REPORT OF THE CHEMIST. FOL 
experiments appear to prove that this troublesome operation of strip- 
ping may be avoided without any diminution of the amount of juice or 
of sugar obtained therefrom. 
Below are the results obtained from stripped and unstripped sorghum, 
calculated to the raw stalks used. 
By raw stalks is meant the stalks as they were cut in the field, leaves, 
tops, and all. 
| Average per| Average per 
cent. of juice} cent. sirup in 
torawstalks.| juice. 
Condition of cane. 
Siripped. sarehunt (Nos. 2 and 6) oss. 2s ecnencascas decease caetee- 35. 02 15. 00 
Unstripped sorghum (Nos. 7 to 11, inclusive)........-..------.-------- 40. 60 15. 47 
From the above it will be seen that not only was an increased amount 
of juice obtained, but that this juice gave an increased percentage of 
sirup, and there appears nothing unusual in the treatment of this juice 
from the unstripped cane, nor was there any appreciable difference in 
the readiness of the sirup to crystallize, nor in the character of the 
sugar finally obtained. 
Although perhaps further experiments are desirable before consider- 
ing this point as settled, it would appear from the above that not only 
was stripping unnecessary, but that it really involved a loss in the 
amount of sugar to be obtained; at least the above results indicate a 
difference of twenty per cent. increase in product in favor of the un- 
stripped cane. It is not improbable that the above result is due to the 
fact that the leaves in passing through the mill tended to fill up the 
interstices between the compressed cane, and thus prevented the ex- 
pressed juice from flowing through between the rolls with the bagasse. 
In case of discoloration by action of moisture or other causes, it will, 
however, be advisable, and probably necessary, to strip the stalks. 
Several experiments were also made with both corn-stalks and sor- 
ghum to determine the relative value of the upper and lower half of 
the stalks, with the results given in the following table: 
. Percentage of |Specific gravity; Percentage of 
Pen EL qlee toealkas| - ob jutuae 7 jjbicug hijateen 
Corn-stalks, butt ends, No. 3 .......ccanenc cascncceccus 29. 04 1053 14. 62 
GCome-stalks, topends, NO. 42. ..cccs cece arcnaeccaceceee 19. 94 1050 13. 46 
Sorghum, butt ends, No. 8.......nncc--cenccnccansccee- 47.49 1059 16.41 
perchum: butt ends, NO. 10.2. oc. ccanceneccccumoc nce 41.49 1062 16. 47 
Sorcha: LOMONOS. INO! Ons. lccsts cocnces cciacccckcnese 43.16 1057 14.70 
Sorghum, top ends, No. 11...............csceeee ess 34. 09 1059 14, 26 
It will be observed that Nos. 8 and 9 were the butts and tops of the 
same stalks, and were cut just after a rain, as were also Nos. 10 and 11, 
from which the rain had evaporated, and that the difference in yield of 
juice and sirup between butts and tops is nearly constant. The increase 
in specific gravity of the juice from butts over that from the top is also 
worthy of notice. 
From the above table the conclusion from the average results is, that 
the proportion, by weight, of sugar in the lower half of the stall is to 
the sugar in the upper half as follows; corn butts to corn tops as 159 
to 100; sorghum butts to sorghum tops as 131 is to 100. As will be 
seen by reference to the first table, the stalks of both corn and sorghum 
in the above experiment were divided almost equally by weight into 
butts and tops, so that the above proportion fairly represents the pro- 
