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taincd by Icfs boiling than thof- Canes in the clofc 

 nianncr thc^y are commonly planted: thi; is well 

 known to rhe judicious to be the cafe, in mod kinds 

 of vegetables ; and it is by thus carefully propagating 

 all kiiKls of cfculent plants, either in the choice of the? 

 befl: feeds or cuttings, that niofl: of the kinds have 

 been fo greatly improved of late years- 

 The diftanc'e which the Canes are ufually allowed in 

 planting, is from three to four feet, row from row, 

 -and the hills arc about two feet afunder in the rows ; 

 in each of thefc hiiis they plant from four to feven or 

 eight cuttings, v/hieh h a very great fault, and is the 

 caufe of mod of their blights fo much complained of 

 lately ; for if all thefe grow, which is often the cafe, 

 they rob each other of their nourifhment ; and if a 

 jdryYeafon happens before they have acquired ftrength, 

 they are very foon dinted in their growth, and are 

 then attacked by iare(5ls, which fpread and multiply 

 fo greatly, as to cover a whole plantation in a little 



. time : when this happens, the Canes are feldom good 

 after, fo that it will be the better way to root them 

 entirely up when they are fo greatly injured, for they 

 very rarely recover this diforder ; for although the in- 

 fers are not the caufe of the difeafe, yet they confirm 



-it, and caufe it to fpread. 



Therefore, if indead of planting fo many, there was 

 but one good cutting planted in each hill, or to pre- 

 vent mifcarriagc, t\yo at mod ; and if both fucceeded, 

 the weakeft were drawn out foon after they had 

 taken root, if will be found of great fervice to pre- 



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leiit plants, which may be taken off before the Canc5 

 are cut, that the pafTages may be clear for the ca- 

 riagcs i but a path ftiould be left on the fides of each 

 land, for the more convenient riding or walking of 

 the overfeer of the plantation, to view and obfervc 

 how the labour is performed. 

 The common method now pra^iifed in plantino- of 



ake 



IS 



performed by hand ; into this one negro drops thv. 

 number of cuttings intended for planting, at the dii^ 

 tance the hills are defigned ; thefe are by other ne- 

 groes placed in their proper pofition, then the earth is 

 drawn about the hills with a hoe, all this is performed 

 by hand 5 but if the right ufe of ploughs was well 

 known in thofe countries, the work might be much 

 better performed, and for lefs than hllf 



the 



ex- 



pence ; therefore inftead of making a trench with ^ 

 hoe,_ a deep furrow is made with a plough, and the 

 cuttings properly laid therein, the ground will be 

 deejjer dirred, and there will be more depth for placing 

 the Canes. ^ 



If the ground is to be afterward kept clean with the 

 horfe hoe, the rows of Canes fhould be planted five 

 feet afunder, that there may be room for the horfe 

 and plough to pafs between them; and the didanceof 

 the hills from each other fhould be twoject and a 

 half, and, but one Cane Ihould be permitted to re- 

 main in each hill. After the Canes are planted and 

 have made fome (hoots, the fooner 

 is ufed the better will the Canes thrive, and t^^e 

 vent thefe blights ; and^ although the number of I ground will be eafier kept clean from weeds ; for if 

 Canes will not oe near fo great from the fame fpace of I thefe are torn up when they are young, they will pre- 

 ground, yet the quantity ot Sugar will be full as much, I fentlydie; whereas when they are fufFered to grow 

 and will require little more than a fourth part of fuel 1 large before they are didurbed, they are with great 

 to boil it. ^'^ 



di^cujty 



I have been aflured by two of the mod fenfible ^nd I As the growth of the Canes is promoted according 

 . judiciousplantersof Sugar in America, that they have I io the cleannefi of the ground, fo there cannot be 



made fome experiments of the horfe-Hoeing culture 



for their Canes, which anfwered much beyond their 



expedtations ; one of thofe^gentlenieh told me, he 

 ..planted one acre in the middle' of a large piece of 



Canes, In rows at five feet afunder, and the hills were 



t^i _ ^ _ _ ^ ^ 



clear of weeds ; and the beginning of this work foon 

 will render it lefs troublefome, and it may be per- 

 formed at a lefs expence, than when it is neglected 

 for fome time, ;; When this is performed with a 



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two feet and a .half didant, apd but one cutting to | ,i)lough, the ^arfh in the interval fhould be thrown up 

 ' each hill. %.The ground between the rows was fi-om ' "'^ 



time to time ftirred with the horfe plough, todeftroy 



the weeds and earth the plants ; with this culture the 

 Canes were double the fize of thofe in the fame piece, 

 which were cultivated in the ufual way; and when 



being careful not to didurb the roots of the Canes, as 

 alfo not to bury their new Ihoots ; and in the fecond 

 operation, the earth fhould be turned over to the 

 other fide of the rows, with the fame care as before. 



the Canes were cut, thofe which had been thus plant- By this turning and dirring of the land, it will be 

 ed and managed were ground and boiled feparately ; I rendered loofer, and the earthing of the plants will 

 the produce of Sugar was full as great as the bed acre | greatly drcngthen them ; fo that from each hill there 

 in the fame piece, and the expence pf boiling was little will be as many fhoots produced as can be well nou- 

 more than afixth part of the other, and he fold the I riflied, and the fun, and air will have free ingrefs 

 Sugar for fix fliillings per hundred weight mpre than J among the rows, which will be of the greated fervice 



to the Canes. 

 V When the Canes are from feven to ten feet h 

 of a proportionable fize, the fkin fmooth, dry, and 

 brittle, if they are heavy, their pith gray, or inclina- 

 ble to brown, the juice fweet and glutinous, they are 

 edeemed in perfection. 



•The time for cutting of the Canes is ufually after they 

 have grown fix months ; but there fhould not be a 



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"^ he could get for the other. ... 



The time for planting the Canes is always in the 

 rainy feafons, and the fooner they are planted after the 

 rains have begun to fall, the more time they will 

 have to get drength before the dry weather fits in ; 

 for when they have put out good roots, and are well 

 eflablidied in the groupd, they .will not be fo liable to 

 fuffer by the drought, as thofe which have but newly 



. Jaken root. '-"'■'_ ■ ; ' . : : '. 



The fcafon being come for planting, the ground 



*' Should be marked out by a line, that the rows of 



„ Canes may be drait, and at equal didances ; but fird 



It will be proper'to divide the piece into lands of fixty 



' ■ or feventy feet broad, leaving intervals between each 

 . of about fifteen feet ; thefe will be found of great ufe 



"' wben the Canes are cut, for roads in which the car- 



_ nages may pafs to carry off the Canes to the mill; 

 for where there is not fuch provifion made, the car- 

 riages are obliged to pafs over the heads of the Canes 

 to their no fmall prejudice : befides, by thefe inter- 

 vals, the fun and air will have freer pafTage between 

 the Canes, wKereby they will be better ripened, and 

 their juice will be fuller of falts ; therefore when the 

 Canes are ^roun3,' tliey will not require fo much fuel 

 to boil their juicer ^ The middle of thefe intervals 



may be planted with Yam^s, Potatock ' or odier efgu- 



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fixed period for this, for in fome feafons and in diffe- 

 rent foils, there will be more than a month's difference 

 in their maturity ; and thofe who have made the ex- 

 periments of cutting their Canes before they were ripe, 

 and letting others dand till after they were ripe, have 

 found the Sugar made from the latter, was much 

 finer than that of the former, though the quantity 

 was not quite fo great ; however, it will always be bed 

 to let them dand till they are in perfcdion before they 

 are cut, but not longer. 



They have alfo found thofe Canes which are cut to- 

 ward the end of the dry feafons, before the rains be- 

 gin to fall, have produced better Sugar than thofe 

 which are cut in the rainy feafons, when they are 

 more replete with watery juice ; and there has been 

 much lefs expence of fuel to boil it, which is a ma- 

 teria;! article in large plantations ; therefore the better 



the Canes are nguxiflied in their growth, and the more 



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