DIPOETA>'CE OF AN E^'E^' CROP, ETC. 133 



The followiug analysis is given by Messrs. iScovelland Weber, show- 

 ing, that little if any inversion could have taken place in the cane 

 Avhile standing two weeks in the field, after having been stripped: 



Effect of Stripping and AUoicing to Stand. 



On October 2nd, 1S80. an analysis was made of the juice of cane which 

 had been stripped on the 18th of September — the cane not otherwise disturbed — 

 with the following result: 



Specific gravity of juice 1.074 



Grape sugar percent... l.*^2 



Cane sugar per cent-- 13.11 



This subject needs further investigation. 



THE mPORTA>-CE OF AN EVEX CROP, WITH NO SUCKERS, IN THE PRO- 

 DUCTION OF SUGAR. 



The expeiiments at the Department of Agriculture, in 1881, have 

 ftdly confirmed the practical wisdom of a course which is pursued by 

 the sugar planters of Louisiana and Cuba, viz., the exclusion from the 

 matured crop ot all immature canes, if the production of sugar is con- 

 templated. 



This point, if previously recognized by sorghum growers, has never 

 been properly understood and considered as it deserves to be. 



Danger from Suckers. 



It is important also to remember that, owing to the tendency of sor- 

 ghum to send up suckers from its roots from time to time during the 

 season, there is the liability of having in the crop canes of eveiy stage 

 of development, and the injurious effect already shown is sure to result. 

 It is, therefore, necessary, in order to secure the best results in the pro- 

 duction of sugar, to see to it that either the growth of these suckers be 

 prevented, by removing them from time to time during the season, or 

 that they be thrown aside when the crop is harvested as worthless, ex- 

 cept for the production of syrup. 



To demonstrate this point, the plat of sorghum, grown upon the 

 grounds of the Department of Agriculture at Washington, in 1881, 

 and containing 34 varieties, was divided into two nearly equal parts, 

 one portion of which was carefully kept free from suckers through the 

 season, and the other portion, after having been thinned out like the 

 former, was allowed to send up any suckers which would grow ; and, 

 when liarvested, these suckers were included in the crop, weighed, 

 stripped, and worked with the other stalks of the uusuckered portion. 



The diflference in the results of the above treatment is manifest in 

 the following table, which gives the weight of crop, and the analyses 

 of the juices from the suckered and uusuckered canes: 



