THE MORE IMPORTANT PLANT PRODUCTS 85 



This receives no preparation beyond being dried in the sun, and 

 naturally the quality is very inferior. 



Undoubtedly the climate and soil of Szechuan are suitable 

 for the growth of tobacco, but, unfortunately, the Chinese 

 methods of curing the leaf are slovenly in the extreme, with the 

 result that the prepared article is of low-grade quality. The 

 Chinese are, unfortunately, fast becoming a nation of inveterate 

 cigarette-smokers. Much of the local Szechuan tobacco could 

 be used in the manufacture of cigarettes were proper factories 

 erected. This has been done at Hankow and elsewhere, where 

 cigarettes are manufactured from tobacco grown in the neigh- 

 bourhood and in near-by provinces. 



Sugar is a very important crop in Western China, and 

 enormous quantities are produced in certain parts of Szechuan, 

 where it is cultivated in the drier regions of the rice-belt up 

 to 2500 feet altitude. Two kinds of Sugar-cane {Saccharum 

 officinarum) are grown : (i) red-cane, used for chewing ; 

 (2) white-cane, for the extraction of sugar. The Red-cane 

 (5. officinarum, var. rubricaule) produces culms 8 feet tall, an 

 inch or more in diameter, and is treated as an annual. The 

 canes are cut as they mature and sold as required ; the canes 

 that remain at the end of the season are taken up by the roots 

 in November, cleaned and stored in earth-burrows until re- 

 quired for sale. About the end of March portions of these canes 

 are laid lengthwise under the soil, and young growths that 

 develop from each joint in due season constitute sugar-canes. 

 These culms are dark red-purple outside, yellowish within, 

 very firm, and rich in sugar. 



The White-cane (S. officinarum, var. sinense) is treated as a 

 perennial, producing two or three crops before being renewed. 

 It grows 10 to 15 feet tall, with " long-jointed " stems nearly 

 an inch in diameter. This is much more extensively grown 

 than the "red" variety, and supplies nearly all the sugar 

 used locally or exported from the province. Chinese methods 

 of crushing the cane are very imperfect, and their refining 

 processes are most primitive. The canes contain a high 

 percentage of saccharine, and the industry, if perfected, could 

 become of vast importance. 



Sugar has been cultivated in China from time immemorial. 



