In regard to the system <>!' diffusion practiced at the Rio Graudesta- 

 tion, and described in Bulletin 18, further experience only leads me to 

 emphasize what was said in that bulletin, viz : 



The defects of the system were both mechanical and chemical. 



The mechanical difficulty is the same as that which attends all methods of d illusion 

 in which the cauo chips are moved instead of the diffusion liquors. From a mechan- 

 ical point of view it is far easier and more economical to move a liquid in a series of 

 vessels than a mass of chips. In the Hughes system the whole mass of chips under 

 going diffusion, together with adhering liquor, and baskets and suspending apparatus- 

 are lifted vertically a distance of several feet, varying with the depth of the diffusion, 

 tanks, every few minutes. The mechanical energy required to do this work is enor- 

 mous, and with large batteries the process would prove almost impossible. 



The truth of this view will be further illustrated in the report of the 

 Douglass Sugar Company. For very small batteries working only a 

 few tons a day this system might possibly be employed, but I doubt 

 even then if it could be economically worked. This opinion of mine, 

 as will be seen, is at total variance with that expressed by Mr. Hughes, 

 and those who propose to become practically interested in the matter 

 will have to decide upon the merits of the two systems of diffusion after 

 a personal investigation. 



Mr. Hubert Edson, who has had two years' experience with the open 

 system of diffusion, made the following statements relating thereto in 

 the Lousiana Planter and Sugar Manufacturer of December 1, 1888. Jlis 

 report refers to the battery used at Douglass, Kans., during the season 

 of 1888 : 



The battery was built from plans secured directly from Mr. Hughes, and with one 

 or two slight changes was worked throughout the season. The main battery con- 

 sisted of ten cells, open at the top to admit the baskets in which the chips were 

 placed for diffusion. These baskets, made of strong boiler-iron, were attached to the 

 arms of a crane, which was raised, rotated, and lowered till the requisite number of 

 immersions was obtained. Besides these ten cells there was an extra one of the same 

 dimensions placed just outside and within reach of the arms from the large crane 

 This arrangement was intended to secure a dense diffusion juice, allowing, as the 

 diffusion progressed, the heaviest juice from two of the cells of the main battery to 

 be drawn into the outside cell, and which there received two baskets of fresh chips 

 before being emptied. 



This manner of operating the battery will, it is claimed by the inventor, give a 

 juice almost as dense as a corresponding mill juice. In my opinion, however, no 

 greater advantage is secured by the eleventh cell being outside the main battery 

 than by the same number arranged in regular order. Certainly, at Douglass, <he re- 

 sults claimed by the inventor were not even approximated. The outside cell also 

 entailed an extra amount of labor in transferring the basket from the small crane, to 

 which it was attached during its immersion, to the largo crane of the main battery. 



So much for the manner of working the battery. Now for the things that are of 

 actual value to the sugar planters, the results obtained, and the expenses incident to 

 such results. 



Machinery of any kind to bo effective should require a minimum of human labor. 

 Let us see how the Hughes battery compares with the ordinary form. At Don 

 the battery was designed to work 100 tons of cane daily, and to do this at least ei^ht 

 men were necessary to shift the baskets to th ir dillerent places. Half of this num- 

 ber would run a close battery and fiivl. the work rasii-r, since they would have no 

 baskets weighing 1,000 pounds each to handle. 



