188 



better than going through the whole plat and trying to select average 

 canes. 



u There is in these analyses but one case, that of November 4th, 

 where the cane from the poor seed could be said to be better for sugar- 

 making than that from the rich seed. The average of the analyses 

 shows the cane from the rich seed to be eight-tenths of one per cent, 

 higher in sucrose and 2*3 points higher in purity. Now let us see what 

 such a difference in analyses means in sugar-making. Allowing 10 per 

 cent, marc, about the average in Louisiana, there would be a difference 

 between the plats of 14 * 4 pounds of sugar in each ton of cane. This 

 difference divided by two, because one plat was as much below the 

 average cane seed as the other was above, will give 7 * 2 pounds of sugar 

 per ton as an increase in planting rich cane for seed, instead of the 

 average cane ; had it been planted 



" For a factory grinding 400 tons of cane per day this would add 

 2,880 pounds of sugar to the cane of a day's working, and for a crop of 

 25,000 tons would give 180,000 additional pounds of sugar. One 

 hundred and eighty thousand pounds of sugar at five cents per pound is 

 worth $9,000, and $9,000 would pay for 2,000 tons of cane at the price 

 of $4*50 per ton, and 2,000 tons are nearly one-twelfth of the entire 

 crop. This, it must be borne in mind, is the result of one year's selec- 

 tion. There is still another added value in the cane from the rich seed 

 of which it is more difficult to give the exact value ; this is the higher 

 purity of 2*3. We know that a high purity is more desirable than a 

 low one, but no one yet has been able to tell what a rise of a point in 

 purity will add to the sugar output. To form some estimate we can 

 take a given per cent, solids and figure what per cent sucrose the two 

 purities would give. Taking thus the average per cent, sucrose of the 

 juice from the rich cane seed we will have the sucrose as given in the 

 table of analyses for the cane from rich seed and 13*5 per cent, would 

 have been secured on the cane from the poor seed plat had the per cent, 

 solids been the same as in the other. There is, then, a difference of 

 four-tenths of one per cent, of sucrose due to purity alone. Halving 

 this for the same reason as given before we would get two tenths of 

 one percent, extra sucrose over the average, or 3.6 pounds per ton. 

 This then should be added to the actual gain in sucrose made, aside 

 from the question of purity, and would give instead of the 7 * 2 pounds, 

 10*8 pounds additional sugar per ton of cane. Carrying this out in 

 figures the same way as before we would have for a day's work of 400 

 tons an increase of 4,320 pounds of sugar, and on a crop of 25,000 tons 

 270,000 pounds. This, at five cents per pound, amounts to $13,500 

 and would at the rate given before buy 3,000 tons of cane, which is 

 but little less than one-eighth of the entire crop. Expressing this gain 

 in another way it would give an abundant amount of money to pay the 

 sugar-house labour for manufacturing the crop. This result was 

 obtained from planting canes the average per cent, solids of whose 

 juices differed by 2 * 3 points, thus making the richer canes better than 

 the average would have been by 1*15 per cent. It is undoubtedly a 

 remarkable showing. 



Original Seed Selection Work 



" We turn now to the other phase of our subject in which one year 

 had intervened without selection since the original selection was made. 



