SUGAR-CANE CULTURE FOR SIRUP PRODUCTION. 45 
were dried without loss, its chemical composition should indicate a 
feeding value about equal to that of oat straw. Drying it artificially 
is undoubtedly too expensive for such a low-grade product. Making 
ensilage of it is suggested, but it yet remains to be determined 
whether the slight unavoidable fermentation in the silo would too 
nearly exhaust it of its remaining nutrients to make a palatable en- 
silage. In a single test made at the experiment field at Cairo, Ga., 
the results were encouraging, but the product was abnormally sour, 
probably owing to insufficient tramping and to the fact that the cane 
was badly frostbitten before grinding. Fermentation had proceeded 
so far that the bagasse was thoroughly infected with the acid-forming 
microorganisms before it was put into the silo. For making ensilage 
the bagasse has the advantage that it would involve practically no 
extra expense for collecting and hauling, assuming that the silo is not 
far from the mill. To pack well in the silo, some water must be sup- 
plied while filling. If no better use can be made of the bagasse, it 
should be heaped in a manner to facilitate rotting, and after one or 
two years, when sufficiently rotted, applied to land where humus is 
needed. 
The skimmings on most farms are wasted. Some sirup makers 
allow them to settle over night, or for a half day, then draw off the 
clear, slightly sour juice between the sediment and the floating scum 
and boil it back into the sirup. There is danger of injuring the 
flavor of the sirup by this practice, especially if the containers for the 
skimmings are not kept thoroughly clean or sterilized. It was found 
in the experiments at Cairo, Ga., that sheet-iron vessels, e. g., ash 
cans, if used to collect skimmings, can readily be rinsed out each 
morning sufficiently clean so that fermentation would start but 
slowly after refilling with skimmings. It was thus possible to hold 
the skimmings, even in moderately warm weather, as long as 24 
hours without serious souring, thus affording ample time to effect 
good settling. By providing suitable tap holes about 1J inches from 
the bottom of each such container, the clear juice from the preceding 
day's boiling could each morning be drawn off and boiled with fresh 
juice to make sirup. Wooden containers can not be cleaned so satis- 
factorily and in them fermentation starts more rapidly. Some 
farmers feed all the skimmings while fresh to hogs, which is a good 
way of utilizing them where feasible, but less profitable than to save 
the cleared portion for sirup making. One farmer near Cairo, Ga., 
utilizes them by boiling them down to a thick, molasseslike feed, 
which keeps indefinitely and is greatly relished by his stock at any 
time of year. Where a silo is being filled while boiling sirup, a good 
utilization of the skimmings might be to work them in with the 
silage while fresh. 
