HOW FREEZING MAY BE PREVENTED. 89 
this source directly proportionate to the length of time 
during which the cane is kept stored beyond the short 
period of ‘‘seasoning” when the juice is in the best con- 
dition. The stalk also becomes more tough and fibrous, 
and thus affords an additional obstacle. “Economy there- 
fore dictates the utmost diligence until the work is done. 
These facts lead to the inference that the question as 
to the length of time within which it is possible to keep 
sorghum cane in good preservation is of more interest to 
the curious than practically important. Yet an observa- 
tion directly illustrating this point seems not out of place 
here. The preservation of the cane seems to depend 
chiefly upon a single external condition, the temperature 
of the surrounding air. I have found that it does not 
undergo any apparent change during the winter months 
in a uniformly cool atmosphere. The warm intervals which 
so frequently and suddenly alternate with the cold in our 
winter climate, often, however, elevate the temperature of 
the air in the shade sufficiently te permit fermentation to 
set in. Any means by which these extremes of climate 
may be moderated and freezing prevented will preserve the 
cane with but little alteration in the quality of its juice, 
until natural evaporation has rendered it worthless. Pur- 
suing a plan accidentally discovered, I have kept cane in 
good condition until the month of March. It was fully 
ripe when cut, and was laid in small heaps across timbers 
resting upon the cellar floor of an outbuilding. The door 
of this cellar was allowed to remain open all winter. The 
drainage was defective, and water had collected upon the 
floor to the depth of nearly a foot after the cane had been 
stored. Cold weather coming on, the cane was not worked 
up, but J found that the alternate freezing and thawing of 
this body of water kept the cane above it at a uniform tem- 
perature, and in an unfrozen state throughout the winter. 
gx 
