CO REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE. 



butts mid tops, so that the above proportion fairly ic'iirost'iits tlio pro- 

 portion of yie!<l of siiiiiir in the upper and lower luilf of the eane. There 

 ■was a marked dilference in the appearanee of the Juiee as it flowed from 

 the mill (that from the butts bein<]i,- lijihter in color, especially in the ex- 

 ])eriments with corn), l)iit after claritieation no appreciable difference 

 could be observed, nor was there any dilference in the product except 

 the quantitative one above mentioned, which was, however, a marked 

 difference. Also, there was a marked difference in granulation in favor 

 of the juice from the butts. 



The experiments of this year (1S79) doubtless exjdain some of the 

 results of the pre\iou8 year ; since it is })rol>ably true that, owing to im- 

 maturity, the tops had not yet attained th(Mr maximum content of sugar. 

 A study of the pre\ious tables giving results of the analyses of sorghums 

 shows that up to a certain i^eriod the lower half of the cane is the best, 

 but that this does not reiuain true of the sorghum, as it does of the 

 sugar-cane in Louisiana, since the sorghum does have time to completely 

 mature, whicli is not true of the sugar-cane in our country. 



In the following tal)le there have been calculated from the results 

 given of the experiments lathe making of sugar the following: 



1st. The percentages of the sugar present in the juices operated upon, 

 which were obtained in the sirup. 



2d. The percentage of crystallizable sugar (sucrose) present in the 

 iuices, whicli ^ as obtained in the siruij. 



:3d. The percc^ntage of uncrystallizable sugar (glucose) present in the 

 iuices, which was obtained in the sirui>. 



4t h. The percentage of crystalUzable sugar present in the juices, which 

 «-ds inverted by the process of manufacture. 



5th. Tlie j^ercentage of uncrystallizable sugar (glucose) destroyed dur- 

 ing the process of manufacture. 



The presence of the same relative proportions of crystallizable and 

 uncrystallizable sugar in a sirup to those present in the juice from which 

 this sirup has been prepared, by no means imi:)lies tha.t there has been 

 no inversion of the crystallizable sugar ; for the destructive action of 

 an excess of lime upon glucose is well known and is not unfrequently 

 made available in the production of sugar. Hence it not unfrequently 

 happens that the relative quantity of crystallizable sugar in the sirup 

 may be greatly in excess of that present in the juice, even after a large 

 quantity- of the crystallizable sugar has been destroyed by inversion. 

 It is only possible then to determine the character of the changes which 

 have taken place in the sugars during the process of manufacture, by 

 quantitatively determining the amounts of sucrose and glucose in the 

 juices and in the sirups prepared fi'om them. 



Since, obviously, this is a question of the greatest practical impor- 

 tance, as bearing upon the profitableness of the production of sugar from 

 corn-stalks or sorghum, the tables following will be studied with interest 

 by those engaged in this production. 



As will have been observed in the previous table, there is a constant 

 but not unifoi-m discrepancy between the polarization of the sirups and 

 the amouvjt of crystallizable sugar found present by analysis. 



Almost invariably the amount of sucrose found present is somewhat 

 in excess of the amount indicated by the polarisco})e, and this variation 

 is such as to forbid any supposition that it is the result of error in ob- 

 servation or analytical work. 



This ex])lanati(m may be foiuid by consulting the following tables, by 

 which it appears that, although there is generally about the same amount 

 of glucose in the sirups relative to the amoujit present in the juico 



