Cane Mills; and Megass as Fuel. 55 
Now if we were to take a heap of these canes and at- 
tempt to burn them we should assuredly fail. Still 
when we look at their composition, say : 
Sugar 18 @ 42*1 0/0 carbon 7-58 
Fibre 12 @ 50 0/0 carbon 6 
I3-58 
we have 13*58 lbs. carbon, which would, if consumed 
in a suitable furnace, evaporate twice the combined 
water held in the sugar cane. 
This clearly establishes the important fact that 
although carbon may be in such excess in the composi- 
tion of any given substance as completely to consume 
the other parts, it becomes absolutely necessary, in 
the first place, to separate the elements. 
This brings me to the important question of burning 
green megass at a profit. 
We have seen that the sugar cane, as a whole, can- 
not be made even to consume itself, we have, therefore, 
in a practical paper like this, to lay our experiences 
before our brother planters, as to the exact degree of 
extraction by the crushing mills at which it will pay 
to take the megass direct from the mill to be consumed 
as fuel. 
In the Sugar Cane of July 1st, 1882, Mr. N. Lubbock 
treats the readers to the most exhaustive and best essay 
that I have come across on this same question of megass 
as fuel, and so staggered was I with the finding arrived 
at, that I became curious to work out the actual figures — 
as I could not believe, judging from my own experience, 
that the conclusion agreed with my observations. I find 
that Mr. LUBBOCK fell into the same error that I have 
