218 PLANT AND ORGANIC CHEMISTRY 



trouble is due to acids of the cane, chiefly to those formed 

 by the partial fermentation which has produced the inversion 

 of the sugar, or else in the increased susceptibility of the su- 

 crose remaining to the inverting action of the organic acids." 1 



The soluble solids, not sugar, are soluble starch and gum, 

 the acids, coloring-matters, wax, resin, and mineral sub- 

 stances. In every case where sorghum juice was tested for 

 starch it was found to be present. 2 Several coloring-matters 

 have been obtained from sorghum, sorgothine and sorghine 

 from the covering of the fruit, and also a red dye from the cane 

 itself. 3 



Since the ash constituents of a sugar-producing plant inter- 

 fere with its highest yield of sugar, we find that sorghum is 

 superior in this respect to the sugar beet, for its average total 

 ash amounts to .62132 per cent.; and the sugar beet reaches 

 1.3 per cent. 4 



From these analyses it is seen that the sugar beet contains 

 nearly twice as much ash as the stalk of sorghum. 5 



The presence of large quantities of the alkalies in sugar 

 juice is also unfavorable to the production of sugar. Hence, 

 in selecting localities for growing crops, it is very important 

 to obtain a soil free from such substances. 



The character and composition of the soil best adapted to 

 the cultivation of sorghum for sugar production are obviously 

 matters of fundamental importance. 



A sandy loam appears to be the most favorable soil for cane. 6 



Comparative analyses were made on the sorghum to show 

 the effects of fertilizers on the sucrose, glucose, and solids in 

 the juice. In these experiments it was found that the soil must 

 have contained sufficient food for the proper development of 

 the sorghum plant, and that the addition of these special fer- 

 tilizers was unnecessary, and resulted in no marked change 

 in the composition of the sorghum juices. 7 These results 



Bui. No. 14, p. 27. 2 Bui. No. 3, p. 16. 



Matures Premieres Organiques, par Pennetier, pp. 480-509. 



Bui. No. 3, p. 17. 6 Ibid. 



Ibid., p. 44. 



Dept. of Agr., Special Rep. No. 33, by Peter Collier, Chemist. 



