Vol. IX No. 202. 



THE AGKICULTUKAL NEW.s. 



19 



can dissolve the remains of those organisms. It is 

 difficult to see, however, how sufficient plant food could 

 be nd<ied to the soil, in this way, to account for the 

 e.\tent to which its fertility has been changed. 



The latest attempt at explanation of the eHect 

 of the partial sterilization of soils also belongs to the 

 category in which account is taken of the action of 

 the disinfecting material or influence in altering the 

 conditions under which micro-organi.sms exist in them. 

 It has been made by Kussell and Hutchinson, of the 

 Rothamsted laboratories, and like that of Hiltner and 

 Stiirmer, it has for its basis the effect of the change 

 which takes place in the balance of life in the soil, but 

 in a different way. As, however, in view of its interest 

 and importance, it deserves discussion at some length, 

 its consideration is deferred for the next number of the 

 Af/ricultaral N'eivs. 



SUGAR INDUSTRY. 



THE NEW YORK SUGAR TRADE 

 LABORATORY. 

 The following information concerning the New 

 York Sugar Trade Laboratory is taken from a paper 

 rsad recently befjre the Louisiana Sugar Planters' 

 Association. It illustrates the way in which a satis- 

 factory airangement between buyer and seller, for test- 

 ing sugars, can be arrived at, the matter being simpli- 

 fied, of course, by the fact that both are situated in the 

 same country: — • 



In the commercial testing of raw sug;ii'.s for jniri)ose.s of 

 valuation, as in any other procedure that permits variations 

 within a general method, the most satisfactory results are 

 obtained by the adoption of a single set of ini[iartial rules 

 and by strict adherence thereto. 



Up to some two years ago the methods employed in the 

 conmiercial .sampling and testing of sugars entering this 

 country were regulated by the individual liuyers and sellers. 

 In conseouence, varying results were obtained and there was 

 found much trouble in arriving at satisfactory average tests 

 as bases of settlements. A number of the larger buyers and 

 sellers of raw sugars located at the ports of New York, 

 Philadelphia, Boston, Xew Orleans, ^Montreal and Halifax, 

 realizing the advantages of uniformity in sampling and test- 

 ing, decided to e.stablish a central testing laboratory at Xew 

 Voik, where their sugars might be polarized. 



Sampling may be done as the sugars are taken from on 

 board ship, or the sugar may be placed in store and sampled 

 when taken thence. 



To secure samples, the representatives of buyer and seller 

 alternately sample the packages an! deposit their separate 

 (samples in a common receptacle. When the desired number 

 of packages has been sampled, the accun;ulated sugar is 

 thoroughly mixed before the final or net sample is taken. In 

 some cases it is necessary to reduce the lumps by crushing, 

 then to return this crushed portion to the gmss sample. 



Six tin cans of about 1 It), capacity are filled to the 

 top, clo.sed and sealed by the samplers for both buyer and 

 .seller. Two of tlie.se cans go to the buyer, two to the seller, 

 and two to the trade laboratory. The liuyer submits his 



sample to an inile|>en(lent commercial chemist, while the 

 seller submits his sample to another chemist. The trade 

 laboratory makes its test and renders its report of test to 

 both buyer and teller. 



The three reports are compared and the average of the 

 two most closely agreeing is taken as the true test. The 

 third is thrown out. 



The .samples are mixed twice daily and sent to the 

 laboratory. For [lurpoies of identification, on each sample 

 is pasted a label showing the name of the .ship, time and 

 place of sampling, mark, number of packages in the mark 

 and in the sample, and buyer and seller. This information is 

 recorded upon the books of the laboratory. One of the two 

 cans received is stored for reference, and the other given 

 a daily serial number and analyzed. Before analysis the 

 sugar is emptied ujjon a clean, dry sheet of plate glass, and 

 thoroughly mixed. Any lumps are crushed by means of 

 a porcelain roller and again incorporated into the sample. 

 Pieces of bags, baskets, mats, etc , that is foreign substances 

 obviously not belonging to the sugar samples, are picked out 

 by hand and discarded. 



The work of polarization is then performed independ- 

 ently by two analysts, upon separate portions, and with 

 entirel}' different apparatus. The method employed is 

 that recommended by the International Committee for 

 Unification of Methods of Sugar Analysis. The two results 

 thus obtained are compared, and if found to agree within 0'2 

 per cent, they are averaged, and this average is recorded and 

 reported as the Trade Laboratory's test. If the two results 

 be further apart than 2 per cent, the sample is re-tested before 

 it is reported. 



The laboratory was established as a matter of experi- 

 ment, but the satisfaction which has been given practically 

 assures the permanence of the scheme. 



WEST INDIAN SEEDLING CANES 

 IN FLORIDA. 



The following report on several seedling canes 

 which were sent by the local Department of Agricul- 

 ture, Barbados, to the Agricultural Experiment Station 

 of the University of Florida has been furnished by 

 Mr. John Belling, B.Sc, Assistant in Horticulture at 

 that Station : — 



On November 29, we tested the juice of five of the 

 sugar-canes you kindly sent us. Though, on account of dry 

 weather, we could not plant them out until as late as the end 

 of May and June, yet B.208, though not quite ripe, has 

 yielded a higher polaii.scope reading than any cane with an 

 equal period of growth has ever done in Florida, to my knowl- 

 edge. A reading of 1-5 is reckoned high here. B.208 

 stools well, and has stood the severe drought this autumn 

 better, in my opinion, than B.3,412, B.3,40.5, or B.3,-390. 

 These three canes were unripe, but will have a long growing 

 season and a fair test next year. B.147 was, of course, quite 

 .soft and unripe. B.3,I12 may be good for syrup-making, 

 and perhaps B. 147, too. B.376 was slow to germinate and 

 could not be tested. 



Cane. Brix. PolarLscope reading 



(Schmidt & Haensch). 

 B. 208 ]9-(;i 17-3 



B. 3,390 18-37 14-5 



B. 3,405 17-47 13-1 



B. 3,412 17-57 12-3 



B. 147 16-07 11-0 



On the whole, it seems probable that more than one of 

 the new canes may be an acquisition. 



