REPORT OF THE CHEMIST. - Wabinty 289 | 
taking place in'the battery, crush out and analyze the juice from. 
samples of chips as they enter; then analyze samples of the diffusion 
juice as it comes from the battery. If the relation of sugar to glu-, 
cose is the same in these analyses it may be concluded thai no in- 
version is taking place. If, however, the proportion of sugar to 
lucose is smaller in the diffusion juice than in that obtained directly 
from the chips by crushing, inversion is probably taking place, and 
its cause must be sought and remedied. 
The subsequent processes of manufacture give little occasion for 
inversion, unless Pec delay before the juice has been reduced to 
sirup. The safest plan is to not let it cool until it is ready for the 
strike-pan. If unavoidable delays lead to a suspicion that inversion 
may have taken place, the matter may be determined by analysis. 
Inversion is not the only cause of loss to be guarded against in the 
battery. As shown by the report of the Chemist of the United 
States Department of Agriculture, the average extraction of the bat- 
tery at the Parkinson factory this season was* 92.04 per cent. of all 
the sugars the cane contained. <A clos@ average extraction than 95 
per cent. is scarcely to be expected, and an extraction of less than 90 
percent. should be considered inadmissible. Poor extraction may re- 
-sult from overhurrying the battery, from ee temperature 
i 
4 
to run too low, from raising the temperature too high, thereby fill- 
ing the upper parts of the cells with steam instead of water, or from 
improper manipulation of the valves, or from failure of the cutting 
machines to properly prepare the chips. The perfection of the ex- 
traction may be determined by analysis of the exhausted chips from 
the battery, and if not found satisfactory, the cause is of course to 
be sought out and remedied. 
_ It is desirable for the manufacturer to know how much sugar he 
is leaving in the molasses, and also how much molasses he is leaving 
in the sugar ; 72. e., the purity of the sugar. These points are readily, 
determined by analysis. 
WHO CAN DO THIS SCIENTIFIC WORK ? 
It is doubtless desirable, though not essential, that the superin- 
tendent of a sugar factory be also achemist. The analyses indicated 
in the above pages are not intricate. To make them all, however, 
will require considerable time, and whether the superintendent. be 
capable or incapable of making them, he will scarcely be able to 
spare the time which ought to be devoted to them. 
‘Any of the graduates of our agricultural or other colleges who 
have taken a good course of chemistry, with laboratory practice, 
can by a few months’ special training in sugar chemistry and prac- 
tice in sugar analysis become entirely competent to do the work re- 
quired in the ordinary operation of a factory, under the direction of 
the superintendent. 
THE YIELD OBTAINED AT FORT SCOTT. 
The actual yield obtained was 234,607 pounds of first sugar, from 
2,501 cells. If, now, the cell be taken as a ton, the yield of first 
sugar was 234,607~+2,501=93.8 pounds. Hnough of the molasses 
was reboiled for a second crop of crystals, and the sugar separated, 
to ascertain that 15 to 20 pounds per ton of cane represented could be 
obtained. Calling it 15, we have for the entire yield 93.84-15=108.8 
pounds per ton of cleaned cane. This isa larger yield than is ob- 
