110    OBSERVATIONS  UPON"  THE  SORGHUM  SACCHARATTJM. 
since  the  first  polariscopic  observation,  and  two  weeks  since  last 
experiment,  with  several  white  frosts,  and  ice  formed  |  to  x|  of 
an  inch  in  thickness  occurring,  he  concluded  to  again  examine 
the  juice  by  polarized  light,  and  was  gratified  to  thus  learn  that 
the  proportion  of  sugar  had  increased  from  5-57  to  7.29  per 
cent,  in  the  juice. 
On  the  24th,  26th,  27th,  28th,  and  29th  of  October,  each  day 
100  feet  of  canes  were  ground,  clarified,  and  boiled  to  15°  and 
18°  B.,  and  set  aside  till  Nov.  2nd,  when  all  but  the  last  days' 
work  had  become  a  thick  and  liver-like  mass  resembling  soft 
soap  ;  very  acid  and  totally  ruined  from  not  having  been  suffi- 
ciently evaporated.  The  last  parcel  was  boiled  to  proof,  and 
crystallized  very  well. 
Mr.  Lovering  regrets  this  misfortune,  less  for  the  trouble  it 
cost  him,  than  from  the  fact  that  the  experiment  worked  beauti- 
fully, and  the  juice  being  richer,  the  best  results  may  justly  have 
been  anticipated.  It,  however,  taught  the  danger  of  delay,  and 
that  the  juice  in  the  cut  canes  had  not  suffered  by  storage. 
4th  Experiment,  Nov.  2d.  Cut  and  ground  58  feet — 100 
canes — produced  10  gallons  of  juice,  10°  B.,  less  acid  than  pre- 
ceding, neutralized  with  milk  of  lime,  clarified  with  eggs,  passed 
it  through  3|  feet  of  black,  and  boiled  to  234°  F.  and  set  to 
crystallize.  On  the  4th,  5th  and  6th  of  Nov.,  the  same  quantity 
of  cane  was  cut  and  ground,  and  otherwise  ^ treated  to  produce 
sugar  and  molasses,  with  the  following  results. 
Product  from  a  row  of  232  ft.  of  canes,  19-75  lbs.  sugar,  25*25  lbs.  molasses. 
Which  at  the  rate  of  10,900  feet  to  an 
acre,  makes  the  produce  per  acre,        928  lbs.  sugar,  98-87  galls,  molasses. 
In  this  experiment,  18,277  canes  yielding  1847  gallons  of 
juice,  weighing  9  lbs.  per  gallon,  was  the  source  of  the  above 
returns.  The  sugar  is  perfectly  dry,  and  the  process  worked 
without  the  slightest  difficulty  at  any  stage. 
The  molasses  in  the  preceding  experiment  was  boiled  down 
and  crystallized  so  as  to  yield  6|  lbs.  of  sugar,  equal  to  293*85 
lbs.  more  of  sugar  per  acre,  thus  increasing  the  yield  of  the  last 
experiment  to  1221-85  lbs.  of  sugar  from  an  acre  of  canes.  In 
his  calculation  of  the  residue  of  molasses,  Mr.  Lovering  has  in- 
advertedly  made  an  error,  as  he  merely  deducts  the  weight  of 
sugar  produced  from  the  gross  weight  of  molasses  subjected  to 
