83 



The old-style native wooden plow drawn b}' the carabao is still largely 

 in the majority, and, although American plows are coming into more 

 general use each year, it will probably be a long time before the native 

 implement is entirely supplanted, as the latter has the advantage 

 of cheapness and simplicity, and owing to its light draft (the ground 

 is penetrated to a depth of only about 10 centimeters) is considered 

 to be easier on the carabao. It is generally estimated that ten men, 

 ten plows, and twenty carabaos can, for the first plowing, take care 

 of a little over one hectare of land per day, depending, of course very 

 largely on the nature of the ground and the condition of the weather. 

 Subsequent plowings require considerably less labor. 



After the ground has been gone over from two to five times with 

 the plow, followed in most cases by a harrow, it is laid out in rows 

 preliminary to receiving the seed. These rows are about 15 centimeters 

 deep and may be from 75 to 150 centimeters apart, according to the 

 system of planting employed. 



PBEPABATION OF THE SEED. 



Only the white tops of the cane are used for seed. These are either 

 cut off while the cane is still standing in the field, or the cane may be 

 cut down first and the tops removed later. 



In either case they are cut before transporting the cane to the mill and piled 

 in heaps on the ground, after which the uppermost portion of the green stalk and 

 leaves are cut oflF with a bolo, leaving for planting a section of the cane top from 

 20 to 25 centimeters in length. These tops, or "puntas," as they are now termed, 

 are, as a rule, loaded into carabao carts and taken to some convenient spot, where 

 they are stored temporarily in a shed or under a roof of some kind to protect 

 them from the sun. 



During the early part of the planting season, and when the ground is 

 sufl5ciently moist, the cane seeds are planted as soon as possible after cutting, 

 without any preparation except husking, but in very dry weather it is customary to 

 soak them in water for from one to three days before setting them out, thus 

 hastening the sprouting it is believed, and rendering the seed more resistant to 

 drought. Any convenient stream or ditch may be used for this preliminary soak- 

 ing, but some haciendas have tanks or troughs especially constructed for the 

 purpose. When it is considered that the "puntas" are ready for planting, they 

 are taken from the water and stripped of the outer layer of dead leaves still 

 adhering to them, then carted off to the fields for planting. Most of the work of 

 preparing the cane seed is done by women and children, who are paid by contract 

 so much per ''lacsa" of 10,000 tops. 



PLANTING. 



There are several different methods of planting in vogue in Negros, 

 the most usual one, probably, being to, plant in rows about 1 meter apart 

 and to leave a space of about 40 centimeters from point to point between 

 the seeds in the same row, thus using very nearly 25,000 seeds per hectare. 

 Whatever the system of planting, it remains fairly constant for each 



