268 



KNOWLEDGE & SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



[November, 1905. 



family Graminea. TTie outside of the cane consists of 

 a hard, woody envelope, the interior consisting- of a 

 spongfy mass of cells, between which the saccharine 

 sap circulates. The leaves form at the very hard 

 nodes, and each node is furnished with an eye. It is 

 from these eyes that the plant is propag-ated. ITie 

 cultivated plant does not bear seeds, so it, therefore, 

 cannot be reproduced except by means of cuttings. 

 The wild plant, however, reproduces itself by means 

 of seed, but the wild cane contains very much less 

 sugar than the cultivated variety. Fig. 2 shows the 

 sugar cane. A, the incrustation of wax on the epidermis, 

 highly magnified ; B, the fioret. 



\\hen the cane has been harvested, the stubbles are 

 left in the ground, and will again yield an abundant 

 harvest, if the soil is kept in a good condition. 



-After the cane has been cut, it is taken to the mill, 

 and should be crushed as soon as possible, because if 

 left some time before crushing, the yield of sugar be- 

 comes less, and the quantity of glucose increases. 



TTiere are two methods for obtaining the sugar from 

 the cane : i. Crushing by means of heavy rollers ; 2, 

 Diffusion. 



Milling, or Crushing Process. — Tlie cane, after strip- 

 ping off any foliage, is passed through heavy mills, 

 which consist of cast-iron rollers; it is then soaked in 



Pis. I. 



Tlie pieces of sugar cane, about a foot in length, 

 which contain the bud, or eye, arc planted in furrows 

 about six to eight inches apart ; they are then 

 covered with lo<:>se mould. .After a period of from 

 seven to twenty days, varying according to the variety 

 of the cane, the age <A cutting, and the weather con- 

 ditions, the buds sprout, rf>otlets are sent into the soil, 

 and the stalk and leaves begin to form. At the end of 

 from 10 to 13 mr)nths, the cane has reached a height of 

 seven to 15 feet, contains its maximum of sugar, and 

 must be cut. If the rane is left too long, the quantity 

 of sugar juice rapidly derreasj-s. 



For cane growing, the soil should be fertile and well 

 tilled, but in a great many cases the growers neglect 

 even the elementary principles of agriculture, keep 

 their fields in poor cultivation, and without any manure 

 whatsoever; they then seem surprised that they obtain 

 a poor yield of sugar. 



water, ;md ag;iin passed through a rolling machine. 

 Although the pressure exerted is very great, yet, owing 

 to the rane being mf>re or less elastic, and the centre 

 portion being of a spongy n:iture, as it passes from the 

 rollers it immedi.ilely al)sr)rbs a portion of the juice 

 which has been expressed, hence the necessity of a 

 second crushing. l-'ig. 3 shows diagraniin:ilic:illy .'i 

 section of a mill. 



It consists of three cast-iron rollers, \. M, C". which 

 arc rotated by means of ge.iring, the spe<'d of revolu- 

 tion being two to three revolutions per niinutc. I) is 

 an inclined table upon which the canes are pl.'ired. they 

 pass down betwwn the rollers A and M, :ind then along 

 the inclined guide Iv, between H and C, the expressed 

 juice running into r-ctllcrting gutters, llic crushed 

 ni.iliri.il, or hagasse, is carriefl by me;ins of a conveyer, 

 through washing tanks, and from these tanks to 

 another series of rollers, or sf)metimcs between two sets 



