27 



variety H. 27 gave a yield of 34.5 metric tons and H, 227 a yield 



of 37.5 metric tons of sugar per hectare, as compared with a yield 



from yellow Caledonia of 27.3 metric tons and Lahaina of 24.2 metric 



tons under similar conditions. But even with this excellent showing 



it would not be advisable to plant large areas of these or any other 



new canes until they have been thoroughly tested in small plantings. 



Composition. — Deerr gives the limits of the composition ^ of cane 



as follows : 



Percentage. 



Water 69 -75 



Saccliarose _ 7 -20 



Reducing sugars 0-2 



Fibre 8 -16 



Ash 3- .8 



Organic non-sugar 5 - 1.0 



The principal factors causing variation in the composition of cane 

 are climate, soil, rainfall (or irrigation), variety, time of planting, 

 cultivation, and time of harvest. It is also influenced by the cane 

 blowing down so that the stalk sends out roots, by scorching from 

 fires passing through the field and from cutting too long before milling. 

 In the temperate climate of Louisiana cane contains less sugar and 

 generally less fiber than in tropical countries like the Philippines. 



The following table shows the average content of sugar and fiber 

 in cane and the purity of cane Juice in three tropical countries: 



" Proceedings Twenty-eighth Annual Meeting of the Hawaiian Sugar Planters' Asso- 

 ciation. 



^ Walker's The Sugar Industry in the Island of Negros. 



The principal value of cane is in the sugar it contains, though the 

 fuel value of bagasse varies directly with the fiber content. 



The purity of cane juice is the percentage of sugar in the total 

 solids it contains. The purity given above for Java and Hawaii are 

 for clarified juice, while that for the Philippines appears not to have 

 been clarified. 



In Pampanga and other sandy-land districts cane at any age shows 

 a tendency to a higher purity of juice and the grade of sugar man- 

 ufactured by the local methods used here is always higher than in 

 districts of rich lands. The harvesting of immature cane resulting 

 from a short growing period, from being grown at high altitudes on 

 sod lands and of the long growing varieties like the yellow Caledonia, 



' Deerr's Cane Sugar, page 13. 



