﻿





OF JAMAICA. 131 



■ 



markable, .that the upper joints of full grown canes, or thofe that are covered by 

 the leaves and yet foft and tender, anfwer beit for this purpofe, and are always ufed 

 when they plant towards the end of the crop-feafon. The plants thus difpofed, are 

 covered from the neighbouring banks, but the mould is feldom raifed above two 

 inches over them in any dry and loofe foyl, the remainder being left to be added oc- 

 cafionally at the different weedings. In {tiff and clayey lands the holes ought to 

 be fomewhat deeper, and a part of the mould upon the banks to be lodged between 

 the plants and the bottom, the remainder being employed to cover them to the height 

 of two or three inches, which will always leave the furface of your field level. 

 . The beft feafon for planting the fugar-cane is about the month of Auguft, where 

 the ground is found ftiff or chilly j but September and October are obferved to anfwer 

 better where the foyl is free and warm, which is generally the cafe where the mould 

 lies deep over a marly or gravelly bottom ; and then you may expect your canes to 

 come in feafonably in the beginning of the fecond year, which is the beft and 

 ufual feafon for making of fugar. The latter part of this, and the beginning of the 

 enfuing year is generally employed in building of the necetfary works and other 

 conveniencies, if thefe be not already provided j and in the following feafons you 

 hole and plant another part or divifion of the manureable lands, and prepare all ne- 

 ceflaries for boiling early the enfuing feafon 



But where the ground has been opened and in ufe, it generally req 



fwer your expectation ; fallowing and dunging, become requifite, though 

 they feldom fail to overpay the toil j and peculiar care fhould be taken to adapt the 

 manure to the nature of the foil : dung, fand and mixtures, anfwer in the different 

 forts of poorer glebes j and burnings and lime have been always obferved to quicken 

 vegetation in chilly loams. 



The feafon being now come, and every thing in order about the works, the Ne- 

 groes are provided with bills, and ordered into the moft forward field to cut canes ; 

 this they perform very dexteroufly, they part the plants pretty near the root, chop off 

 the tops, and leave the ftalks in irregular parcels to be collected and tied together 

 by the binders ; thefe are again taken up by others and put into carts, cradles or 

 other vehicles to be carried to the mill, where the juice is expreffed by pailing them to 

 and fro between three perpendicular rollers cafed with fteel; this, by a declivity formed 

 in the bridge-tree is conveyed to the firfl ciftern, and {trained in its paffage through a 

 bafket lined with hair- cloth, but this is feldom regarded in Jamaica : when this is 

 full, the liquor is difcharged by a tap placed in the bottom of the ciftern, and con- 

 veyed by proper fpouts or gutters to a large ciftern, or immediately to the fir ft clari- 

 fier in the boiling-houfe, where it fhould be alfo ftrained and tempered; the former, 

 however, is feldom regarded in Jamaica, but the latter is always requifite in the ma- 

 nufacture of fugar, and generally done there by mixing a fmall quantity of good 

 quick-lime in powder, or fome ftrong lime-water with the juice after it is put in the 

 clarifier : the fire is then raifed gradually, and continued in a moderate ftate until 

 moft of the filth and naftinefs with which the juices have been charged rifes to the 

 top, and is fcummed off by (hallow perforated copper fkimmers : then it is again 

 ftrained, by fome, through a thick coarfe blanket, and boiled to a proper confiftence 

 in the adjoining coppers : but during this operation the fire (e) muft be conftantly kept 

 very quick, and the liquor fhifted gradually, as it thickens, from one copper to ano- 

 * ther, until it arrives at the fmalleft, where it is perfected, while the others are 



conftantly fupplied from behind : and as it is apt to fwell and boil over the rim of the 



(e) The Juices of the Cane differ very much according to the foyl and the feafons ; for when thefe 

 have been wet, or that moift and chilly, the juice is waterifh and poor, and requires a great deal of boiJing 

 and afmart adtivefire, which obliges the planters of Jamaica (where the juice is frequently poor) to fupply 



, * » • . 1 t " * . • • r n* _ C 1 C « 1 _ 1 1. 1 % •• • •• t « • » 



I 



themfelves with 1 

 as it is generally 



large quantities of acceflbry fuel from the woods j but where the juice is 

 in St. ChriJiopher'*s, &V. the litter or thrafh that comes from the mill is t) 



rich and kind, 

 requently more 



than fufficient for both coppers and ftills, and the juice will often begin to granulate in the fecond tetch. 



coppe 



r 



• 



* 



\ 





