CHAPTER III 



Range and Climate 



The influence of climate on cane ciilture was probably first discussed by 

 the Marquis de Cazaud in his " Precis sur la Canne," published in 1776. 

 This work deals with Grenada, and, besides discussing climate and giving 

 statistics of rainfall, is valuable as presenting a very detailed account of 

 the agricultural operations as then carried out. A second publication is 

 that of Sir W. R. Rawson^ sometime Governor of Barbados, who collated 

 the rainfalls of that island for the years 1842-71, and showed the dependence 

 of the cane crop thereon. The latest study on this matter is that of Walter,^ 

 who has collected the very detailed records of the Royal Alfred Observatory 

 in Mauritius, and shown the connection between temperature, rainfall and 

 its distribution with the return per acre. Some of his work, which should 

 be studied in the original, is referred to below. 



The Geographical Range of the Sugar Cane. — -The cane is essentially a 

 plant that requires a high temperature and large quantities of water. 

 The limits of its cultivation are perhaps best defined as lying between the 

 isotherms of 68° F., which, independentl}' of the tropics, are taken as defining 

 the torrid zone. North of the equator and at 0° longitude this line starts at 

 36° N., and follows the North African coast, gradually falling to 28° N. 

 as it leaves the continent and reaching this latitude at 80° E. It then runs 

 parallel to the equator to 120° W., when it again rises to 36° N. as it meets 

 the North American coast, and remains on this parallel until it meets the 

 longitude of Greenwich. 



The southern isotherm of 68° F. at 0° longitude lies at 18° S., whence it 

 rises to meet the extreme west point of Africa at 14° S., and then abruptly 

 falls as it crosses the continent, roughly paralleling the coast line until it 

 reaches 25° S. It then crosses Africa in a line parallel to the equator, and, 

 rising very slightly over the Indian Ocean, meets the Australian continent 

 at 25° S., and, again running parallel to the equator, meets the Pacific Ocean 

 at 100° W. It then rises sharply to strike the South American coast at 

 16° S., and then, receding from the equator, roughly follows the coast line 

 to 28° S. in the centre of the continent, and rises again to meet longitude 

 0° at 16° S. 



All the cane-producing areas lie within these limits except those of Spain, 

 Southern Japan, and Northern New South Wales, which are located just 

 on their fringes. 



The localities where the cane forms a staple commercial product are : — 



In Asia— British India (io°-30° N.), Java (6°-8° S.), the Philippines 

 (5°-i8° N.), Formosa (2i°-25° N.), Southern China (22°-30° N.), and the 

 more southerly islands of the Japanese x\rchipelago (30°-32° N.). 



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