CHAPTER III 
SOILS REQUIRED—CULTURE—MANURING. 
WHEN we say that the Chinese Sugar Cane can grow 
upon all soils on which a fair crop of Indian corn can be 
raised, we have almost covered the entire question, and 
given the desired information; but inasmuch as upon 
certain soils only can the best results, so far as the pro- 
duction of sugar is concerned, be obtained, we deem it 
expedient to record a few facts which have been gathered 
from the observations of cultivators in all parts of the 
world. The experiments which have been made upon it 
in Algeria, France, and this country, have proved the 
fact that the best results are obtained on loose, deep soils; 
but it has been demonstrated that the juices of plants 
grown upon soils largely composed of vegetable detritus, 
is more abundant in fecula, and the sugar manifests a 
somewhat weaker propensity to crystallize than upon any 
others; but in such cases, as it contains a large quantity 
of fecula, it can be readily converted into alcohol. There 
seems to be a peculiar difference between the juices of the 
imphee and of the Chinese Sugar Cane, which is a fair 
representation of the difference between the juices of 
the Chinese Sugar Cane itself when produced under two 
different conditions of soil; and thus, for instance, in the 
Chinese Sugar Cane there is a larger proportion of fecula 
than in the imphee, and it is consequently necessary for 
the planter to take more care in his attempts to produce 
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