 Oct. 3 Oct. 3 Oct. 3 Oct. 3 Oct. 3 8G7 868 871 893 882 19.45 19.00 18.02 19.20 19.00 13. 29 13.81 14.12 14.04 13.86 68.33 72. 68 75.83 73.13 72.05 1.37 CHINESE. 232 Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 901 907 909 nio 911 912 954 955 902 973 18.58 18.70 18. 70 19.85 19.08 17.35 18.24 19.84 19.19 19.17 13.36 14.44 13.39 14.35 14.79 12. 55 12. 95 14.50 13.76 14. 10 1.06 71.91 77.22 71.60 72.29 77. 52 72.33 71.00 73.08 71.70 73.55 LINK'S HYBRID. 0 Oct. 3 924 20.70 Oct. 3 932 19.20 Oct. 3 937 21.38 Oct. 3 938 20.18 Oct. 3 941 18.51 Oct. 3 942 20.20 Oct. 3 944 21. 20 Oct. 3 949 22.31 15.50 14. 15 15.60 15.24 13.57 14. 43 15. 81 16.93 .55 74.88 73.70 72.97 75.52 73. 31 71.44 74. 58 75.89 137 Tlie unnamed plots also contained a great many interesting varia- tions, selections from wliicli are given in tlie following table : inalyscs of variaiions in the unnamed plots. No of plot. --\ 33... 37.... < 44 ... 40 .-.<( 48 50.... Date. Sept. 24 Sept. 24 Sept. 22 S.pt. 22 Sept. 22 Sept. 25 Sept. 25 Sept. 25 Se(»t. 25 Sept. 25 Sept. 22 Sept. 22 Sept. 22 Si-pt. 21 Sept. 21 Sept. 21 Sept. 21 Sept. 21 Sept. 22 Sept. 22 Sept. 22 Sept. 22 Sept. 22 Sept. 22 Sept. 22 Sept. 22 Sept. 21 Sept. 21 Sept. 21 Sept. 21 Sept. 21 Sept. 21 Sept. 21 Sept. 21 Sept. 21 Sept. 21 Sept. 25 Sept. 4 Sept. 4 Sept. 4 Sept. 4 Sept. 21 Sept. 21 Sept. 24 Sept. 24 Sept. 24 Sept. 24 " pt. 24 pt. 24 pt. 24 -jpt. 24 Sept. 24 Sept. S( St.- Sept. No of analysis. 421 428 416 417 418 505 500 508 509 .'ill 396 398 401 380 38J 385 387 389 402 406 407 408 409 410 411 413 357 361 364 365 366 371 372 373 374 377 514 I 290 292 291 295 351 356 430 432 4b8 439 440 444 440 447 449 Dezree Brix. 15.12 18.67 16.58 15.28 16.08 18.70 18.48 16.28 19.48 19.22 19.60 18.20 18.10 17.75 18.42 17.15 18. 39 16.22 17.70 19.60 17.24 17.64 17.74 20.74 16.74 16.28 16.90 20.00 19.62 20.19 20.75 18.28 19.15 19.92 19.35 20.78 18.31 18.44 17.44 17.74 17.52 17.60 16.40 17.72 16.68 17. 6S 16.48 18.28 18.48 17.48 17.01 18.81 Sucrose. Per cent. 9.18 13.84 10. 59 10.00 11.00 12.48 12.02 9.48 13.17 12.56 14.26 12.94 12. 09 11.09 12. 52 10. 00 13.01 13.13 12.38 13. 92 12.07 12.29 12.14 14.86 11.85 11.48 13.00 14. 8:i 13.47 14.79 15.14 12.63 13.74 14.67 13.68 14. 27 ■ 12. .S6 13.25 11.99 12.71 12.04 11.. 53 12.22 12.20 11.71 12.78 11.77 13.24 13. 57 11.86 12.04 13.50 Glacose. Per cent. .80 2.61 i.oi .44 .37 .70 1.54 .76 .77 .64 1.07 2.09 2.30 1.01 .95 Co-efficient of puiity. 00.71 74.13 0.1.87 05. 45 08.41 66.74 05.04 58.23 07.01 05.35 72. 70 71.10 70.11 62.48 07.97 58.31 70.74 80.95 69.94 71.02 70.01 09.07 08.43 71.65 70.79 70.52 76.92 71.99 68.05 73.25 72. 90 69.09 71.75 73.04 70.70 68.67 67.50 71.85 68.75 71.65 68.72 65.51 74.51 68.85 70. 20 72.28 71.42 72. 43 73.43 67.85 70.78 71.77 IV. Experiments in the Selection of Seed from Individual Canes Showing a High Content of Sugar. variability of sorghum canes in their content of sugar. As might be expected of a plant which varies so much in the out- ward character of its individuals, sorghum canes vary greatly in the chemical composition of their contained juices. Even in canes of the same varieties, showing uniform outward characters and of uniform appearance and development, great differences will be found in the composition of the juice from individual canes. In fact the variation 138 in this respect seems much greater and more persistent tlian in the out- ward appearances of the plant. AVheu the variety itself is not uniform, and the variations due to mixed races are added to the variations of individuals, the most remarkable extremes are produced. This can be seen by examining the analyses of individual canes of crosses given in the section on experiments with crosses, from which the following table is selected, to illustrate the possible differences between different canes growing in the same plot. The canes were selected from a plot of Honduras, which showed fairly uniform character, in the endeavor to obtain early ripened seed of that variety, and probably some were not so well matured as others, though the seed from all was perfectly hard. Polarization of selected canes from Honduras. No. Degree Brix. Sucrose. No. Degree Brix. Sucrose. 1 6.93 14.43 13.53 13.47 10.47 14. 40 11.85 10.04 11.65 Percent. .20 9.07 8.46 8.16 4.31 7.40 5.78 1.51 5.24 .10 11 14.15 17. 05 15.88 15.34 15.34 15.54 10.67 Per cent. 8.25 11.41 10.92 9.33 7. 51 6.50 11.53 2 12 3 13 4... 5 14 15 ... 6 16 7 17 8 Highest Lowest . 9 11.53 .10 10 The following table shows the variation of individuals in a well- established and uniform variety. They were selected with this end in view from a remarkably uniform plot of Early Amber., and a particular effort was made to have the canes as nearly of the same size and gen- eral appearance, the same maturity, and the same conditions of growth — all taken from the same row. Polorizaiion of average canes from Early Amher. No. Degree Brix. Sucrose. No. Decree Brix. Sucrose. 1 15.50 15.70 14.50 18.00 16.74 14.74 15. 44 18.44 17.24 Per cent. 10.80 12.02 7.54 12.78 10.36 8.58 9.58 13.25 11.61 10 17.44 14.94 17.74 17.52 17.32 17.32 Per cent. 11.99 8.08 12. 71 12.04 ] 0. 53 10.88 2 11 3 12 4 13 5 14 6 ; 15 7 Highest Lowest . 8 13.25 7.54 9 While the difference is not so great as in the previous table, it will be seen that there is a difference of nearly 6 per cent, of sucrose between the richest and poorest canes in fifteen samples. Even in the highly improved and well established varieties of sugar- beets this variation in the composition of individuals occurs, as will be 139 seen iu the following table taken from Stammer,* which shows analysis of individual beets taken from the same row. Polarization of Gemian iugar-hceta. No. Weight of beet in grams. Degree Bnx. Sucrose. Apparent purity. 1 350 700 640 6:15 585 6a0 C90 290 532 660 18.1 15.7 16.0 15. 3 15.3 10.4 15.8 16.5 19.0 16.2 Per cent. 14.9 12.9 12.8 12.8 12.4 13.9 13.8 13.1 17.1 13.5 8?. 3 82.4 79.7 8:{.7 81.1 78.8 87.2 79.5 90.0 83.0 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 «) 10 Highrftt 17.1 12.4 Lowest .... From this it appears that these individual beets showed nearly as great variations as the Amber canes, though from the differences in the weights of the beets it is evident that they were selected at ran- dom, with no special effort to obtain average samples, as was the case with the canes. DIFFICULTIES IN THE SELECTION OF SEED ACCORDING TO CONTENT OF SUGAR IN THE CANE. It is much more difficult to select the best individuals of a sugar-pro- duciug plant than of plants raised for other purposes, in which the relative merit of the individuals can be seen by outward appearances. There are no known reliable outward signs which indicate that a cer- tain cane contains more sugar than the others. In a garden one can select the finest vegetables, in the orchard the finest fruits, in the grain fields the finest ears of corn or of wheat, by the eye or by weight, or by very simple tests. But sugar is inside the canes, mingled with other substances. The weight of the canes or their appearance is not a reli- able measure of the sugar which they contain. Handsome canes may contain but little sugar j canes inferior in appearance may yield sugar well. The sense of taste is not a reliable test, for the sugar in the juice is masked by other substances. A sugar-cane which shows by analysis 12 per cent, of sugar tastes much sweeter than a sorghum-cane w^hich shows 15 per cent. The sorghum plant will bo improved but slowly if selections of seed are made only by the size or weight or appearance of the canes, or by simple selections of the finest appearing seeds. In 2,000 analyses and polarizations of cane juice made at this station there were no reliable and constant outward marks observed by which the canes which contained most sugar could be selected. The degree *Lehrbucli der Zucker-fabrikation, vou Dr. K. Stammer Brauuscliweig, 18b7, p. 150. 140 of maturity was the only sign, and selections of the richest canes can not be made by that. When the sugar-beet growers attempted to improve the sugar beet they met with the same difficulty. They were well aware that the heredi- tary principles which are known to apply to animals also apply to plants. They knew that the individual beets which actually contained more sugar than the others should be saved for planting. But the char- acteristic points of beets which are rich in sugar vary, so that they are not reliable guides in selecting beets for seed. Knauer invented a ma- chine which separated beets in piles according to their weight, in order to select the heaviest, not the largest, beets for seed. And beets were idaced in a solution of salt-water of a certain density; the beets which sank were saved for seed. These methods were only adapted to rough selections. To Vilmorin is due the credit of introducing the methods by which the sugar-beet has been so wonderfully improved. He ob- served that a cylindrical piece could be taken from each beet without injury to the plant. These sample pieces were separately tested to de- termine their value in sugar manufacture, and only the beets which were proved to contain more sugar than the others were saved for seed. To show the zeal with which the work of improving the sugar-beet was done, it is only necessary to say that at the Paris Exposition of 1878 there were twenty exhibitors who claimed to have produced im- proved varieties of the beet. Deprez et Fits of France had an agri- cultural laboratory with facilities for making 2,000 analyses of beets dail3^ With the assistance of Professor YioUette they produced three imi)ortant new varieties of the sugar-beet, which are known as *' Im- proved Deprez," 1, 2, and 3. It is evident that the sorghum industry should profit by this experi- ence of the beet industry, and that sorghum seed should be saved only from individual canes which yield well in sugar. ADYANTAGES POSSESSED BY SOKGHUM OVER OTHER SUGAR-PRO- DUCING PLANTS IN THE SELECTION OF SEED. Sorghum has advantages over both the sugar cane and the sugar- beet in selecting seed from the best individuals, and it can reasonably be expected that its improvement could be made much more rapidly than has been the case with the former. In the first place the sugar- beet is a biennial plant, requiring two years to produce its seed; sor- ghum is an annual, requiring but one year to mature its seed, so that its progress should be twice as rapid ; then the sorghum is unique among sugar-producing plants in that its seed may be separated entirely from the cane and the latter analyzed, giving exactly the worth of the indi- vidual which produced the seed, without injury to the seed itself. This is a vast improvement over the tedious method that must be pursued with the beet, of cutting out a portion of the root for the purpose of analysis. Such a cylinder can not represent the quality of the whole root with entire accuracy, and there is ground for supposing that it 141 somewhat impairs it for the production of seed the next year, although the originators and those practicing the method claim it does not. Cer- tainly the analysis of the entire portion of the plant which is used for sugar-making inirposes, as is possible in sorghum, is greatly superior. The sugarcane is at a tremendous disadvantage in this respect, and this is undoubtedly one reason why it has fallen behind the beet in the struggle for supremacy as a sugar-producing plant. Being propagated bj^ eyes, or suckers, there is no way of obtaining an analysis of the cane without injuring it for seed purposes.* the result has been that the plant has deteriorated rather than improved, while the sugar-beet has steadily advanced in quality. Surely it would be criminal folly on our part if we failed to avail our- selves in the sorghum industry of the advantages naturally possessed by the x^lant, and of the lessons taught us by the experience of others with the beet and the cane. METHOD OF WORK EMPLOYED AT THE STERLING EXPERIMENT STATION. Owing to the pressure of work at this station the past campaign, and the attention given the crosses, the selection of seed from the best in- dividual canes of the established varieties was not instituted until late in the season, and could not be carried out on the earlier varieties. The selection should properly be made, of course, at the maximum of ma- turity of the cane. The plan of work was as follows : A large number of canes were selected from the plot, care being taken that those selected should show no outward faults of form, and should be average canes in size, of good healthy appearance. A large number of such canes were brought in to the station barn and laid out in serial order, the heads cut off, a label with number attached to each, and a corresponding num- ber placed on a receptacle to contain the juice. Two men were kept busy turning the hand-mill, while a third kept the juices in proper order. As soon as the juices were obtained they were poured into hy- drometer jars, and when they had stood long enough to permit of the escape of the air bubbles, their density was taken roughly with a spindle. If the reading did not come up to a certain standard the juices and corresponding seed-heads v^ere rejected. The standard used de- pended upon the richness of the variety of cane from which the selec- tions were made, being placed at 20° or even 21° Brix for very rich * Professor Stubbs has proposed to split the caue. using one-half for analysis, and the other for planting. Of course there would be cousiderablo difficulty in preserving the split cane, and there is no record of its ever having been attempted. It would seem more feasible to cut a short section, containing one eye, from a stalk for plant- ing, and make the analysis on the remaining portion of the stalk. The success of Professor Harrison in the Barbadoes in producing sugar-canes from seed (Royal Gardens, Kew, Bulletin of Miscellaneous Information, 188^, No. 24, p. 294), would seem to give hopes for the improvement of the plant in tbe way of new varieties, and the present method of propagating the plant from any kind of individ- uals that may be most convenient should receive equal attention; it is simply bar- barous. 142 varieties like the Links Hybrid. The few juices which passed the test were sent to the laboratory for complete analysis, and the correspond- ing seed-heads carefully preserved. From the complete analyses, still further selections were made, so that ultimately a few seed-heads were saved of canes showing great richness and purity of juice. From 500 to 1,000 canes could be tested in this way in a day. Some of the canes obtained by this method of selection were very rich in sugar. The fol- lowing instances serve to show this. A plot of Links Hybrid, of which the highest analysis from average samples had been 14.09 per cent, sucrose, gave on selection from about 500 canes four which went over 15 per cent. Another plot of the same variety, showing by analysis of an average sample 12.24 per cent, sucrose, gave by selection from 500 canes three which had over 16 i)er cent, sucrose in the juice. An average sample of a plot of Liberian cane gave 14 per cent; 500 canes were taken from different parts of the plot and one cane gave 17.59 per cent, sucrose in the juice ; three gave over 16.5 per cent., and twelve over 15.5 per cent. An average sample of the Planters' Friend, a new variety from Aus- tralia, gave 11.63 per cent, sucrose; selections from 1,000 canes gave three which contained over 15 per cent, sucrose in the juice. Such instances might be multiplied, but sufficient evidence has been given to show the possibilities in this method of improvement. The selections have all been preserved, and can be planted and observed another year, if means are afforded the Department for carrying out the work. Analyses of selected single canes from standard varieties. LIBEKIAN. No. of plot. Date. No. of analysis. Degree Brix. Sucrose. Glucose. Coeffi- cient of purity. 222 73 72 Oct. 3 Oct. 3 Oct. 3 Oct. 3 Oct. 3 Oct. 17 Oct. 17 Oct. 17 Oct. 17 Oct. 17 Oct. 17 Oct. 17 Oct. 17 Oct. 17 Oct. 17 Oct. 17 Oct. 17 Oct. 17 Oct. 17 Oct. 17 Oct. 17 Oct. 17 Oct. 17 Oct. 17 Oct. 17 Oct. 16 Oct. 17 Oct. 17 Oct. 17 8i2 843 845 847 856 1944 1945 1948 1950 1951 1953 19.55 1956 1960 1961 1962 1967 1968 19C9 1983 19f<5 1993 1996 2000 2002 1805 1900 1905 1907 18.46 18. 36 18.90 19.32 19.30 21.13 20. 73 20.83 22.91 22.41 21.71 22. 28 20.80 21. 32 21.62 21.71 21.91 22.41 21.31 21.58 21.58 22.38 21.92 21.62 22. 88 18.70 19.72 19.88 19.68 Per cent. 12.96 13.29 13.47 13.30 14.22 15.71 15.64 15. 49 16.42 16.20 17.69 15.74 15. 30 15.12 15.34 15.06 15.00 16.49 15.70 16.75 15.74 15.93 14. 62 14.75 15.66 13.34 14.18 14.37 13.99 Per cent. 70.21 72.39 71.27 68.84 73.68 74.35 75.45 74.36 71.67 72.29 81.48 70.65 73. 56 70.92 70. 95 69.37 68.46 73.58 73.67 77.62 72.94 71.18 66.70 68.22 68.44 71.34 71.91 72.28 71.09 1.31 2.28 1. 22 1.97 1.84 143 Anahjsea of selected single canes from standard varieties — Continad. LINKS HYBRID. No. of plot. Date. No. of analysis. Degree Brix. Sucrose. Glucose. Co-effi- cient of purity. Oct. 18 Oct. 18 Oct. 18 Oct. 18 Oct. 18 Oct. 18 Oct. 18 Oct. 18 Oct. 18 Oct. 18 Oct. 18 2007 2009 2010 2015 2020 2021 2022 2029 2036 2038 2018 20.77 21.58 21. ('8 21.10 21. 28 21. r)8 21.17 21.12 21.70 21..O0 21.55 Percent. 15.30 15.34 15.57 15.18 15.95 16.11 15.85 15.92 15.84 15.52 16.51 Per cent. 73. 66 71.08 73.80 71.94 74.95 74.65 74.87 75.38 73.00 72.19 76.61 .69 .92 1.09 EARLY ORANGE. [Selections taken from large cane-fleld.] . Oct. 18 Oct. 18 Oct. 20 2040 2041 2102 22.18 2L46 21.68 17.05 15.26 14.88 .67 76.87 71.11 08.63 EARLY ORANGE. 74 Oct. 17 Oct. 17 1940 1941 20.70 20. 50 15.01 13.58 72.51 66.24 PLANTERS' FRIEND. 214 Oct. 16 Oct. 16 Oct. 16 Oct. 16 Oct. 16 Oct. 16 Oct. 16 Oct. 16 Oct. 16 Oct. 16 Oct. 10 1820 1831 1839 18^2 1844 1853 1856 1857 1863 1877 1880 21.70 22.00 19.70 20.10 20.00 21.58 20.20 20. 60 20. 28 20. CO 21.00 14.71 15.55 14.16 14.94 14.00 14.53 14.18 15.41 14.51 14.68 14.86 .'82 67.79 70.68 71.88 74. 33 70. 00 67. 33 70.20 74.81 71.55 71. 26 70.76 L60 CHINESE. 215 Oct. 13 1508 19. 68 14.71 1.23 74.75 The following table gives the highest aiial^^sis obtained in each of five varieties by selection : Highest analysis of singh 3 canes by selection from standard varieties. Vaiiety. Date. No. of analysis. Degree Brix. Sucrose. Glucose. Co-offl- ciont of purity. Liberian Oct. 17 Oct. 18 Oct. 18 Oct. 16 Oct. 13 1953 2040 2030 ' 1831 1508 21.71 22. 18 21. 70 22. 00 19.68 Per cent. 17.69 17.05 15.92 15.55 14.71 Per cent. 1.97 .67 .69 .82 1.23 81.48 76.87 75.38 70.68 74.75 Early Orange Links Hybrid Planters' Friend... Chinese 144 V. Experiments in Improvement by Methods of Cultivation. It is a rale iu agricultural science tliat to obtaiu the best results the individual plants must be given the most favorable conditions possible for full development. In the effort to improve the sorghum plant methods of cultivation will pla3' an important part. Very little attention has been paid here- tofore to this subject, the cheapest and easiest methods being followed; and the sorghum crop has had about the same cultivation as is given to the corn crop. In the work at this station no very extensive experi- ments could be made on different methods of cultivation, but a number of practical points were evolved, which may be stated as our views on the best methods to be followed, without going into details as to the evidence upon which the conclusions were based. It is desirable in growing cane for sugar manufacture, that as nearly as possible all of the plants in one field should ripen at one time. If in one row there are some canes fully ripe and other canes immature, it will not be easy to harvest the canes at the time when each contains its maximum of sugar. It is a point of advantage to have all come up at the same time. Tins can best be accomplished by planting the cane on freshly plowed land the same day the land is plowed, and by being careful to cover the cane seed at a uniform depth with earth. This in- sures as uniform a start as possible for the canes, and while it may seem a trifling matter it often materially affects the results. After the young plants have come up a serious problem arises, and that is, how to cultivate the plants, to pulverize and loosen the soil, and to destroy the weeds without injuring the roots on which the de- velopment of the plants depends. Great injury is done to the roots of canes when the cultivator works deep and close to the i)lants after they have attained considerable size. This injury is perhaps greater than most persons suppose. It appears to be proved by a very simple experiment. If the roots of a hill of cane are cut all around the hill with a spade at a distance of 6 inches from the canes to a depth of G inches from the surface, when the plants are 4 inches high, and if this process is repeated once a w^eek until the canes are 4 feet high, the canes thus treated will be found to ripen later and to be inferior in all respects. In wet seasons the injury is not so great as in dr^^, but injuries are caused to growing plants by the culti- vator as with the spade. To avoid destroying and mutilating the roots of the growing canes, it seems better to give deej) and close cultivation while the plants and their roots are small, and when the first cultivation is given to use long and narrow shovels, which work near the canes, and with a slow and steady team give close and deep and thorough cultivation before the rootlets are expanded sufficiently to be injured by such cultivation. In the succeeding cultivations " shallow shovels, " that is, shovels having such form that they do their work at or near the surface of the 145 soil, should work near the plants, while deeper cultivation may be had at a distance from the plant which the roots have not reached. The form of shovel preferred in the experiments at this station is known as the '• Eagle's Claw." It consists of eight small shovels, which are attached to the beams of a two-horse cultivator, four shovels work- ing on each side of the row of cane. The form of these shovels is such that they do not enter the soil deeply ; they thoroughly pulverize all the surface soil and destroy weeds, and work close to the growing plants with little iujury to the roots. We have alluded to these points because we believe the yield of sugar is often materially lessened by injuring the roots of the canes. Mutila- tion of the cane plants above the surface of the soil is known to pro- duce a lessened yield of sugar, and injuries to the cane plants below the surface doubtless decrease it also. Many cane-growers, as they *' lay by '' their cane crop, or finish the cultivation and see its deeply and closely cultivated canes free from weeds, do not realize that while de- stroying weeds they nearly destroyed their cane plants, and while working for their canes they were working against them and against the yield of sugar. DISTANCE APART AT WHICH CANES SHOULD STAND IN THE ROW. This is a subject which has attracted considerable interest among sorghum-growers lately. Mr. Hughes obtained last year the highest yield of sugar per acre ever reported for sorghum. According to his statement, " this was occasioned by carefully planting the hills closer and giving it good attention, together with favorable rains."* As a contribution to the solution of this important question, the following analyses may be recorded. Two experiments were made with different plots of cane, both of which had been planted with drill. The planting had been rather uneven, and some rows were much thicker than others. A thick and a thin row in each plot were chosen, the canes counted and cut for a con- siderable distance, which was measured, and the whole run through the mill. The number of canes divided into the length of row cut gave the average distance apart of the canes in the row, and from the weight of the whole sample the yield per acre was calculated. The following table gives the results of the analyses: Experiment No. 1, Early Amber cane: Growing 4 inches apart in thd row... Growin-; 7^ inches apart in the row.. Experiment No. 21, Early Oran<:e cane: Growing 3.4 incue.i ajjart in the row . Growing 8.8 inches apart in the row . Yield, toDs per acre. Degree Brix. 18.20 lost 17.82 18.70 Sucroae. Glucose. Co.effl. cieint purily. Per cent. 'Per cent. 12.50 1 2.91 14 01 > 2 fiO 68.5 11.73 13.16 2.82 2.62 65.8 70.4 *Bull. No. 17, Chem. Div., U. S. Dept. Agriculture, p. 68. H056— Bull. 20 10 146 These analyses show very decideil differences between the two samples. The conditions were in all respects similar, except as to the distance apart of the canes in the row, and the large samples taken diminished the i)ossible error of sampling, so that considerable reliance may be placed upon the results. It will be seen that in both experiments the canes which were thin in the row were much better in quality than those which stood closely together; the content of sucrose is higher, of glu- cose lower, and the purity is greater. It is evident that close planting, while it increases the tonnage, diminishes the yield of sugar per ton. Of course there is a proper mean between too close planting on the one hand and too thiu planting on the other, and this subject is worthy of more attention and discussion than has previously been given it. It is probable that the distances at which canes should be planted vary to some extent with the varieties. For instance, it would seem that the small canes of the Early Amber do not require so much space as the much larger canes of the Honduras, and it also seems that soils and climate may require the distances between the canes to vary. For instance, it is well known that corn is planted much closer in the North than in the South. yi. Miscellaneous Experiments and Results of Observations. EFFECTS OF FROST. The effect of a light frost upon sorghum cane has always been a mooted question, some holding that it is not injured by a frost which only kills the leaves, but rather has the effect of ripening the cane. It seems reasonable to suppose that it does affect it unfavorably, how- ever, as it kills the leaf and stops further growth and vitality in the plant. The question is an important one, for it is quite common to have a slight frost quite early in the season. A few observations were made on this point at this station the past season. The first frost occurred on the night of September 27. On October 5, about a week afterwards, when the effects of the frost were plainly perceptible, the different plots were examined to see if any observations of impor- tance could be made. The more immature varieties seemed to have resisted the action of the frost better than those which were more ma- tured; the Honduras, for instance, holding the bright green of its leaves, almost without exception. Some varieties appeared to have resisted the action of the cold much better than others, giving some ground for the hypothesis that this might prove a constant characteristic. Other plots, again, showed some spots that were almost entirely untonciied by the frost, while in other spots the leaves were quite dead, the differ- ences being doubtless due to different conditions of evaporation from the soil. These plots seemed to offer an opportunity for comparative analyses of frosted and unfrosted canes. Large samples were taken of both kinds, taking all. the care possible to have them comparable in ^-U 147 respects, except us to the frosted and unfrosted conditiou. The results are giveu in the (ollowiiig table: Anahjscs of frosted and unfrosted canes of the same plot. Not frosted. Frosted. Variety. No. of analysis. Degree Brix. Sucrose. Glucose. No. of analysis. Degree Brix. Sucrose. Glucose. Wnubansee WaubsmBee (an- otlior plot) Rod Liberian Ked Liberian (au other plot) Plot No. G7 Enyaiua 468 498 471 481 474 477 16.33 I.-). 87 18.80 19. 20 10.33 18.10 Per cent. 11.71 11.10 13.52 13.50 11.90 12. 74 Per cent. .91 .•i2 1.G7 1.42 1.20 1.47 469 499 479 482 475 478 10.72 15.07 18.20 16.15 15.01 15.70 Per cent. ' Per cent. 10. 75 1. 50 9. 90 1. 50 12. 75 I. 38 10.20 2.93 10.30 1.39 10. 9G 1.71 17.44 12.42 1.27 71.2 16.14 10. 83 1. 73 Coetli oient of purity 67.1 It will be seen that in every case the juice from the frosted canes was quite inferior. The average of the six different plots shows the juice from the frosted cane was lower in solids, lower in sucrose, higher iu glucose, and of less purity than the juice from the canes which had been but little touched by the frost, as shown by the leaves being fresh. While not sufficient in number to establish the point, these analyses seem to show that sorghum cane deteriorates after the leaves are killed by frost. ANALYSES OF SAMPLES FROM ARKANSAS. The capabilities of Arkansas as a sorghum- growing State have never been very extensively investigated. The Sterling Sirup Works received tins fall a bundle of cane from one of the "prairie counties" of Arkan- sas, and the different samples were analyzed at the station, with the following results : Analyses of canes from Arkansas. Variety. No. of analysis. Degree Brix. Sucrose. Glucose. Coefli- ciont purity. Texas Red Honduras Chinese ... 545 540 547 548 20.25 20.25 18.25 19.25 Per cent. 13.80 3.68 11.05 14.24 Per cent. 2.84 8.47 5.24 2.23 68.1 18 61 74 Orange As a general rule samples of sorghum sent from one point to another by express are so much inverted when they arrive at their destination that the analyses are worthless j and then when samples of a few canes are selected by persons not familiar with the plant, the largest and finest-looking canes are chosen, which generally give a lower per cent, of sugar than average-sized canes. In view of these facts, the above analyses make a remarkably fine showing for the locality which pro- 4uc^4 tliG canes. The samples all consisted of quite lar^e fine canes, 148 but still gave a good analysis. The sample of Texas Eed was a tremen- dously large cane. The samples of Honduras and Chinese had evidently inverted slightly, the others very little. Another lot of samples received by the Sirup Works from Thomas Les- lie, Stuttgart, Ark., consisted of the following varieties : Goose-neck, Honduras, and Orange. As the analysis showed all to be badly in- verted, it is not worth while to give the results. ANALYSES OF SUGAR BEETS. A few samples of sugar beets were brought into the station for analy- sis by farmers living near town. They were grown from imported seed which had been distributed in western Kansas by Mr. Olaus Spreckels, in the spring of 1888. The following table gives the results : Analyses of sugar heets. From— No. of analysis. Desreo Brix. Sucrose. Glucose. Ash. Coeffi- cient of purity. Mr. Eimmers Do 459 4G4 46:j 465 13. 18 14.32 14.22 14.41 Per cent. 8.3(5 9.6i 8.92 9.75 Per cent. .43 .29 .30 .24 Per cent. 63.4 67.0 62.7 67.6 1.81) 2.19 2.04 Mr. Stubbs Mr.Schlichter These analyses seem to furnish evidence to the effect that this part of Kansas is better suited to the growth of sorghum than the sugar beet, ^one of the samples above show a sufficiently high percentage of sugar to make them available for profitable sugar manufacture, and the high percentage of ash shown is remarkable ; it is doubtless due to the highly saline character of the subsoils in this locality. ANALYSIS OF FROZEN CANE. On the night of October 19, most of the cane still standing in the field was frozen. In continuation of the work on development a sample was taken early in the morning from the plot of Link's Hybrid, and when the canes were run through the mill they were found to be partially frozen. The juice w^as analyzed, however, and the analysis is given here, together with the analysis of the juice from another sample from the same plot taken later in the day, after it had " thawed out." Analysis of frozen cane. Description. No. of analysis. Depreo Brix. Sucrose. Glucose. Coeffi- cient of purity. Juice from sample taken Tvliile frozen .Tuice from sample taken after thawing out. . . . 650 651 27.10 18. 2G Per cent. 19.43 13.45 Per cent. 1.81 .90 71.7 73.7 This analysis is inserted more as a matter of curiosity than anything else. It shows simply that part of the water in the juice was fro?en^ SQ 149 that the juice expressed was more dense than ordinarily. It might also be used to illustrate the imperfection of the present method of deter- mining the composition of a cane by the analysis of the juice expressed from it by a mill. Such analyses are always subject to the variations of the degree of extraction by the mill, the dryness of the cane, etc. Of course the removal of part of the water from the juice on account of the cane being frozen would not often occur, but a loss of water by drying would also have the effect of increasing the density of the juice ex- tracted. It is to be hoped that methods will be perfected that will ad- mit of the proper sampling of the cane itself, and the direct determina- tion of the sugar. SIZE OF SORGHUM SEED. The size and weight of sorghum seed varies greatly in ditferent varie- ties, and in different individuals of the same variety. Professor Henry found 27,G80 seeds to the pound of Wisconsin Amber. Dr. Collier found 19,000 in Virginia Amber. In a sample of the Early Amber seed grown at this station there were 20,200 seeds to the pound. In a sample of the New Orange variety there were 21,760 seeds to the pound. In a sample of Doura (non-saccharine) there were 10,480 seeds to the pound. This variety has the largest seed of any grown here. In an average sample of the Eed Liberian variety there were 31,400 seeds to the )jound. This has the smallest seed of any variety grown here. In a pound of seed of the same variety, selected for large size, there were 21,800 seeds, one-third less than the average sample. The vigor of the young sorghum plants in the first weeks of their ex- istence corresponds closely to the weights of the seeds which produced them. It seems evident that more vigorous plants can be procured by select- ing seeds which are above the average size. The Liberian, for instance,, produces very small seeds, and these produce very small and slow-grow- ing plants while they are young, although they eventually produce large and handsome canes. It will be noticed that the sample of larger seeds selected from the Liberian had the same weight as average seeds of other varieties. It is to be supposed that these larger seeds would produce more vig- orous plants than the average seeds of that variety. Major Hallett found that by selecting the finest grains of wheat he improved the plants and also improved the variety. Mr. Wilson separated the largest and the smallest seeds of the Swed- ish turnip; he found that the iiJants from the largest seeds took the lead and maintained their superiority to the last. Director Briem made similar experiments upon sugar beets, as fol- lows:* " It is a well-known fact that seeds of diflfereut size and weight of any plant will cor- respondingly develop plants of different size and .weight if conditions of life are * Wiener LandwirtscbaftlicheZeitung, 18.^7, No. 99, S. 703. Agric. Science II, 141. 150 otherwise equal. To determine the amount of these variations in the sugar beet the author made the following experiment : Six bunches of seed from one mother beet were selected, cultivated separately, and the developed plants transplanted after thirty-seven days in such a manner that each plant had the same space of soil. The crop of beets gave the following results: Seed buncLes. Plants produced. 1 2 3 4 5 6 No, 1 containe'l six seeds No. 2 contained six seeds No, 3 contained five seeds No. 4 contained five seeds No. 5 contained four seeds. .. No. 6 contained four seeds. . . Grams. 1,160 598 735 635 580 370 Grams. 820 550 685 625 525 350 Grams. 720 415 420 500 350 310 Grams. 240 400 310 U5 dTo 55 Grams. 240 255 165 35 Grams. 110 245 From these numbers will be seen the great difference in the weight of the beets although produced from the same bunch. This illustrates the great variability of the sugar beet in inheritiug properties, and suggests the greatest care in selecting seed for culture." In the work in the selection of the individual canes which contained the highest percentage of sugar it was noticed that almost without ex- ception the seed heads of these canes were far below the average in size and weight. This will be seen by an inspection of a photograph which was taken, showing the seed-heads which gave the highest analy- sis in the work this season. It may also be remarked that the non- saccharine varieties are invariably large seed-bearers, and have mag- nificent seed-heads. Perhaps the simultaneous production of a large amount of seed and of a high percentage of sugar are incompatible? When any selection of sorghum seed is practiced at all it is the uni- versal custom to select the largest and finest seed beads, but perhaps this method of selection is better calculated to improve the yield of seed than the yield of sugar. This is a most interesting and important ques- tion, and we commend it to future investigators. CONTINUATION OF THE WORK IN THE IMPROVEMENT OF THE SOR- GHUM PLANT. The necessity for the continuance of this work has already been suf- ficiently pointed out. Even after highly sacchariferous varieties have been produced careful selection of seed will still be necessary in order to maintain a high standard of excellence. Who is to carry on this es- sential branch of the industry ? In Europe the beet industry is suflQ- ciently extensive to justify large seed concerns in undertaking such work, and some of the largest factories save their own seed. In some of the beet-growing countries the agricultural experiment stations ren- der efficient aid in this direction. In this country the industry is still so young that it can not be expected that private capital will undertake 151 the task of improving the i)lant. Tlie new factories have so much to contend with that they can not possibly devote the necessary time and expense to it. The agTicultnral experiment stations, in whose province it would seem to fall, have been but recently established in thesorghum- growing States, and are not fully equipped for such work, besides hav- ing their attention taken up by other agricultural products. Yet sev- eral of them have already done something in the line of sorghum im- provement, and others have announced their intention of doing so. It would seem to be essentially fitting and proper if the Department of Agriculture were provided with authority and means for its continuance. Whoever it may be that undertakes the work, it is important that they should have the benefit of whatever the experience of the past season at this station has taught ; we think it advisable, therefore, even at the risk of some repetition, to outline in a general way the principles and methods to be pursued in the future conduct of such work. It must be remembered, of course, that we have only the experience of one short season to draw upon, and while many of our ideas are based upon that, and upon analogies in beet culture, some have only the foundation of our own judgment to rest upon. In selecting sorghum seed the following may be outlined as the gen- eral course of i)rocedure : 1. Seed should be selected from the varieties which have proved to be the best adapted to the locality. Those which are defective in any respect should either be thrown out or their faults removed by such crossing or selection as will have that tendency. 2. The seed of these varieties should be selected from the individuals which show the fewest faults of form, the highest content of sugar, and the least content of other substances. 3. The seed from the best individuals should receive such cultivation and fertilization as may be shown by experiment to give the best results in yield of sugar, in proportion to the area of soil covered. It may seem impossible to carry on these several lines of selection at once; to select seed from the individual canes which yield most sugar, and at the same time to select seed with reference to the physical char- acters of the canes. But more than one point is always necessarily con- sidered in all plant selections. The faults of form in the beet have been bred out, merely to obtain a form to admit of ready cleansing. The faulty forms of the sorghum cane have already been pointed out. Seed should never be saved from *' tillers," or secondary canes, or sup- plementary heads, as they would tend to reproduce canes which would l)roduce a second crop of seed. Photographs of some of the canes selected for future propagation at this station will show how faulty forms inherent to certain varieties may be eliminated. The canes are from a plot of Link's Hybrid. This variety has nearly always proved to be a good sugar ])roducing variety, and its greatest fault is one of form. The top joint is apt to be very long, 152 slender, and tapering; and as the seed bead is pretty heavy it sways back- wards and forwards in the wind, and in storms is very apt to ''lodge." Selections made from a rather limited number of canes in which this tendency was partially eliminated gave individuals which were great improvements upon the typical cane of the variety. This shows how a fault may be gradually eradicated by selection of desirable variations. Again, from a cross of the Links Hybrid with the Early Orange, in- dividuals were obtained which retained most of the desirable qualities of the former, with its typical seed head, and engrafted upon the stout, stocky canes of the latter. This shows the breeding out of an undesir- able quality by crossing. The photographs which show the canes ob- tained by these two different methods contrasted with typical canes of the variety, illustrate very graphically the possible progress that can be made in two generations in the improvement of a variety in form. Faults in form are so readily seen, that it is much more easy to eradi- cate them by selection than faults of composition, which can only be ascertained by chemical analysis. Only such canes, then, should be taken for analysis as show not only freedom from general faults, but also a tendency towards elimination of faults of the variety to which it belongs. It may be as well to insert here a caution as to the use of crossing. It has been shown that sorghum is extremely variable, and this fact is a sort of guaranty that by continued selection improved varieties can be created, for variation makes selection possible, and selection makes im- provement possible, but care should be exercised in making use of this tendency. There is a well founded prejudice against '' mixed " varieties of sorghum. The most worthless men, animals, and plants are those which belong to heterogeneous and indiscriminately mixed races. Bad qualities are transmitted as well as good. The most of the crosses grown at this station were worthless. Darwin says, "A variety may be variable, but a distinct and improved race will not be formed without selection." After the desired degree of variation in the variety has been obtained selection should be based upon uniformity rather than variability, in order that the qualities may become fixed and stable. The most careful and rigid i)recautions should be taken against acci- dental crossing, none being permitted that is not artificially controlled by methods well known to horticulturists. It would j)robably be well to prevent cross fertilization even in plots of the same variety. Inten- sive cultivation has yet to be tried on the sorghum plant, and perhaps where there is already so great a range of variability, there is greater prospect of improvement by selection and self-fertilization than by crossing. It would certainly be best in crosses, and probably best in varieties, to plant single plots from but one seed head. In selecting the seed from the best individuals by analysis of the juice, not only the percentage of sugar, but also the purity and the percentage of glucose must be considered. This problem is rendered 153 easier of solution by the fact, which was pretty generally noticeable in the work at this station, that purity of juice and a low content of glu- cose generally accompany a high percentage of sucrose. Moreover, it is generally the case, though this is not so constant, that a high density of juice indicates high content of sucrose, low of glucose, and high purity. The following analysis, taken from some of the individual canes which gave the best polarizations illustrates this point. Analyses of canes showing high percentage of sugar. No. Degree Bflx. Sucrose. Glucose. Coeffi- cient of parity. Per cent. Per cent. 422 22.50 17.18 .58 70.4 627 22. 16 17.05 .66 70.0 451 22. 28 16.03 ..'■)5 70.0 5G3 22.00 16.03 .70 77.0 51)4 22. 50 16.85 .91 75. 0 565 21. 25 16.33 .77 77.0 738 18.61 14.98 .75 80.5 430 19.47 14.52 .53 74.2 Eough selections therefore can be made by the hydrometer spindle, throwing out all which do not come up to a certain standard. The selections made in this way may then be polarized, and further selec- tions made by this test, while the final selection should be based upon a complete analysis. Considerable weight should be attached to the purity as a basis for selection, for this is the weak point of sorghum as a sugar- producing plant. It will be seen from the above analyses that these canes were fully equal to tropical canes so far asa high content of sucrose and a low content of glucose are concerned, but the purity is low in proi)ortion. The selection and comparison of canes for seed should be made when the plot has reached its maximum of purity, as nearly as it is possible to ascertain that point. Then the relation of high sucrose content, high density, and purity, etc., is most likely to be normal and constant. It will be seen that a course of selection, as outlined above, necessi- tates the making of a great many analyses. Facilities for making a large number of analyses, the more the better, w^ould constitute an essen- tial part of the equipment of a station for the improvement of the plant. But undoubtedly a great deal could be accomplished in selection of seed by the use of the hydrometer alone, where facilities for complete analy- sis do not exist, until the time comes when seed improvement can be carried out properly by separate stations or establishments. We believe that every large canp grower should test his canes in this way, and should make selections of seed by the hydrometer test, unless he can use still better methods. Even this simple method of selecting seed would be vastly better than the usual way of merely selecting seed that is ripe and sound. If constantly practiced it would do much to re- 154 move the blame of variableness from tbo sorglium plant, because it would throw out from the seed selections the seed heads from canes which have weak juice which contains little sugar. English horti- culturists call destroying inferior plauts "rogueiug,'^ and the sorghum l^lant now needs constant rogueing. This can best be done by throwing out the seed of canes which have weak juice. We can as yet lay down no rules in regard to the selection of either varieties or individuals with reference to the size or yield of seed. This can only be done when it has been settled beyond a doubt that high saccharine content and purity of juice can coexist with a large yield of fine seed. Time and experience only can settle this question, for we have no analogies to guide us. The seed is a most important by- product in sorghum j it stands alone among sacchariferous plants in its ability to furnish at the same time botli a i>roduct of sugar and a crop of valuable cereal grain. Both the quality and quantity of the seed produced vary greatly in different varieties; some of them, such as the Honey-dew, White African, White India, etc., furnish a beautiful white seed ; the seed producing qualities could doubtless be easily improved by selection, and the opportunity thus offered is very tempting: but for the present it seems more rational not to expect nature to honor duplicate drafts upon her treasury ; to i:)roduce a big crop of seed and a large yield of sugar from the same piece of ground that ordinarily does only the former. While it will never do to attempt to place a limit on the possibilities in the case, much must be done before we can expect to produce a sorghum cane with the sugar content of Links Hybrid or Liberian. combined witli the seed head of Doura or Kaffir corn. Nothing has been said as yet of a very important element which must be considered in all improvements of a race of animals or plants ; that is, the power of the selected individual to transmit its qualities to its descendants. An individual may be ever so rich in good qualities itself, but if it does not i)0ssess also the power of impressing its own character upon its posterity it is not the best one to choose for breeding purposes. This point is well set forth in the letter which we append, from the celebrated seed firm of Paris, wh j have done so mucli for the improve- ment of the sugar beet, and whose historical connection with the intro- duction of the sorghum plant into this country will lend especial interest to what they have to say with reference to its improvement. LETTER 1<^R0M VILMOKIN, ANDKIEUX & CO., OX IMPROVEMENT OF SORGULM. Paris, November 6, 1888. . Dear Sir: Replying to your inquiry as to the best method of improving the sor- ghum plant, we should think that nobody being more acutely aware than you prob- ably are of what qualities are still lacking in this plant, you must, of necessity, be better than any one else in a position to make the first step towards success ; which is, to have a clear and precise perception of the aim to be arrived at, i. e., of the most im- portant featuie^ to bo added to those already existing in the plant. 155 Besides, if wo draw a correct conclusion from what we gather from your letter, not only has this step been already made, but you expect even to have now ready on hand the necessary materials for going a step further, viz, proceed to the selection of those plants as possess to the desirable degree the very qualities looked for. Here we must remark, as regards the said selection, that, as far as our experience goes, it does not seem to be always the safest way to systematically discard all the merely satisfactory plants and to give the preference only to those showing sonie qualities to the highest degree. On the contrary, it has often been the case that specimens of only average value, but otherwise well fitted plants, have proved to af- ford the surest means of rapidly obtaining a final result. This applies especially to the most important quality to he secured in the selected plants, which is the capability of fully transmitting their good qualities to their de- scendants, and as this quality can not well be ascertained at the outset, it is neces- sary not to be over severe in the first selection, and subsequently to retain only those plants as show this quality to a satisfactory degree and then to make a careful selec- tion amongst these. During the whole time of these experiments it will be necessary to take the re- quired measures to prevent intercrossing, so that the successive progeny of each individual i)lant be kept severely by itself, and every hybridization be made impossible, as otherwise, even one accident might be conducive to impart to the plants a tendency to variation, which may make it the more difficult to obtain that lasting constancy or fixity so necessary in the plants that are intended to create a new and large genera- tion liable to improve rather than degenerate. As a consequence, it will also be necesary to lirovide, from the outset, for a most careful and correct record of the signs, the degree, and progress of each of the qualities recognized in each individual plant selected for future propagation. For it is very important that when selecting stock plants amongst the new generation an accurate and easy comparison of each of these plants may be made with every one of his ancestors, so that the increase gained in constancy or permanency of each character wanted may be surely ascer- tained, and a headway movement secured with certainty. Of course the number of series to be studied separately may vary according to cir- cumstances, each being conducted on a somewhat diflferent basis as regards the most prominent qualities noticed in the plants used. By such means and by never altering, without good reasons, the program once laid down at the beginning, you may expect to bring the desired result more or less rapidly into the domain of established facts. Of course, much depends on the skill shown in the successive selections to be made, on the nature of the plants treated, as also on circumstances. In reply to your query about publishing this letter, we have only to say that if you are of ojiiniou that others may derive some benefit from reading it, we shall not have the least objection to your publishing it. We remain, dear sir, yours faithfully, ViLMORIN, AnDRIKUX & CO. Mr. W. P. Clement, Sterling Sirup Works, Sterling, Kama. INDEX. A. Page. Albumenoids, determiDation of, at Conway Springs, Kaus 91 Amber, early 114,115 Analyses at Rio Grande, N. J., table of 45 Appropriation bill, date of 5 Arkansas, analyses of samples from 147 B. Brix spindles, comparison of, by drying, at Conway Springs 93 C. Cane, amber, deterioration of, at Rio Grande 7 character of, at Kio Grande 29 best time for planting 34 Chinese 115,110 analyses of 143 cost of 19 early orange, analyses of 143 experiments in growing different varieties of 110 fallen, deterioration of 108 frozen, analyses of 148 Honduras 118,119 Liberian, analyses of 142 Link's hybrid, analyses of 143 orange, varieties of 116, 117 Planters' friend, analyses of 143 quantity of, worked at Conway Springs 81 raising, Mr. Demiug's directions for 73,74 Red Liberiau 117,118 richness of, at Conway Springs 67, 6S varieties of, grown at the Sterling Experiment Station.. 1J2 varieties of, grown at Douglass 94 yield of, at Conway Spring? , 67 Canes, distance of, in the row 145 early amber, analyses of. . ....„ 138 highest analyses of 143 selected Honduras, analyses of 138 small sucrose in 95 Chemical control, arrangements for 6 importance of 21 Chips, exhausted, analyses of, at Douglass 103 burning of 19 experiments with, at Wanopringo ^Q 157 158 Pago. Chips, exhausted, disposition of, at Douglass 97 waste, disposition of 18 weight of, in eacli cell 78 Clarifying, at Rio Grande.. 40 Climate, importance of 17 Collier, Dr. Peter, varieties from 119 Colman, Hon. Norman J., aid from 49 Conway Springs, elevation of 75 experiments at 63 experiments at 12 financial results of 12 object of G Sugar Company, incorporation of *" 63 Crampton, C. A. and A. A. Denton, report of 105 Crop, cane, at Douglass, character of 14 Crosses, list of 130 analyses of 31,32,33,34 Cultivation, experiments in methods of ^ 144 Cutter and pulper at Keuner 49 D. Deming, E. W., apparatus of -. 23 Denton, A. A. and C. A. Crampton, report of , 105 superintendent of station at Sterling 16 Diffusion, battery at Douglass 95 failure of 14 at Keuner 48 at Rio Grande 39 experiments in 53, 54, 55, 56 notes on 57 with sugar cane, progress of 22 Dilution at Douglass 96 Douglass, Kans., experiments at - 13 object of 6 summary of work at 97 E. Edson, Hubert, report of 94 Experiments at Kenner, conclusious from 11 made by the Department, one object of 21 Extraction at Douglass 96 Evaporator, kind used at Rio Grande 37 F. Factory at Con way Springs, equipment of 63 cost of .' 20 points to be considered in building of 17 Fields, cane, proximity of 19 Filters, sand 36 sawdust 35 Financial statement, Conway Springs 69 Fiscal year, disadvantages of beginning July 1 16 Frost, occurrence of, at Conway Springs 74 efteQtsof ,,,_.,....,,..............,.,......., 146,147 159 Page. Ffosts, early, effecta of 17 dates of 17 Fuel, crude oil as 37 supply of 19 G. Glucose, ratio of, to sucrose 79 Gypsum, amount of, in water at Conway Springs 12 in water at Conway Springs 67 H. Honduras cane, analyses of 61 Houses, auxiliary 40,41,42 Hughes, H. A., report of 29 Hybrid varieties, description of 60 I. Inversion at Rio Grande 40 J. Jennings, O. B,, patent of 23 Juice, cause of poor extraction of 78 diflfusion, amount drawn at each charge 78 at Douglass 96 dilution of 78 Juices, acidity in, at Conway Springs 92 Douglass 103 cane, analyses of, at Douglass 97 clarified, analyses of, at Conway Springs 87 Douglass 101 comparison of acidity in, at Conway Springs 92 total solids in, at Douglass 104 diflfusion, analyses of, at Douglass 100 Conway Springs 86 from exhausted chips, analyses of, at Conway Springs 90 mill, analyses of, at Conway Springs 83, 84 from fresh chips, analyses of, at Conway Springs 85 K. Kansas orange cane, experiments with 30 Kenner, conclusions from work at 62 experiments at 10 laboratory work at 49 L. Letter of submittal 4 Lime, air-slaked, experiments with , 66 carbonate, experiments with 66 caustic, experiments with 77 use of, in the diflfusion battery 23 in Java and Australia 25 diffusion battery by Prof. W. C. Stubbs 25 ^. If, Cunningham.. TTT* ••»?•»:•:•♦??»??? ^ 160 M. Page. Macliinery at Conway Springs, description of 63,64,65,66 faults of 13 at Douglass, character of •- 14 at Kio Grande, character of 8 defects of 9 report of Hubert Edson on 9 Manufacture, method of, at Rio Grande 8, 35 Masse cuites, analyses of, at Conway Springs , 88 Douglass 102 Moisture in the cane, j>erceutage of 76 Molasses, amount made at Conway Springs 82 analyses of, at Conway Springs 89 Douglass 102 at Conway Springs, character of 70 price of 70 N. Neale, Dr.A. T., report of 43 New Jersey Experiment Station, Bulletin 51 10 Nitrogen, eftect of, on cane 34 O. Oil, crude, advantages of use of 38 price of 38 P. Polarization, single and double 50 Potash, effect of, on cane 34 Product at Conway Springs, character of 67 Public property, use of, by private cor[)oration8 21 R. Report to Conway Springs Sugar Company, abstract of 71,72,73 Rio Grande, N. J., experiments at 7 seasonofl880 31 1881 31 1882 32 1884 32 1885 32 1886 33 1887 33 1888 34 summary of results at, for nine years 30 S. Saccharometers designed for sorghum juices 27 Seed, difficulties of selection of 139 improvement by selection of 15 impure, results of planting of 75 selection of, from canes showing a high content of sugar 137 sorghum, size of ] 49 yield of, at Conway Springs 82 Shredding, double 36 Sirups, analyses of, at Conway Springs 88 at Douglass .,T..» ..T.». »».»»-»-. »T» •»»'rT....T.r» .T-...T. lOi 161 Page. Soil and climate, importance of 17 at Douglass, character of 14 Sorglinm, advantages of, in selection of seed 140 development of 1*22, 123 cane, faults of 107,108 improvement of 15, 109 methods of 110 necessity for improving the 107 varieties of, at Baton Rouge Station 47 varieties of, at Kenner 46 varieties of, at North Louisiana Experiment Station 47 comparison of, with the sugar beet 109 industry, facts concerning 27 in Louisiana, character of 10 late planting of 60 analyses of 60 plant, improvement in cultivation of 150, 151, 152, 153, 154 reasons for growing, in Louisiana 47 sugar industry, limits of 17 needs of , 13 analyses of varieties of 51 Spencer, G. L., letter from 22 Sports, or spontaneous variations 123, 129 Starch in sorghum 50 Sterling, Kans., experiments at 14 object of experimental work at 6, 107 Experiment Station, method of work employed at 141 sirup works, experiments of 106 Stubbs, Prof. W.C., experiments of 6 with sugar cane.., 22 report of 46 Sucrose, average per cent, of 76 at Douglass 96 Sugar beets, analyses of ,.., 139,148 Sugar, amount made at Conway Springs 82 at Conway Springs, character of 70 price of 70 at Douglass, yield of, per ton 14 high content of, at Conway Springs 12 causes of 12 house at Douglass, description of 95 industry, success of 15 making, on a small scale, failure of 8 poor yield of, at Conway Springs 12 cause of 12 yield of, per ton 57,58,59 of, at Conway Springs 68 of, per ton from sorghum 27 of, at Douglass 97 Sugars, analyses of, at Douglass 102 first analyses of, at Conway Springs 89 polarization of 81 raw, analyses of, at Conway Springs 89 Swenson, Prof. Magnus, patent of 23 14056— Bull. 20 11 162 T. Page. Tartaric acid, occurrence of, in sorghum cane.. ^...... 50 Technical and chemical control, importance of ... .. 21 Total solids, comparison of, by drying 25 determination of, in hydrogen 26 by saccharometers 26 in flat dishes .. 26 V. Variations, ease with which they are produced 128 in standard varieties, analyses of 135, 136 in unnamed varieties, analyses of 137 work on 129,130' Varieties, acclimatization of t Ill comparison of, by analysis 112 different, summary of analyses of. 124, 125 early -. 113 experiments in hybridizing or crossing 127 ten, giving best results 126 unnamed 119 analyses of 120, 121 Vilmorin, Andrieux & Co., letter from , 154 Von Schweinitz, E. A., report of 74 W. Water, at Conway Springs, effect of, on boilers 80 supply, at Conway Springs 67 disadvantages of insufficient 18 importance of 18 Wiley, Dr. H.W., letter of 24 results of experiments of 70 Work, assignment of 5 o \ RHTURNTO: C,RCULAT,ON DEPARTMENT '98 Mam Stacks Books .ay be S^XSg^SVo?^^ ^""^ '° '^^ ^- ^a.e. DUE AS STAMPED BELOW. JAN 0 6 2004 *^ / <3^. ] -J^ FORM NO. DD 6 50M 5-03 cb Berkeley, California 94720-6000