568 



Louisiana Stations, Bulletin No, 5 (Second Series), (pp. 15). 



Sugar making on a small scale, W. C. Stubbs, Ph. D. (pp. 

 81-99). — This bulletin was prepared iu response to numerous inquiiies 

 received from farmers througliout the Gulf States for information re- 

 garding sugar making, and is intended for the guidance of those '' who 

 grow only patches of sugar-cane and make sugar, sirup, and molasses 

 for home consumption or local use." To make sugar profitable in an 

 extensive way hundreds of acres of cane must be planted, and a costly 

 plant of machinery must be maintained. To make sugar on a small 

 scale requires only " a horse mill, evaporator, and a few boxes capable 

 of holding cane juice — an outfit varying in cost from $50 to $300." The 

 topics treated in this article are the preservation of the cane for seed, 

 methods of planting, varieties, cultivation and manuring, harvesting, 

 and the machinery and processes used in the manufacture of sugar, 

 sirup, and molasses. 



Purple or violet and red ribbon or striped cane are the varieties gen- 

 erally planted in the South, but for thehigherlatitudes, outside the sugar- 

 cane belt proper, the trial of a variety called Japanese or Zwinga is 

 recommended from the experience of the Louisiana Stations. It is a 

 white cane, of good length, but small in diameter, grows well without 

 much attention, rattoons and stools well, and withstands considerable 

 cold. "It is, however, a hard cane, and has not so high a sugar con- 

 tent as the purple or ribbon cane. It is also difiticult to clean it for the 

 mill." 



For sugar making from sorghum Link's Hybrid is considered by the 

 author to be the best variety. 



Experiments with sugar-cane at the North Louisiana Station are 

 brietly reported. 



In the fall of 18-^8 a few bundled stalks of purple cauo were purchased and pLanted. 

 Only a partial stand was obtained and a light tonnage made. This cane was used to 

 plant tbe crop of 1890. A portion was planted iu the fall, and the rest, after being 

 successfully matted, was planted iu the spring. * » » An excellent stand was 

 secured. The fall plant came up early, and a part of it gave a large tonnage. The 

 spring plant came up late, and on account of a prolonged drought in July and August 

 never attained a large size. The ground upon which this cane was grown is perhaps 

 the poorest in North Louisiana, and has been iu cultivation for over 75 years. It 

 was well prepared and laid o(f iu 5-foot rows, and planted a single running stalk. It 

 was fertilized with a mixture of cotton-seed meal and acid phosphate. 



The stubble cane yielded lo.G, the fall plant 1G.6, the spring plant 8, 

 and the Japanese cane 10 tons per acre. The crop was made into sugar. 

 The analyses of the juices are stated in tabular form, as well as the 

 amounts of sugar and molasses. Sugar was made at the rate of 1,000 

 pounds per acre, worth $50 at wholesale, and 'iiolasses at 106.G gallons 

 per acre, worth $37. 



