70 



on December 1. Other matters having interfered this was not carried 

 out. There is not the slightest doubt that good sugar crystals could 

 have been obtained until December 1. 



This cane has at last been weakened by the unusually severe weather 

 during the past week. It is falling down badly and is only fit for sirup 

 on this date, December 7. 



The sugar per acre could have been increased fully 23 per cent, on this 

 season's work by good extraction. It must not be overlooked that the 

 raw sugar made this season would have to be reduced from 20 to 25 per 

 cent, in order to make it chemically pure. 



Another source of loss to which I desire to call your attention is in 

 the harvesting of the seed. The seed tops are cut off, spread on the 

 fields to dry, stacked up, and afterwards thrashed. By this method we 

 rarely obtain more than 1 J bushels of seed from a ton of field cane. 

 There is a constant loss in the field during the drying by the seed shell- 

 ing out and the ravaging of birds. Field mice and rats also attack the 

 stacks. Samples of seed tops carefully saved from these same fields 

 show an average yield, on well developed canes, of 3 bushels per ton. 

 If this seed could be saved it would be of sufficient value to pay the 

 coal bill for working up the crop in this place. 



In making the above statements I wish it to be distinctly understood 

 that neither time nor expense was spared in order to make these rec- 

 ords accurate 5 the house being frequently delayed in order that the 

 records might be secured. 



I believe that a ton of field cane is too uncertain a factor to be used 

 as a standard for calculation, as it varies considerably in wet and dry 

 weather. Wagons containing 3,000 pounds of cane, as it comes from 

 the field, will increase to 3,400 pounds and more by being rained on. 

 There is a variation in the weight of the cane before and after frost; 

 also in the percentage of leaves of the large and small canes. For these 

 reasons it is better to use clean chips prepared for the battery or an 

 acre of ground. 



It might be worth while to state that this sugar house, with slight 

 alteration, could be made to work 25 tons per day, having frequently 

 worked at this rate from six to eight hours. 



Believing that sorghum-sugar. manufacture is to be an established in- 

 dustry and that reports of this nature will have an attraction for the 

 general public, I have written in this simple style and tried to avoid 

 technicalities. Those who wish the details I refer to the reports of your 

 chemists, Messrs. Broadbent and Edson, who, I believe, have faithfully 

 recorded the workings of the house; also to the report of the experi- 

 mental station of New Jersey, soon to be issued. 

 Kespectfully, 



H. A. HUGHES, 



Superintendent. 



Hon. NORMAN J. COLMAN, 



Commissioner of Agriculture, Washington, D. G. 



