REPORT OF THE CIIEMIST. 



23 



Per cent, 

 moisture. 



No. 12 77.54 



No. 13 "7. 41 



No. 14 77.23 



No. 15 7 7- 



No.lG 77.30 



No. 17 77. (52 



No. Id 76. 96 



Mean 77.38 



From this table we learn that the water in a cane whose juice yields 

 12.5 per cent, total sugars is about 77 per cent, of the whole weight. An 

 increase or decrease of sugar would probably affect the water more than 

 any other constituent of the cane. 



As a practical rule, therefore, we may safely assume that the per cent, 

 of water in a sorghum cane is 77, plus or minus the difference between 

 total sugars of expressed juice and 12.5. 



For instance, when total sugars equal 15 per cent, the water would be 

 77— (15— 12.5) =74.5. 



If total sugars are only 10 per cent, the water will be 77 +(12.5 — 10) 

 =79.5. 



An experiment t© determine the water in a Louisiana cane, the juice 

 of which had 15.5 per cent, sucrose and 1.25 of other sugars ; total, 16.75, 

 gave moisture 72 per cent. ; calculated from foregoing rale, 72.75. 



The sugar in the cane is contained in cellular tissue, the cells being 

 grouped together like a honeycomb. The sugar is held in a state of 

 solution in these cells by the water. The idea that sugar exists in the 

 cane in a crystalline form is contrary to all rules of chemical physics 

 and accurate observation. Cane sugar is completely soluble in about 

 half its weight of water, and hence it could scarcely be crystallized in 

 presence of six to seven times its weight. 



The aqueous solution of the sugars in the stalk is either (1) contained 

 within the cells, or (2) infiltrated in the cellular substance. The object 

 of milling is, therefore, twofold (a) to break the cell structure and allow 

 the liquids to escape, and (b) to press the cellular tissues and thus deprive 

 them of their fluid contents. Evidently the greater the pressure the 

 more x>erfectly the dehydration of the pulp will be. This pulp, however 

 (of the same nature as blotting-paper), is exceedingly bibulous, and 

 even after the liquids are forced out it will absorb them again as the 

 pressure is removed. Again, no amount of pressure is able to produce 

 a perfectly dry mass, and thus it comes that a large portion of the juice 

 is usually left in the bagasse. 



A practical question arises here, viz: Has the juice which is left in the 

 bagasse a proportion of sugar different from that which is expressed? 



The answers to this question have been so different that they have 

 been, subjected to the test of a series of analyses. 



December 10-13, inclusive, live lots of sorghum cane, preserved in a 

 silo, were subjected to analysis. 



JUICE. 



he mean percentage of juice expressed was 64. 11 



agasso 35.89 



leven analyses of these mill juices gave (mean), sucrose 9. 31 



vcu analyses (mean), other sugars 2. 13 



Total sugars (mean) in juice 11,49 



