44 



NORTHERN SUGAR INDUSTRY. 



Tropical canes seem to mill better than the stalks of sorghum, and sin- 

 gle milling of such canes may continue to prove profitable. It is evi- 

 dent, however, to eyerj practical worker that a system of expression 

 which gives only 45 to 50 per cent, of the total juice of the cane is too 

 wasteful to meet the continued approval of farmers and manufacturers. 



Double milling is doing much to remove this difficulty. This division 

 has made only a few experiments with double milling, and these show 

 a yield of nearly 65 per cent, of weight of cane. In the establishments 

 where this process has been used only estimates have been made of its 

 efficiency. These estimates, however, may be wide of the truth. I 

 think, however, we may safely say that double milling increases the 

 yield of juice 10 to 15 per cent. 



2. The soil in the vicinity of Washington is not suitable to the growth 

 of sorghum cane. It is true the yield of cane this season was far bet- 

 ter than it has ever been heretofore since the Department undertook 

 experiments with cane-raising in this locality. When, however, care- 

 ful planting and cultivation and liberal fertilizing, combined with a 

 fairly favorable season for growth, fail to produce 10 tons of cane per 

 acre, it must be admitted that there is a radical defect of soil. The 

 climate of Washington, however, is peculiarly favorable to cane growth. 

 Early springs, warm summers, and late falls are all that the practical 

 cane- grower could demand. 



A sandy loam appears to be the most favorable soil for cane. Yet, it 

 should not be forgotten that sorghum is a hardy plant; it will grow even 

 under the most unfavorable conditions, and rarely proves a complete 

 failure. 



3. Manufacturers and intending manufacturers should not base their 

 calculations for the yield of sugar on working canes containing 12 per 

 cent, sucrose and onlv 1.5 to 2.0 per cent, of other sugars. I doubt 

 whether any field of sorghum of 10 acres extent has ever been raised 

 which would give such an average result. In the present state of the 

 industry it would be much safer to count on 9.0 per cent, sucrose, 3.0 per 

 cent, other sugars, and 2.0 per cent, solids not sugar, as an average of 

 the crop from year to year. 



I think this division would be guilty of a great public wrong were it 

 by any kind of select results or enthusiastic coloring to induce capital- 

 ists to invest money where they would be led to expect a higher return 

 than the actual facts warrant. 



The results of the analyses made this year, poor as they are compared 

 with those of former years, may nevertheless prove of great advantage 

 to those who are proposing to practically engage in the sorghum-sugar 

 industry by causing them the more carefully to consider all the difficul- 

 ties which they will have to meet. 



EFFECT OF THE STORM OF SEPTEMBER 11 AND 12 ON THE CANE. 



The violent northeast storm which occurred at the beginning of the 

 working season completely prostrated the Amber cane. The heads of 



