79 



spontaneum Linn.). The cane itself, known as '"sagao," grows very tall, slender, 

 and erect, with long joints, and is very hardy, resisting drought especially well, 

 but is so extremely hard that it can not be ground for fear of breaking the mill. 

 Analysis shows it to be of very little value as a source of sugar. 



Numbers 41 and 47 are ratoons from cane somewhat similar in appearance to 

 the black Java variety, which is grown to a limited extent on some haciendas in 

 San Carlos. It is considered a fairly good cane, although not liked as well as the 

 purple variety because of being somewhat harder to grind. In composition it is a 

 little lower in sucrose and decidedly higher in fiber than the latter, and con- 

 sequently has a greater tendency toward an erect growth. It should prove of 

 value for planting in sandy and over-rich soils, where the purple variety some- 

 times falls down badly and deteriorates in quality. 



CANE IN THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 



Geerligs ^^ gives Hawaii credit for producing a sweeter and purer cane 

 than almost any other country in the world, only that of Peru being 

 able to rival it. Among the different factories there, the highest monthly 

 averages of sucrose in the cane ground were, dui'ing the campaign of 

 1909, 16.01, 15.89, 15.87, and 15.85 per cent in the cane, these figures 

 applying to Lahaina cane gi'own in the dry regions imder irrigation. 

 The cane was planted in June, 1907, it tasseled in ISTovember, 1908, 

 and was grown from March to May, 1909; so that it had been in the 

 ground, on an average, twenty-two months before cutting. However, 

 ratoons a year old, grown under natural rainfall, had by no means so 

 high a sugar content. The fiber in Hawaiian cane is stated to be on 

 an average about 12.5 per cent, with a maximum of 15 and a minimum 

 of 10 per cent. In comparison, our Negros cane is on the whole 

 fully as rich in sucrose as that from Hawaii, and in addition contains 

 decidedly less fiber, so that, under the same process of manufacture, 

 it should allow of even a higher extraction. However, it must be ad- 

 mitted that these data are not absolutely comparable, since those from 

 Xegros are based on clean, stripped cane, although not selected, while 

 the Hawaiian figures refer to what was actually ground in the fac- 

 tories, including the small amount of dirt and trash inevitably weighed 

 as cane. Experience ha;^ shown that, in Negros at least, cane delivered 

 at the mill contains from 1 to 3 per cent of tiash, which would in- 

 crease the figures of its fiber content when ground in the mill by an ap- 

 proximately similar amount, at the same time decreasing its percentage 

 of sugar 0.2 to 0.5 per cent. Because of the greater care taken in 

 handling the cane in the Hawaiian Islands, the difference there is probably 

 by no means as great. 



^' Loc. cit. 



