SUGAR-CANE CULTURE FOR SIRUP PRODUCTION. 45 



were dried without loss, its chemical composition should indicate a 

 feeding value about equal to that of oat straw. Drying it artificially 

 is undoubtedly too expensive for such a low-grade product. Making 

 ensilage of it is suggested, but it yet remains to be determined 

 whether the slight unavoidable fermentation in the silo would too 

 nearly exhaust it of its remaining nutrients to make a palatable en- 

 silage. In a single test made at the experiment field at Cairo, Ga., 

 the results were encouraging, but the product was abnormally sour, 

 probably owing to insufficient tramping and to the fact that the cane 

 was badly frostbitten before grinding. Fermentation had proceeded 

 so far that the bagasse was thoroughly infected with the acid-forming 

 microorganisms before it was put into the silo. For making ensilage 

 the bagasse has the advantage that it would involve practically no 

 extra expense for collecting and hauling, assuming that the silo is not 

 far from the mill. To pack well in the silo, some water must be sup- 

 plied while filling. If no better use can be made of the bagasse, it 

 should be heaped in a manner to facilitate rotting, and after one or 

 two years, when sufficiently rotted, applied to land where humus is 

 needed. 



The skimmings on most farms are wasted. Some sirup makers 

 allow them to settle over night, or for a half day, then draw off the 

 clear, slightly sour juice between the sediment and the floating scum 

 and boil it back into the sirup. There is danger of injuring the 

 flavor of the sirup by this practice, especially if the containers for the 

 skimmings are not kept thoroughly clean or sterilized. It was found 

 in the experiments at Cairo, Ga., that sheet-iron vessels*, e. g., ash 

 cans, if used to collect skimmings, can readily be rinsed out each 

 morning sufficiently clean so that fermentation would start but 

 slowly after refilling with skimmings. It was thus possible to hold 

 the skimmings, even in moderately warm weather, as long as 24 

 hours without serious souring, thus affording ample time to effect 

 good settling. By providing suitable tap holes about 1^ inches from 

 the bottom of each such container, the clear juice from the preceding 

 day's boiling could each morning be drawn off and boiled with fresh 

 juice to make sirup. Wooden containers can not be cleaned so satis- 

 factorily and in them fermentation starts more rapidly. Some 

 farmers feed all the skimmings while fresh to hogs, which is a good 

 way of utilizing them where feasible, but less profitable than to save 

 the cleared portion for sirup making. One farmer near Cairo, Ga., 

 utilizes them by boiling them down to a thick, molasseslike feed, 

 which keeps indefinitely and is greatly relished by his stock at any 

 time of year. Where a silo is being filled while boiling sirup, a good 

 utilization of the skimmings might be to work them in with the 

 silage while fresh. 



