274 SORGHUM. 



there is an amount of sugar equal to 5.90 per cent of the weight of the 

 cane left in the bagasse, equal to 62.27 percent of the amount actually 

 expressed in the juice, and equal to 38.40 percent of the total amount 

 present in the cane, which, as will be seen, is equal to 15.38 per cent 

 of the weight of the stripped stalk. 



From this it would appear, that the general estimate as to the pro- 

 portion of sugar actually recovered in a marketable condition is not far 

 from the truth, the several sources of loss being given as follows : 



Per cent. 



Left in bagasse. ^ 



Lost in skimming.. 2.5 



Lost in molasses 3 



Raw sugar obtained 6.5 



Total in cane 18. 



Loss of Sugar in Bagasse. 



In 1879, the following experiments were made at the Department 

 of Agriculture, at Washington, to determine the loss of sugar in the 

 bagasse : 



Two varieties of sorghum and one of maize stalks were selected for 

 the experiment. Carefully selected stripped stalks of each kind were 

 taken, and, in order to obtain an average, each stalk was split length- 

 wise into halves. The half of each kind was carefully weighed, dried, 

 and analyzed ; the other half of each variety was passed through the 

 mill, and the bagasse w^eighed, dried, and also analyzed. From the 

 results given below it will be seen, that in each case the per cent of 

 water present in the cane was less than the' per cent remaining in the 

 bacasse ; the average per cent of water in the three varieties of cane 

 analyzed being 80.2 per cent, while the average per cent of water in 

 the three bagasses is 85.5 per cent. This rather surprising result is 

 of course due to the fact that the expressed juice, which averaged 

 48.24 per cent of the weight of the stripped stalks, contained a larger 

 percentage of solid matter than did the fresh cane. 



It will be observed also in these results, that the amount of sugar 

 expressed in the juice was greater in proportion than would be due to 

 the amount of water expressed ; for, while not more than half the water 

 was expressed, it appears that an average of four-fifths of the sugar in 

 the cane was expressed with the water. From the published results 

 of numerous other experiments, it would appear that the proportional 

 amount of sugar which is expressed with the ordinary mill pressure is 

 not a constant quantity, but depends upon the amount present, since the 

 following results show a wide variation in this respect ; for, while the 

 per cent of water in the Honduras and Sugar Corn was nearly the same, 

 as also the per cent of juice expressed, the total sugar found in the 



