304 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE. 



As a result of the experiments with, cutters the following conclu- 

 sions can be drawn: 



(1) Whatever the form of the cutting-machine employed may be, 

 it is necessary that the cane be cleaned. This cleaning should not 

 consist of the removal of the blades alone, but also the sheaths. 



(2) The slicing of the canes oblicjuely by means of a vertical cut- 

 ting-machine with a forced feed is not an economical method of pro- 

 cedure. 



(3) The use of a cutting-machine with a horizontal disk and multi- 

 pi e feed is impracticable for sorghum canes unless they are perfectly 

 clean. 



(■i) The preliminary cutting of the canes into short lengths promises 

 the easiest solution of the problem of cleaning the cane. 



(5) The subsequent slicing of these sections by some form of appa- 

 ratus is a mechanical problem which can be solved. 



THE APPARATUS FOR DELIVERING THE CHIPS TO THE BATTERY AND 

 REMOVING THEM THEREFROM. 



The working of the chip elevators and the apparatus for removing 

 the exhausted chips was exceedingly unsatisfactory. 



The chips falling into the pit below the cutters were carried by a 

 screw conveyer to a bucket elevator. Thence they were dropped onto 

 a belt conveyer, which delivered them to the apparatus for blowing 

 out the leaves, &c. The screw, the elevator, and the belt frequently 

 became choked, and occasioned a great deal of trouble and delay. 



The apparatus for removing the exhausted chips gave still greater 

 trouble. 



In discharging a cell the whole contents, weighing a ton, were thrown 

 at once on the conveyer. This load was too great, and many days' 

 delay were experienced in making the alterations necessary even to 

 moderate efficiency. 



The elevator for taking the exhausted chips from this conveyer was 

 a very complicated and inefficient piece of apparatus, and many tedious 

 changes had to be made before it would do the necessary work. Fi- 

 nally its use was abandoned altogether. The lessons taught by these 

 unfortunate delays show that the proper method for removing the ex- 

 hausted chips from the battery is by means of a tramway and dump- 

 cart, as practiced at Almeria, and described in Bulletin No. 8. A great 

 deal ot apparatus and power will be saved by this method of disposing 

 of the chips. The conveyer for iilling the cells worked in marked 

 contrast with the rest of the chip-handling machinery, and gave per- 

 fect satisfaction. This conveyer extended the entire length of the 

 battery, and was placed directly above it. Over each cell was a door 

 in the floor of the conveyer. When a cell was to be filled the door 

 above it was opened and the chips fell through onto a funnel, which 

 directed them into the cell. The bottom of the conveyer at Fort 

 Scott was too near the top of the cells. It should be not less than 6 

 feet above the top of the cells, so as to allow ample room for tamping 

 the chijis as they fall into the cell, thereby greatly increasing the ca- 

 pacity of the battery. I do not think a better contrivance could be 

 devised for filling the cells of a line battery. I am still of the opinion, 

 however, that the charging of a circular battery, as described in Bul- 

 letin No. 8, would be a more simple method. The disposition of the 

 battery, however, is not a matter of vital importance. 



I am further of the opinion that it will not be difficult for an ingeni- 



