FTI'^LD CROPS. 8B 



'I'lio composition of lli«' li';i vcs. st;ili<s, itxits. iiiul seods of sn.ir:ir cmiic .iinl df tlic 

 .•ish i>f till' plimt is sliowu in tallies. 'rii(> coniiiosition of the asli was f()ini<l In 

 vary widely with the variety of cane, type of soil, and manner of fertilization. 

 It is stated that sujrar cane contains only a \-ery small (jnantit.v of fat or oil. 

 mostly in the interior tissnes. while the wax is found entirely upon the outer 

 surface and constitutes about 1 jier cent of tlie rind. The average total nitro.cen 

 of many analyses of sugar cane at the station w:is only about 0.05 per <-ent. An 

 analysis of several stalks of L<uiisiana Pin'ple cane showed that the nitrogen, 

 although only a small (piantity. is distriliu1c(l among a large number of different 

 bodies. Attention is also called to Beeson's work, which shows a greater locali- 

 zation of .-ilbuminoids in the nodes and of amids in the internodes. The rind, 

 the jiith. and the tlbrovascular bundles, among which the fiber of the plant is 

 distributed, showed a certain regularity with reference to all constituents except 

 nsh, the fibrovascular InuKlles standing intermediary between the rind and the 

 liith. The rind showed the maximum and the pith the minimum of lignification. 

 The statement is made that the cellulose ol)tained from the caue resembles that 

 of cornstalks. Xotes are given on the ?> principal sugars, sucrose, dextrose, and 

 levulose. and ou the pectins or gums, and the acids. 



In the study of the physiology of the growth and ripening of the sugar cane, 

 analyses of the juice taken from the ytmng caue at night and in the morning 

 indicated a large decrease in the amount of sucrose during the night and a cor- 

 responding increase in the amount of reducing sugars. In the top joints, where 

 growth is most intense, the disparity between sucrose and reducing sugars was 

 greatest. In the middle joints, where the process of growth is being suspended, 

 the reducing sugars are being reconverted to sucrose, which is then stored up 

 in the pith cells as reserve juice. The same takes place in the bottom joints, 

 only to a greater degree. Similar phenomena were observed in an analytical 

 study of I) 74 and I) *X, canes at various intervals between the middle of July 

 and the middle of Octob«n-. A regular increase in the percentage of filter and 

 sucrose took place, although no fixed ratio between these 2 substances could 

 be established. The ash. acids, nitrogenous bodies, and gums all showed a 

 decrease as the cane matiu-ed. The reducing sugars, dextrose and levulose in 

 the green tops and joints of the cane, and also in the stalks of very young canes, 

 are present in very nearly equal amounts, but in the riper joints this relation 

 no longer exists. The disparity in the content of dextrose and levulose increases 

 with maturity until finally the levulose may nearly disappear. 



In discussing the i)hysiological i-ole of the enzyms of the sugar cane, atten- 

 tion is called to the gradual falling off in sucrose content of sugar cane wind- 

 rowed' for any length of time, and it is shown by analyses made in 180:*. that, 

 if the green tops of the cane are removed at the time of cutting, the loss of 

 sucrose is much less evident. In the wiudrowed cane from which the tops 

 were not removed the loss of suc-rose due to spontaneous inversion was ver.v 

 evident, and this is attributed very largely to the diffusion of the inverting euzym 

 from the green tops into the stalk. The inversion of sucrose causes an increase 

 in the glucose content. These results are taken as showing conclusively that 

 the vital jtrocesses go on even after the cane is cut. The darkening in color of 

 the juice innnediately after extraction and also within the body of the cane 

 is descril)ed as due to an enzym l)elonging to the class of oxydases. Othe'.- 

 phenomena in which the action of enzyms plays a part are also discussed. 



The results for 1903 show but little variation in the sucrose and ghicose 

 content and the purity of the cane tip to the middle of September. After this 

 date the canes of lOO.'i increased considerably faster in sucrose and at tli(» end 

 of the season showed an excess of o.80 i)er cent over the sucrose content in the 



