NORTHERN SUGAR INDUSTRY. 



117 



are food for auiuials aod distillation. There is little doubt but that the 

 conversion of the sugars in the molasses into alcohol will prove far more 

 profitable than feeding them to stock. 



A much greater increase in sorghum production throughout the 

 country will result in the use of molasses on a large scale as a source 

 of alcohol and rum. 



PRODUCTION OF ALCOHOL. 



1 will give an illustration to show the theoretical yield of alcohol in 

 order to furnish, data for calculations of the yield on a large scale. 



Molasses, after the second or third crystallization, contains about 32 

 per cent, each of sucrose and non-sucrose, in all 64 per cent of ferment- 

 able matter. 



Under favorable conditions the sugar present will yield 40 per cent, 

 of its weight as alcohol, or 25 per cent, of the. weight of molasses- 

 One gallon of molasses, therefore, weighing 11 pounds, would give 2.75 

 pounds absolute alcohol and 3.03 pounds 90 per cent, alcohol. Thus 

 each gallon of molasses would give nearly half a gallon of commercial 

 alcohol. 



Alcohol can also be obtained from the juice of the cane, as the fol- 

 lowing experiment in fermentation will show: 



FERMENTATION OF THE JUICE. 



One-half car of sorghum juice, defecated by heat alone, was pitched 

 on October 1 with 10 cakes Gaff, Fleischmann & Oo.'s pressed yeast 

 and placed in crystallizing room at 40^ 0. The next day there was a 

 slight fermentation, and the juice had become very acid. The temper- 

 ature was evidently too high. On October 3 there was a partial blanket 

 of yeast, which, on the next day, was complete, with a violent fermenta- 

 tion ; temperature, 33^ density, 9^ B. On October 6 the fermenta- 

 tion had apparently ceased, the car was removed, and the contents dis- 

 tilled. The liquid contained still 4 per cent, of glucose and nearly 1 

 per cent, of acid. The distilled liquor varied from 20 to 3 per cent, of 

 alcohol. It was redistilled, treated with bone-black and lime, and fur- 

 nished 4^ litres of alcohol, sp. gr. .9477, 23^ 0., and 3^ litres .9855, 

 230 C. 



The original juice amounted to 21 gallons, or 80 litres, from which 

 about 1.8 litres of absolute alcohol was obtained, or 2.05 per cent., and 

 this under very unfavorable circumstances of fermentation and distilla- 

 tion. The original juice, it may be added, contained about 13 per cent, 

 of total sugars, which would yield theoretically 5.5 per cent, of the 

 weight of juice in alcohol or 4.4 litres. The yield was therefore less 

 than half of theory. 



I hope that by means of barium, strontium, or lime the contents of 

 sucrose in sorghum molasses may be greatly reduced, but from the na- 



