:>2 REPORT OF THE AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH 



Composition of sugarcane before and after clamping — contd. 



An examination of these figures shows that the follow- 

 ing deductions may be drawn : — (i) There was probably 

 some reduction in the proportion of juice in the cane, due 

 to loss of moisture during the period it was in clamp. 

 Whether this was so during December is doubtful, but it 

 certainly occurred during the three months from January to 

 April. This is almost to be expected owing to a certain 

 amount of drying; at the same time it is to be remembered 

 that there is the error due to sampling, especially when, 

 as in February, March and April, canes had to be drawn 

 out of the heaps. Another error rests with the mill, which 

 cannot be always tightened up equally at different times. 

 Regarding the sucrose, glucose and purity, these did not 

 change during December, the small variations which were 

 found by analysis must be attributed to experimental error 

 chiefly in sampling. The results of the December experi- 

 ments are indeed remarkably satisfactory. During the 

 much longer period January to April, the individual tests 

 of the experiment marked " A " exhibit some variations no 

 doubt due chiefly to sampling, but it is evident that except 

 that the cane dried somewhat, this lot of cane suffered no 



