VALUE OF DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE STALK, ETC. 2oO 



tliis period of development, since, as will be seen by the tables, this is 

 far from the fact. 



From this period in the plant's development, until the ]">erfect ripen- 

 ing of the seed, the juices appear to unifi^irmly increase in their con- 

 tent of crystallizable sugar, and to decrease in their content of un- 

 crystallizable sugar. 



StiU later in the growth of the j^lant, there was observeil a slight 

 deterioration in the quality of the juices from the lower halves of the 

 stalks, and they were generally found to be somewhat inferior to the 

 juices at this time present in the upper halves. It was also found that, 

 in ihe early examinations, the specific gravity of the juices from the 

 lower halves was almost invariably greater than that of the juices from 

 the upj^er halves, and that equal specific gravities indicated an equal- 

 ity between the juices, not only in their content of sugar, but in the 

 relative proportions of sucro>e and glucose. 



It appears probable that this deterioration of the juice from the 

 lower part of the cane marks the incipient stages of death, and the 

 ultimate decay of the plant, the roots and leaves failing in their office 

 tj supply the full amount of nourishment whicli the plant requires. 

 It begins to feed upon itself, so to speak ; and it is to be observed, that, 

 at this period, the offslioots from the upper joints of the stalk begin a 

 vigorous growth, and appear to live as parasites upon the parent stalk. 



Several experiments were alsi made with both corn-stalks and sor- 

 ghum to determine the relative value of the upper and lower half of 

 the stalks, with the results eiven in the iollowintr table: 



Xos. 8 and 9 were the butts and tops of the same stalks, and were 

 cut just after a rain, as were also 2s os. 10 and 11, from which the rain 

 bad evaporated, and the difl^erence in yield of juice and syrup between 

 butts and tops is nearly constant. The increase in specific gravity of 

 the juice from butts over that from the top is also worthy of notice. 



From the above table the conclusion from the average results is, 

 that the proportion, by weight, of sugar in the lower half of the stalk, 

 is to the sugar in the upper half as follows : Com butts to corn tops 

 as 159 to 100; sorgiium butts to sorghum tops as 131 is to 100. As 



