36 



crops, and thus added to the soils in perhaps a less expensive way 

 than by its purchase at present market prices. There is no way, 

 however, of increasing the other plant foods of the soil except by 

 artificial additions, and it is not to be expected that profitable 

 agriculture can be conducted with soils of this character without a 

 generous though judicious and scientific application of fertilizers. 



It is easy to see from the analytical data the reason for the use ofi 

 the so-called complete fertilizer, that is, a fertilizer which containsL 

 all of the principal essential elements of plant food, namely, pot ash, t 

 phosphoric acid, and nitrogen. The combination of plant foods rep- h 

 resented by the normal formula or the revised formula seems to work 

 very well on these soils and no great advantage has been shown in| 

 the experimental work in departing very widely from the quantities! 

 of materials used in this formula. More extended experimental' 

 work is necessary, however, over a larger number of soils before any 1 

 definite rules respecting the variations from this normal basis can be! 

 formulated. 



In general, it may be said that the addition to the soil of the quan-i 

 tities of plant food contained in the normal-formula fertilizer may be 

 considered necessary for the production of profitable crops of sugar 

 cane. By the growing of winter crops and other catch crops and by 

 more perfect systems of cultivation and rotation, the maximum bene- 

 fits to be derived from the complete fertilizer will be secured and the 

 minimum waste through drainage be suffered. 



From the average results of the experiments it may be said with 

 reasonable certainty that the magnitude of the crop of sugar cane 

 may be about doubled by the application of an amount of plant food 

 per acre represented by the normal formula which has been used. 

 (See page 7.) 



GENERAL CONCLUSIONS. 



The experimental work connected with the development of table- 

 sirup manufacture from sugar cane is now finished. The various 

 problems which have arisen in connection with this industry have 

 been solved. The methods of fertilization best suited for the produc- 

 tion of a maximum crop at a minimum cost have been elucidated. 

 The way has been pointed out in which the finished sirup may be kept 

 from fermentation during the summer season, either by sterilization 

 in cans or by placing it in sterilized barrels. It has been shown that 

 there is no necessity in the manufacture of table sirup directly from 

 sugar cane to use any kind of a chemical reagent for clarifying, 

 bleaching, or preserving the finished product. It has been demon- 

 strated that a highly palatable product can be made, having a pleas- 

 ing color and a reasonable degree of clearness, by the use of heat and 

 mechanical skimming of the coagulated products. A method has 



