99 



of a variety which requires more time for its complete maturity than the season in 

 auy given latitude may give. The importance, then, of selecting only such varieties 

 as will manure sufficiently long before frosts, so as to give a reasonable time to work 

 up the crop, can not be overestimated. 



(2) Another frequent cause of failure is duo to allowing the sorghum to remain 

 some time after being cut up before it is worked at the mill. That such a course may 

 bo pursued in certain seasons and in certain localities without producing an unfavor- 

 able result has been established beyond much doubt, but the climatic conditions which 

 render such a procedure possible are imperfectly understood at the present, and re- 

 peated experiments have demonstrated that after being cut up the juices are subject 

 to chemical changes which speedily result in the destruction of the crystallizable 

 sugar. For the present, then, the only safe course to pursue is to work up the cane 

 within at most twenty-four hours after it is cut up. 



(3) A third cause of failure exists in an imperfect method of defecation of the juice. 

 The object of defecation and the method by which it is accomplished should be care- 

 fully studied and as thoroughly understood by the sugar-boiler as is possible, for, al- 

 though somewhat complex in its details, the general principles which underlie this 

 important step are few and easily comprehended. 



The report of the engineer in charge of the work, Mr. J. H. Harvey, 

 gives the following summary : l 



Cane crushed pounds.. 458,444 



Juice obtained gallons.. 26,794 



Sirup obtained do 2,977 



Sugar made pounds.. 165 



Mr. Peter Lynch, sugar expert, makes the following statement con- 

 cerning the work : 2 



Peter Lynch, who had the general management of the sorghum business, super- 

 intending its manufacture into juice, sirup, and sugar, says that ho has had fifteen 

 years' experience as a sugar-boiler with Cuban molasses, cane sugar, grape sugar, etc. ; 

 that of the 206 gallons of light sirup obtained October 5 and 6, 1881, there were from 

 175 to 200 pounds of sugar obtained nearly 1 pound per gallon. It was good sugar, 

 worth 8 to 9 cents a pound, wholesale ; would polarize between 96 and 98. No special 

 means were used to obtain this result. It was boiled to a proof that would granulate. 

 The juice from which this was made contained on an average from 2.8 to 3J per cent, 

 of glucose and from 11 to 1'3 per cent, of cane sugar. 



The mill worked excellently, and every particle of juice possible was extracted. Had 

 this same quality prevailed with all the season's juice, the same average quality of 

 sugar would probably have been obtained every day. 



The only canes really worth anything were those worked that day. On other days 

 the proportion of glucose was greater, owing to bad cane. Do not think the quality 

 of sirup made this year as fair an average as might be expected with fair soil, fair cli- 

 mate, etc. Good soil ought to raise from 16 to 18 tons of stripped stalks. 



For the results of the season's work no blame can bo attached to the machinery or 

 anything else. The only cause for failure to make sugar was that the cane was not 

 sufficiently ripe. 



In 1883 572,350 pounds of sorghum cane were worked for sugar by the 

 Department at Washington. The machinery employed was that used 

 by Dr. Collier in the work of 1881. 



The quantity of sugar made was 7,1(>0 pounds, or 1.1*4 per rout, of the 

 cane worked, or 24.8 pounds per. ton. 3 



1 Op. ci.,p. 522. 



2 Op. ci*.,p. 523. 



3 Department of Agriculture, Division of Chemistry, Bulletin No. 3, p. 43. 



