SUGAR 



149 



Thus after being in clamps for three weeks there was 

 found generally somewhat less juice (though this may 

 have been partly due to the setting of the mill;), but 

 practically no change in the percentage of sugar or the 

 coefficient of purity. Again in January another two lots 

 of cane were clamped and were tested at intervals, with 

 the following results : 



Lot A. 



Lot B. 



So far, then, as these results can answer the question, 

 there seems no doubt as to the possibility of being able 

 to preserve sugar-cane perfectly well from the time when, 

 owing to frosts, the crop must be harvested, to about 

 the end of March. 



All the experiments have hitherto been on a small scale, 

 but they lead to the conclusion that a factory suitable 

 for dealing with both cane and beet could be provided 

 with material over a period of six months in the year, 

 which iS very considerably longer than the usual cane 

 period in other parts of India. The suggestion for joint 

 working is, moreover, free from the initial difficulty 

 which would be met by a factory working only beet. If 

 beet were the only crop, it would have to be established 

 before a factory could start properly. Under conditions 

 of joint working, however, the present crop of cane 

 would supply a factory with material for certainly four 

 months during the initial stages, and the beet supply 

 could be added as the beet crop became established. 



