86 



even from first ratoons, and with each successive ratoon crop the total 

 amount of sugar produced per hectare of land is decidedly diminished. 

 This is partially due to the shorter time in which the cane is allowed 

 to ripen. Owing to excessive rains prevalent in this country, cane 

 must be cut every year, and the practice so common in Hawaii of 

 allowing ratoons to ripen for eighteen months or more is here out of 

 the question. A further obstacle, especially when canes are planted 

 closely in rows, is the tendency of ratoons to spread out in every direc- 

 tion from the original plant, so that in the course of a few years the 

 cane rows lose all semblance of regularity and proper tillage of the 

 soil is rendered very difficult; thus many young ratoons are stunted 

 in their growth by weeds. 



From data which I have been able to gather on this subject, the 

 yield of sugar, as made by the customary native process, from 1 hec- 

 tare of good cane land in the more fertile districts may be estimated 

 approximately as follows: 



Plant cane, 100 piculs (of 63.25 kilos) or 6.33 metric tons; first ratoons, 

 80 piculs or 5.06 metric tons; second ratoons, 70 piculs or 4.43 metric tons; 

 third ratoons, 60 piculs or 3.80 metric tons; fourth ratoons, 50 piculs or 3.16 

 metric tons. Cane which yields less than 2 metric tons of sugar to the hectare 

 is here considered hardly to be worth the cutting. The length of time during 

 which it is profitable to let cane ratoon also depends largely on the cost of labor 

 and the total area of land available for cultivation. On a small plantation, if 

 labor is cheap, it is considered good policy to replant nearly every year in order to 

 get the utmost possible yield. With plenty of land at his disposal, especially in 

 districts where labor and animals are scarce, the hacendero has better results by 

 letting his cane ratoon as long as it pays to cut it. The average time between 

 replanting in the districts where canes are generally allowed to ratoon may be 

 taken as four years, so that of the total sugar produced in these districts about 

 one-fourth will be from plant cane and three-fourths from ratoons. 



For the cultivation of ratoon cane or ''kalaanang," as it is universally 

 called here, it is customary as soon as possible after removal of the 

 crop and burning the field to plow the "pahulug" and then with a 

 hoe to take away the dirt from around the old plant, leaving its roots 

 exposed to the air and the sun. The field is left alone for from four 

 to six weeks to allow the outermost of the old roots to decay, being 

 plowed or hoed just enough to keep down weeds, then another plowing 

 throws dii-t up around the young cane sprouts, and from this time 

 on the treatment is much the same as for plant cane. 



' PERIOD OF GROWTH OF THfi CANE. 



The length of time during which the cane is allowed to remain in 

 the ground varies from nine to fourteen months and will probably 

 average between eleven and twelve. As each plantation grinds its own 



