23 



even this inversion is probably unnecessary. Liming the 'cold juice 

 before heating was practiced throughout the season, the exceptions 

 above being simply for purposes of experiment. 



A plan devised by Mr. Studniczka for preventing inversion by sul- 

 phuring was in use during part of the season. It consisted in adding 

 carbonate of lime (whiting) to the sulphured juice, the object being to 

 neutralize any sulphuric acid which might be brought into the juice 

 from defective washing of the fumes. The method of application is 

 fully described in the issue of the Planter cited above. Lack of time 

 and the difficulty of obtaining comparable samples prevented my in- 

 vestigating its merits very closely. The quantity of whiting required, 

 and the labor involved in keeping it in operation, caused its discontinu- 

 ance during the greater part of the season. It would doubtless prove 

 very useful in case of defective washing arrangements, but can hardly 

 be considered better than the addition of a small quantity of milk of 

 lime to the juice before sulphuring, which Professor Becnel l found very 

 effectual in the work at Belle Alliance. The only advantage the carbo- 

 nate would possess over the hydrate of lime would be in the fact that 

 an excess could be added without danger of rendering the juice alka- 

 line. 



FUEL CONSUMPTION. 



The amount of coal consumed during the season was 486 tons 1,284 

 pounds. The quantity used in running off the thirds was estimated, 

 and the whole consumption placed at 555 tons. This gives the fuel 

 consumption, exclusive of bagasse, as follows : 



Pounds of coal per 1,000 pounds sugar 946 



Pounds of coal per ton of cane 128 



No wood was used except to start the bagasse furnace. 



EXPERIMENTS IN MACERATION BETWEEN MILLS. 



The method of maceration by means of the addition of hot water or 

 steam to the cane, or to the bagasse between mills, where supplemental 

 mills are employed, is quite an old practice. It is largely used in Cuba 

 and the Hawaiian Islands, and has often been employed in Louisiana. 

 In common with many other methods in cane work, however, it seems 

 to have been applied in a blind, empirical, and careless manner, and I 

 can find no record of any careful study having been made as to the 

 best methods of application, the limits of its usefulness, or its effect 

 upon the quality of the juices obtained. 



I found it in operation at Des Lignes upon my arrival, and proceeded 

 to make some little observation and experiment as to its efficiency, 

 though it will readily be understood from the very limited time 1 had 

 that the study I was able to make was of a very superficial character. 



1 Report on the results of Belle Alliance, Evan Hall, and Souvenir sugar-houses 

 for the crop of 1P88, p. 8, New Orleans, 1889. 



