412 THE AMERICAN FARMER. 



The Batavia, or purple-violet cane, is a native of Java, and is often used in some locali 

 ties as a border for other canes, to defend them from cattle. New varieties of the cane may 

 be produced in the same manner as those from other agricultural products, and, although 

 the kinds most cultivated are many of them very fine, there is no doubt that great improve 

 ments will be made, from time to time, in this direction, by the careful experiments of those 

 skilled in this department of agriculture. 



The Ribbon cane (Saccharum officinarum) is a genuine tropical plant, of which there are 

 many varieties. It is regarded with great favor, and is the most extensively cultivated in 

 this country. It will not thrive in a cool climate, and is easily injured by the frost. It is a 

 perennial plant, but the stalks will die down each year from the effects of the frost, if not cut 

 before it makes its appearance. 



In Northern Louisiana the plant will not flower, and in the southern part of the State it 

 will not mature its seed. Even in the West Indies the seed ripens but indifferently well. 

 Consequently, the production of the tropical sugar-cane in the United States is restricted 

 to a comparatively narrow belt of country, mostly bordering on the Gulf of Mexico. The 

 northern limit of its profitable production in this country is estimated by those who have 

 given the subject considerable attention, to be the thirty-second degree of latitude. Like 

 corn and sorghum, sugar-cane belongs to the family of Graminee, or grasses. 



Analysis of Sugar-Cane. The analysis of the Otaheite cane, by Payen, gives the fol 

 lowing result: Water, 71.04 percent.; cane sugar, 18 per cent.; cellulose, lignine, pectine, 

 and pectic acid, 9.56 percent.; cerosine wax, fats, resins, etc, 0.37 per cent.; soluble salts, 

 0. 1 6 per cent. ; insoluble salts, 0.12 per cent. ; silica, 0.2 per cent. Other analyses give glu 

 cose from two to three per cent. The smallest quantity of glucose is usually found in the 

 lower and more perfectly-ripened portion of the stalk, while the larger proportion is found in 

 the upper and green end, which is protected from the rays of the sun by the leaves. 



The analysis of the ashes of the cane is as follows: Silica, 46.46 per cent.; phosphoric 

 acid, 8.23 per cent.; sulphuric acid, 4.65 per cent.; lime, 8.91 per cent.; magnesia, 4.5 per 

 cent.; potassa, 10.63 per cent.; chloride of potassium, 7.41 per cent.; chloride of sodium, 

 9.21 per cent. 



Cultivation. An exceedingly warm climate, and a soil of deep, rich, moist loam, are 

 the best conditions suited to the production of sugar-cane. A surplus of water is very detri 

 mental to the crop, therefore the land should be well drained, either naturally or artificially. 

 The system of culture, as previously followed in this country, has not been of that character 

 which would produce the best results; hence, great losses have been sustained by the planter, 

 both on account of the agricultural methods practiced in its production, and the mechanical 

 appliances employed in extracting the saccharine matter from the cane. 



The successive planting of the same cane, together With a lack of proper cultivation and 

 sufficient manure, have resulted in greatly deteriorating the quality and yield of the sugar 

 product. The establishing of an improved system of cultivation, of which there are at 

 present strong indications, and improvement in the quality of the seed, through importations 

 from other latitudes, will result in larger profits and a surer test of the possibilities of this 

 crop than have ever yet been attained. 



A proper system of drainage is too often overlooked in the cultivation of the sugar-cane. 

 There are many low, marshy tracts, at present entirely unoccupied for any agricultural pur 

 poses, that by a proper system of drainage would make rich and highly-productive sugar- 

 lands; while there are sugar-plantations in cultivation which, with improved drainage, could 

 be made to produce nearly twice the present amount. 



The soil for cane should be deeply plowed, and well pulverized. It should also be kept 

 well fertilized to prevent exhaustion, by supplying those elements of plant-food that are essen- 



