=211. Methods of Cutting or Shredding the Cane for Analytical Purposes.=—A simple method of cutting canes into small pieces which will permit of an even sampling is very much to be desired. The cutting apparatus shown in Fig. 65 has been long in use in this laboratory. The canes by it are cut into thin slices, but the cutting edge of the knife being perpendicular to the length of the cane renders the use of the instrument somewhat laborious and unsatisfactory. A considerable time is required to cut a single cane and the slices which are formed should be received in a vessel which will protect them as much as possible from evaporation during the process of the work. Instead of the apparatus above a small cane cutting machine arranged with four knives on a revolving disk maybe used. The apparatus is shown in Fig. 66. The cane is fed against the knives through the hole shown in the open front of the apparatus and the knives thus strike the cane obliquely.[179] The knives can be set in the revolving disk at any desired position so as to cut the canes into chips as fine as may be desired. The cossettes furnished by this method may be sampled directly for the extraction of the sugar. In the case of the cossettes from both instruments described above a finer subdivision may be secured by passing them through a sausage cutter. [Illustration: FIGURE 66. CANE CUTTING MILL.] The best method for shredding canes, however, is to pass them through the apparatus described on page 9. That machine gives an extremely fine, moist mass, which is of uniform nature and capable of being directly sampled. =212. Methods of Determination.=—Even the finely divided material obtained by the machine just described is not suited to give an instantaneous diffusion for polarization as is done by the finely ground beet pulp to be described further on. For the determination of sugar a proper weight of the cossettes or pulp obtained as described above, taken after thorough mixing, is placed in a flask graduated properly and treated with water.[180]