CHAPTER XVIII. 

 SUGARS AND OTHER CROPS 



Where We Get Our Sweets. Each person in the 

 United States eats, on an average, more than sev- 

 enty pounds of sugar in a year. Sugar is made from 

 the. sugar cane, the sugar beet, and the sap of maple 

 trees. 



Sugar Cane. Sugar cane may be grown in the 

 Southern states wherever cotton is found. It very 

 much resembles corn in appearance. Cultivated 

 cane never produces seed, so the new crop must be 

 grown from cuttings of the stalk. It takes a ninth 

 part of the old crop to plant the field for a new one. 

 The seed cane is usually stored on the land in the 

 fall and covered with a layer of leaves and a thin 

 layer of earth to protect it from the frost. In the 

 spring it is uncovered or ''hooked up'' with long- 

 hoes and cut into pieces two feet long. 



Planting. The land is plowed and thrown into 

 ridges eight feet apart, and the seed stalks are laid 

 end to end in double rows in a trench on top of 

 the ridges. An extra piece of cane is put near each 

 joint so the sprouts will be regular. Cane should 

 send up a sprout at every joint. Covering is done 

 with a hoe or a machine. A machine covers ten 

 acres in a day. The first crop is known as plant 

 ,cane. The next year it will spring up from the same 



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