The Cereals. 79 



in the North-West Provinces and Oudh. A large succulent 

 variety is grown chiefly as a sweetmeat. 



The sugar-canes, cut when about to flower, contain about 

 74 per cent, of water. The expressed juice contains a small 

 quantity of albumen, 'i per cent. ; of organic acids, 'i per cent. ; 

 and of mineral matter, i 6 per cent. ; but its chief constituent 

 is cane-sugar, accompanied by a small quantity of uncrystallisable 

 or invert-sugar — the latter compound increases greatly if the 

 canes be damaged or bruised and are not immediately pressed 

 or exhausted ; traces of another sugar (called raffinose and meli- 

 tose) are also found in sugar-cane juice and in raw cane-sugar. 

 The total amount of saccharine bodies in the juice of Indian 

 canes approaches 24 per cent. 



Owing to defects in the native methods of extracting sugar, 

 much loss and much deterioration of the crystalline sugar present 

 occurs, while the product is impure, dark in colour, and mixed 

 with much molasses. Analyses of samples of native cane-sugar 

 reveal the presence of large quantities of uncrystallisable sugar, 

 moisture, and mineral impurities. 



