49 



ordered : Cutter and coin mini utor or pulper, with shafting and pulleys, 

 from George J. Fritz, Saint Louis, Mo. ; conveyors, elevators, and gear- 

 ing from Link Belt Company, Chicago, and Mr. E. W. Deining kindly 

 superintended the construction of a fan, a duplicate of the one made 

 for Conway Springs sugar works, which he shipped us from Kansas. 



Considerable work had to be done to conform the old sugar-house to 

 its new machinery. Indeed the task of planning and transforming the 

 old conditions to the new was one requiring patience, energy, and ex- 

 cellent mechanical ingenuity. That it has been well done is the uni- 

 versal testimony of all visitors. 



After the above work had been contracted for, the gratifying intelli- 

 gence was received from the Hon. Norman J. Colman, Commissioner 

 of Agriculture, Washington, D. C., that he would allow this station 

 $5,000 of the $100,000 recently appropriated by Congress for experi- 

 ments in making sugar from sorghum. This supplement to the appro- 

 priation from the Bureau of Agriculture has enabled the station to en- 

 large its equipment and extend its field of investigation. 



From our past experience with sorghum it was inferred that our crop 

 planted on the 16th of April would not be ready for the sugar-house 

 before 1st of September. Accordingly we contracted with Messrs. Ed- 

 wards & Haubtman to deliver the machinery by the 15th of August, 

 thus giving us fifteen days (ample time) for its erection and prepara- 

 tion for work. Messrs. Edwards & Haubtman failed to deliver until the 

 23d instant, which failure, in connection with the unprecedented storm 

 of the 19th instant, which prostrated completely our sorghum, proved 

 most disastrous to our successful manufacture of sugar. 



In 1886, sorghum planted April 5, was harvested September 13. In 

 1887, sorghum planted April 21, was worked up September 23. Both 

 years they were worked at full maturity, excepting the Early Amber 

 and Chinese, which were ripe in July of each year. 



It was fair therefore to calculate that, without any natural interven- 

 tion, the sorghum this year would not be ready for the sugar-house be- 

 fore the middle of September; and had not the storm prevailed the 

 date of delivery of Messrs. Edwards & Haubtman would have still af- 

 forded us ample time to have completed erection before the maturity 

 of the crop. Either alone would not have proven disastrous; both to- 

 gether were fatal. [See chemical analysis further on for verification.] 



Of the varieties mentioned above, the Ambers were ripe in July, and 

 accordingly were worked up by the mill, cooked to masse cuite and left 

 in hot room for comparison with masse cuite from diffusion juice. 



During the summer the laboratory has been engaged in the study of 



the chemistry of sorghum. To this end weekly analyses of all varieties 



have been made and daily study prosecuted as to the physiological 



Changes occurring iu the growth and maturity of sorghum. The follow- 



UQ36 Bull, 20 4 



LABORATORY WORK. 



