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SB 231 
 •S935 
 
 Copy I 
 
 
NOV 5 1903 
 
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 7 Z * *7 SUGAR CANE 
 
 By W. C. Stubbs 
 
 Director of Louisiana Sugar Experiment Station 
 
 Sugar cane was introduced into Louisiana by the Jesuits 
 in 1757, began to be extensively cultivated in 1795, and 
 since that time it has been the chief crop of south Louisi- 
 ana. It is cultivated along the entire Gulf and South 
 Atlantic coasts. In Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, 
 South Carolina, north Louisiana, and north Texas it is 
 manufactured into syrup, while in south Louisiana and 
 south Texas it is converted into sugar and molasses. 
 
 Description of Sugar Cane. Sugar cane is a gigantic 
 grass with fibrous roots which reach laterally in every direc- 
 tion. The stalk is a cylinder, varying in diameter from 
 one to two inches, with nodes and internodes (joints), the 
 latter varying in length from two to even six inches. 
 These stalks vary greatly in color, running through white, 
 yellow, green, red, purple, black, and even striped with two 
 or more of these colors. The leaves, grown on alternate 
 sides of the stalk, are clasping at first, but gradually ripen 
 and fall off as the cane matures. I nco me varieties the 
 lower part of the leaves (sheatj^^i^^fckwith minute 
 prickles, which sometimes painj Be hands of 
 
 the cane cutters. The joints maM Boots up, and 
 
 as each ripens it casts its leaf ; wH|B?^Pen ready for 
 
 Copyright, 1903, by Ginn & Conpa.iy. ^^^^ 
 
AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS 
 
 D 
 
 the harvest has a few 
 
 leaves only at the top. 
 Under each leaf and 
 on alternate sides of 
 the cane is a bud or 
 eye from which the 
 cane is usually prop- 
 agated. A close 
 examination of the 
 "eye" will reveal 
 rows of "dots," each 
 marking the place 
 from which a root 
 will sprout when the 
 cane is placed in a 
 moist soil. 
 
 In tropical coun- 
 tries the sugar cane 
 at maturity some- 
 times " flowers " or 
 "tassels." These 
 tassels are panicles 
 of silken spikes on 
 large peduncles, re- 
 sembling very much 
 a plume of pampas 
 grass. Very few of 
 the seeds produced 
 are fertile. This is 
 due doubtless to the 
 fact that the cane 
 
SUGAR CANE 
 
 V /" 
 
 
 
 \ 
 
 V r 
 
 A 
 
 \~ySk 
 
 p y 
 
 
 
 
 V J 
 
 A 
 
 \,A~ . 
 
 
 It 
 
 has been so long propagated from cuttings ("eyes") that 
 the flowers have lost vigor. The sugar is found in solu- 
 tion in the large pith cells of 
 the cane. At maturity the cane, 
 after being stripped of leaves 
 and topped, is cut at the ground 
 with a cane knife or machete. 
 
 Where grown. Formerly it 
 was thought that sugar cane 
 could be grown only in tropical 
 islands, but it has now been 
 shown that 
 where be- 
 tween 30 
 and 35 north 
 or south of 
 the equa- 
 tor, where suitable soil and an abun- 
 dant water supply (either by rainfall 
 or irrigation) can be obtained. Actual 
 cultivation now extends from Spain, 
 37 north, to New Zealand, 37 south, 
 on both sides of the equator. 
 
 Cane requires an enormous amount 
 of water for its best development, and 
 where the rainfall is deficient, irriga- 
 tion is practiced — often with wo i 
 ful results, as in Hawaii, where 
 one estate over eleven tons of 
 per acre have been produced 
 has been found in practice that 
 
 Cross Section of Cane mag- 
 nified about 200 Times 
 
 P, pith cells ; V, vessels ; S, sieve 
 tubes 
 
 will grow any- 
 
 D 
 
 T) 
 
 ugar Cane 
 
 yes ; B, joint ; 
 D, internodes 
 X, semitrans- 
 dots in rows. 
 
4 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS 
 
 seventy-five to one hundred and one gallons of water are 
 required to make a pound of sugar, and that a rainfall 
 of two inches every week during the cane's growth will 
 produce the largest yields of cane. While this crop 
 requires an abundance of water, it is also true that a well- 
 drained soil is absolutely essential to vigorous growth and 
 to large, matured canes. This is easily understood when it 
 is learned that cane, like all grasses, requires a large quan- 
 tity of nitrogen for perfect growth, and this must be fur- 
 
 Cutting Sugar Cane 
 
 nished usually by the soil. Only well-aerated, moderately 
 moist soils furnish the conditions which render the nitrogen 
 of the soil available ; hence on every estate the lands should 
 be well drain^d Mg^H M»l^ open ditches or tiles. 
 
 There is^Biar:-;e nukitfer of varieties of cane, but the 
 kinds usua^B-rowr' 'uftlre South are the purple, purple- 
 striped or ■fwlnn. an Ptle green. Recently there have 
 been distributSd^eW r&^arieties of " seedlings," which are 
 
SUGAR CANE 
 
 5 
 
 now being tried throughout the cane belt. Reference has 
 already been made to the large number of infertile seed in 
 every cane tassel. By extreme care a few of the fertile 
 seeds can be made to germinate. After germination every 
 plant varies greatly from its parents and from the plants 
 grown with it. Therefore each plant is carried to maturity 
 and then tested, and if found of merit is propagated in the 
 usual way by planting the stalk. In this way a number 
 of promising "seedlings " have been given to the world. 
 
 A Field of Cane prostrated by Wind 
 
 Soils for Cane. The soils best adapted to canes are, 
 broadly speaking, those which contain the largest amount 
 of fertilizing material and which have a large water-holding 
 capacity. In south Louisiana al^^jj^fcl^mis and loamy 
 clays are cultivated, while i™Georgja, ^Uabama, and 
 Florida light, sandy soils, when^fcgfci !\ feftjjzed and cul- 
 tivated, produce fine crops. SoW^apablt Wolding water 
 and fertilizers can frequently be^M:>fii p^ cultivated by 
 
SUGAR CANE 7 
 
 artificially supplying these essential factors of heavy cane 
 growing. 
 
 Cane is usually planted in five to six foot rows. A 
 trench is opened in the center of the row with a plow, 
 and in this open furrow is deposited a continuous line of 
 stalks, which are carefully covered with plow, cultivator, 
 or hoes. From one to three continuous stalks are placed 
 side by side in the furrow, thus requiring from two to six 
 tons of cane for an acre. In a favorable season this cane 
 soon sprouts and then cultivation begins. Each young 
 sprout, like all grasses, suckers vigorously and soon the 
 entire row is filled with cane. 
 
 The cultivation best adapted to corn will meet all the 
 requirements of cane. It should be cultivated at short 
 intervals until "laid by," which should occur when the 
 cane is large enough to shade the soil. 
 
 In Louisiana large quantities of tankage, cotton-seed 
 meal, and acid phosphate are used to fertilize the cane 
 crop, the quantity used per acre varying from four hun- 
 dred to seven hundred pounds. 
 
 In Louisiana one planting of cane usually gives two 
 crops, the first is called " plant cane " and the second 
 "first-year stubble" or "rattoon." Sometimes second- 
 year stubbles are grown. 
 
 In tropical countries the cane produces crops for many 
 years, sometimes for as many as fifteen or twenty years. 
 It is extremely doubtful, however, whe^er it pays to carry 
 stubbles so long. ^t ^L 
 
 In Louisiana canes are planteBr«->m OHpber to April, 
 some preferring fall, others spring pl^tin^ Every coun- 
 
 try has its season for planting and hj^sting. 
 
 l^iH 
 ^e 
 
8 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS 
 
 In the United States the cane is harvested annually, 
 because of the frost of our winters, while in tropical coun- 
 tries it is permitted to grow from fifteen to twenty-four 
 months before harvest. 
 
 It is necessary in the United States to save seed from 
 the fall harvest for the next crop. Sometimes the cane is 
 planted in the fall as soon as it is cut, and covered deep to 
 exclude the frost. Oftener, however, it has to be pre- 
 served through the winter for spring planting. This is 
 done either in horizontal or vertical mats, or by throwing 
 the cane into the middles between the rows and covering 
 with dirt by means of large plows. 
 
 The juice of the cane varies in different countries, 
 and even upon different soils and in different seasons. In 
 some countries it may contain as high as twenty per cent 
 of sugar and with very little other matter present, making 
 it easy to work. In Louisiana the juice varies from eleven 
 per cent to fourteen per cent, with two per cent to three 
 per cent of impurities present. Upon the sandy soils of 
 Georgia, Florida, and Alabama the sugar content is higher, 
 often reaching sixteen per cent, with of course a diminu- 
 tion of impurities. The yield of cane per acre in tons is 
 also a variable quantity, depending upon country, season, 
 and soil. Over one hundred tons per acre have been 
 grown in Hawaii, and sixty tons in Louisiana, but the 
 average is much below these figures. In Louisiana an 
 average of twent^js thirty tons per acre on a large estate 
 is considered a f^tyield. Upon the sandy lands of the 
 coasts fifteen^B t\v ei f »ons per acre are good yields. 
 
 Making of Syr ud- Sugar, and Molasses. A small mill, 
 
 •ujj^ 
 ;esfl 
 
 propelled by horsesjwor crushing the cane, and a kettle or 
 
IO 
 
 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS 
 
 pan for evaporating the juice, constitute the outfit for 
 making syrup. This equipment is very cheap and can be 
 easily operated by a small family. While these small mills 
 rarely extract more than one half of the juice in the cane, 
 the syrup made by them is exceedingly palatable and 
 usually commands a good price in our markets. 
 
 In our large sugar houses nine-roller mills, with a 
 crusher in front, clarifiers, evaporators, multiple effects, 
 vacuum pans, centrifugals, pumps, filter presses, boilers 
 
 A Common Type of Syrup Factory 
 
 „« 
 
 and engines, tanks^BP cars, are found. A modern, up-to- 
 date sugar house, capable of handling from five hundred 
 to one thousand tons of sugar cane, will cost from one 
 
SUGAR CANE 
 
 II 
 
 hundred thousand to two hundred and fifty thousand 
 dollars, and a large number of both skilled and unskilled 
 laborers is required to operate it. Such a mill as the 
 above will extract from seventy-five to eighty pounds of 
 juice from every one hundred pounds of cane. The 
 refuse left after the juice is extracted is called " bagasse " 
 
 Transferring Cane from Wagon to Trolley 
 
 or " megass," and can be used as fuel under the boilers, 
 or made into wrapping paper. The juice is usually treated 
 with sulphur and lime, and then boiled. This treatment 
 brings to the surface a heavy blanket of scums, which is 
 removed and, with the settlings, sent through the filter 
 press, where the juice is extracted and the solid matter 
 (cake) retained in the press. Thi^cjarified juice is now 
 evaporated into syrup, either in open vessels or in multiple 
 effects. The syrup is now drawn into the vacuum pan, 
 where it is cooked to grain at a high vacuum and a low 
 
12 
 
 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS 
 
 temperature. This mixture of sugar and molasses (called 
 masse cuite) is drawn into a centrifugal machine with 
 perforated wire gauze sides placed within a solid iron 
 vessel. By a rapid rotation of this machine, the liquid 
 molasses is thrown through the wire gauze into the outer 
 vessel, while the sugar is retained in the centrifugal. By 
 using water or other washes, any grade of sugar may be 
 
 
 
 teJp§ If V^^SI 
 
 .__. -v..,-.-. - r r t . -. :, - 
 
 
 Machine for Transferring Cane from Cars to Carrier 
 
 made. By again cooking the molasses separated from the 
 first sugar, second sugar, usually termed " seconds," may 
 be obtained. The molasses from the second sugar may 
 be made to yield third sugar, or " thirds." 
 
 There are a few open-kettle sugar houses left in Loui- 
 siana. These diffei^rom the above in that the syrup is 
 cooked directly in open pans or kettles to a heavy density 
 and placed in vessels (ca'led coolers) to crystallize. In 
 a few days this crystallized mass may be either potted 
 
SUGAR CANE 
 
 13 
 
 in hogsheads or run through a centrifugal machine as 
 described above. Open-kettle sugar and molasses are 
 thus obtained, the latter fetching a high price on account 
 of its delicious flavor and agreeable aroma. 
 
 Write to the Louisiana Sugar Experiment Station, 
 Audubon Park, New Orleans, Louisiana, for bulletins 
 
 Sugar Shed in New Orleans 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 000 931 435