NORTHERN SUGAR INDUSTRY. 



7 



more by idleness than by use. The shortness of the working season, 

 therefore, becomes a difSculty the most serious to the success of the 

 sorghum business. 



Is it possible to preserve cane in a silo in the same manner as beets T 

 I have tried to answer this question by a simple experiment. On the 

 12th of ^^'ovember, 1883, I put one ton of sorghum canes in a pit on the 

 grounds of the Department of Agriculture, in Washington. The pit 

 was made by digging a shallow ditch. The canes were placed in thm 

 and covered with earth. 



Numerous analyses of juices of canes similar to those preserved 

 showed sucrose (about) 9 per cent. ; other sugars (about) 3 per cent. 



On the 19th of November a deep-soil thermometer was placed in the 

 silo, so that its bulb was in the midst of the canes. This was done to 

 compare internal and external temperatures, and detect any tendency 

 to " heating" which the canes might show. Daily observations were 

 taken of the two thermometers until December 12, on the night of 

 which, unfortunately, the instrument was stolen. Following are the 

 results of those observations : 



Comparison of intamal and external thermometers in sorghum silo from Nqvemher 19 to 



December 12, inclusive. 



[Time, 10 a. m.] 



Date. 



Internal 

 thermometer. 



External 

 thermometer. 



Condition of weather. 





oFalir. 



oFahr. 





Nov. 19 



38.5 



41 



Kainy. 



20 



38.5 



56 



Do. 



21 



38.5 



Xot taken. 



Do. 



22 



46 



66 



Very "warm and cloudy. 



23 



52 



65 



Do. 



24 



57 



59 



Cloudy. 



25 



59 



50 



Do. 



26 



58 



48 



Eain. 



27 



57 



42 



Fair. 



28 



54 



43 



Do. 



29 



50 



37.3 



Do. 



30 



47 



42.7 



Do. 



Dec. 1 



47 



39 



Do. 



2 



46.5 



50 



Do. 



3 



46 



35.3 



Do. 



4 



44 



40 



Do. 



5 



43 



48.5 



Do. 



6 



44.5 



44.9 



Do. 



7 



44. 25 



42.2 



Cloudy. 



8 



46 

 46 





Do. 



10 



46.5 



Fair. 



11 



46 



43.6 



Do. 



12 



45 



45.9 



Cloudy. 



I think it is highly important that the temperature of the silo should 

 not rise above 50° F. 



The week of warm weather beginning on the second day after the 

 commencement of the observations brought the temperature of the silo 

 to a maximum of 59^ F. ; but this was not reached until three days after 

 the maximum of the external thermometer. In all cases the changes of 

 temperature iu the silo were gradual as compared with those of the ex- 



