91 



Although the whole cane shows a decided deterioration, the tops 

 have evidently suffered more than the rest. This fact is well kno\vn 

 to most planters, who generally cut off a small portion from the top 

 of the cane if it has been stored more than a few days before grinding. 

 In some haciendas it is customary to cut down the cane before removing 

 the top, or, again, the two operations may go on simultaneously, one 

 gang of men cutting tops and another following them cutting and carry- 

 ing out the cane. All this work is done with the ordinary, blunt- 

 ended native working bolo, locally termed ^'binangon." The native 

 laborer in this, as in other work, follows the line of least resistance, 

 and unless closely watched he is apt to find it easier to cut off the cane 

 a goodly distance above ground rather than waste time and energy in 

 cutting it level with the surface. It is not uncommon to see a field of 

 stubble averaging 10 centimeters in height, which means a loss of some 

 5 per cent of total sugar right at the start. 



A few haciendas in the district of Isabela make a practice of burning a field 

 before commencing to cut cane. The plantation is divided up by roads into 

 fields sufficiently large to supply the mill for two or three days, and each field 

 is burned separately just before cutting. Nighttime is, as a rule, chosen, as there 

 is not likely be a strong breeze, the field being fired against the wind, with 

 a guard of men stationed to prevent the spreading of fire to an adjacent field. 

 It is claimed that practically no loss of sugar results from burning provided the 

 cane is ground without delay.^ Wlien properly controlled, much time and labor 

 is undoubtedly saved by this procedure, as all trash is removed at the start, 

 leaving only the bare cane stalks to be handled. This is rather dirty work, but 

 is easier on the men, and the cane comes to the mill clean and free from trash, 

 which is another decided advantage. 



TRANSPORTING THE CANE TO THE MILL. 



Methods of transporting cane from the fields to the mill are numer- 

 ous and varied. The larger, better-managed haciendas are fairly well 

 equipped with light portable tramways, mostly of English, German, or 

 Belgian make. The rails are quite light, running from 10 to 14 pounds 

 per yard (approximately 5 to 7 kilos per meter), and, as the track is 

 put up in short sections, it can be moved about easily from place to 

 place in the fields, as needed. In some plantations a main line of 

 seniiportable track is used, and branches are run from this into the 

 fields as feeders. Skeleton cane cars of iron with wooden bottoms 

 form the rolling stock; they hold about 1 ton of cane, and are most 

 economically drawn by Chinese bullocks, less frequently by carabaos. 

 The carabao, although stronger, is slower and less adapted to this 

 class of work. In some districts where work animals are scarce, men 



^"Geerligs [Cane Sugar and Its Manufacture, Manchester (1909) 72] corrobo- 

 rates this statement a^ far as the immediate effect of fire is concerned, by analyt- 

 ical data. However, on standing more than two or three days after being burned, 

 a very rapid deterioration sets in. 



