218 plant and organic chemistry 
trouble is due to acids of the cane, chiefly to those formed 
by the partial fermentation which has produced the inversion 
of the sugar, or else in the increased susceptibility of the su¬ 
crose remaining to the inverting action of the organic acids.” 1 
The soluble solids, not sugar, are soluble starch and gum, 
the acids, coloring-matters, wax, resin, and mineral sub¬ 
stances. In every case where sorghum juice was tested for 
starch it was found to be present. 2 Several coloring-matters 
have been obtained from sorghum, sorgothine and sorghine 
from the covering of the fruit, and also a red dye from the cane 
itself. 3 
Since the ash constituents of a sugar-producing plant inter¬ 
fere with its highest yield of sugar, we find that sorghum is 
superior in this respect to the sugar beet, for its average total 
ash amounts to .62132 per cent.; and the sugar beet reaches 
1.3 per cent. 4 
From these analyses it is seen that the sugar beet contains 
nearly twice as much ash as the stalk of sorghum. 5 
The presence of large quantities of the alkalies in sugar 
juice is also unfavorable to the production of sugar. Hence, 
in selecting localities for growing crops, it is very important 
to obtain a soil free from such substances. 
The character and composition of the soil best adapted to 
the cultivation of sorghum for sugar production are obviously 
matters of fundamental importance. 
A sandy loam appears to be the most favorable soil for cane. 6 
Comparative analyses were made on the sorghum to show 
the effects of fertilizers on the sucrose, glucose, and solids in 
the juice. In these experiments it was found that the soil must 
have contained sufficient food for the proper development of 
the sorghum plant, and that the addition of these special fer¬ 
tilizers was unnecessary, and resulted in no marked change 
in the composition of the sorghum juices. 7 These results 
1 Bui. No. 14, p. 27. 2 Bui. No. 3, p. 16. 
3 Matieres Premieres Organiques , par Pennetier, pp. 480-509. 
4 Bui. No. 3, p. 17. 5 Ibid. 
6 Ibid., p. 44. 
7 Dept, of Agr., Special Rep. No. 33, by Peter Collier, Chemist. 
