322 REPORT OP THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE. 



The increase in the yield per ton at Magnolia, had the cane been 

 worked by diffusion, wonld have been, therefore, 26.8 pounds. 



The yield of seconds at Fort Scott was surprisingly low. The mo- 

 lasses as it came from the centrifugals was full of crystals. About 

 one-third its volume of warm water was added to this molasses and 

 the crystals all dissolved before boiling. This may have diminished 

 the yield. 



Tlie ''thirds " have been placed in cars and set away until next fall. 

 The *' thirds" fill 5 wagons, each containing 23 cubic feet, or in all 

 125 cubic feet, weighing approximately 10,000 pounds. Of this 

 amount, 6,189 pounds are from the second run. 



Pounds. 



The total product therefore is sugar 11, 990 



Thirds, masse-cuite 6, 189 



Total IS, 1T9 



Or 218.3 pounds per ton of cane worked. This is nearly 11 per cent. 

 of the weight of cane used. 



But calculated on the original masse-cuite, which filled 9 cars, there 

 would have been 9 x 23 = 207 cubic feet, or 18,837 pounds = 226 pounds 

 per ton, or 11.3 per cent. 



But the method of reckoning the increased production which has 

 just been used is not a fair one, since it rests on the assumption that 

 the sucrose in each case is equally available. But a moment's con- 

 sideration will show that this is not the case. 



The term "available sugar" is not a precise one. It may have 

 many interpretations. In France, for instance, the rendement is cal- 

 culated by deducting from the total sucrose twice the glucose and 

 from three to five times the ash. This is a good rule for beet sugar, 

 but in cane juice the ash, being mostly calcium salts, is far less me- 

 lassigenic than that of the beet juice, made up chiefly of potassium 

 compounds. 



Another method of calculating "available sugar" is to diminish the 

 percentage of sucrose by the difference between it and all the other 

 solids in solution. This method is apt, however, to give results too 

 low. In this uncertainty the term "available sugar" should a,lways 

 be accomir'anied by an explanation of the manner of making the cal- 

 culation. 



T]ie yield of sugar obtained at Fort Scott being the highest ever 

 got from sugar cane may be taken as the true amount of "available 

 sugar " until some better yields are reported. 



Notice for a moment the relation of this yield to the resjiective 

 quantities of sucrose and glucose present: 



Per cent. 



Sucrose in juice , 10. 62 



Sucrose iii cane 9. 56 



Yield of sucrose 7. 20 



Difference V)etween sucrose in cane and yield , 2. 156 



Glucose in juice 1 . 78 



Glucose in cane 1 . 00 



Ratio of percentage of glucose to percentage of sucrose lost 1. 5 nearly. 



It appears, therefore, that the rational way to calculate "available 

 sugar" when the quantities of sucrose and glucose in the canes are 

 known is to diminish the percentage of sucrose by one and a half 

 times the glucose. > 



