936 SUGAR 



It grows in dry lands. When eaten raw, it is somewhat dry and pithy in the mouth, 

 but is esteemed very good for making sugar. It is not known to tho "West India 

 planter. The leaves rise from a point 6 feet above the ground. An oblique and 

 transverse section of the cane is represented by the parts near the bottom of the 

 figure. 



The Pooree is a light-coloured cane, yellow, inclining to white, deeper yellow when 

 ripe and on rich ground. "West India planters consider it the same sort as one of 

 theirs. It is softer and more juicy than the preceding, but the juice is less rich, and 

 produces a weaker sugar. It requires seven parts of pooree-juice to make as much 

 goor as is produced from six of the cadjoolee. Much of this cane is brought to the 

 Calcutta market, and eaten raw. 



The CuUorah thrives in swampy lands, is light coloured, and grows to a great 

 height. Its juice is more watery, and yields a weaker sugar also than the cadjoolee. 



The manufacture of sugar in Bengal is conducted by the natives in the most primi- 

 tive manner possible ; the poverty and ignorance of the ryots or peasants being serious 

 obstacles to the introduction of any system different from that practised by their fore- 

 fathers. Early in June the soil is brought into a soft muddy state ; slips of the cane, 

 with one or two joints, are planted in rows about 3 feet apart, and 18 inches asunder 

 in the rows ; when about 3 inches above ground the earth is partially loosened, and in 

 August trenches are cut, to drain off any superfluous moisture. From 3 to 6 canes 

 spring from each slip. "When about 3 feet high the lower leaves are wrapped roiind 

 the canes, and the whole from each slip supported by bamboos. The cutting com- 

 mences in January or February, the canes being then 8 or 10 feet high, and 1 to 1 

 inch thick, and are passed through a mill of the rudest construction, which will be 

 fully described when sugar-mills are treated of. 



The China cane is said to be extremely hardy, standing both cold and drought, and, 

 with abundant rain, giving out as many as thirty shoots. It resists the inroads of 

 the white ants, which cannot penetrate its hard crust, whilst it is also proof against 

 the teeth of the jackals. It requires, however, a stronger mill for grinding than the 

 other varieties mentioned. Mr. Wray asserts that the Salangore cane is the finest 

 in the Straits of Singapore, and perhaps in the world. He says that he has cut five 

 from one stool, which were of a weight of from 171bs. to 25 Ibs. They have been 

 known to produce 7,200 Ibs. of undrained sugar per acre, equal to 5,800 Ibs. of dry 

 sugar for shipping. 



Dr. Livingstone stated that sugar is cultivated in the Shire Valley, as well as in 

 many parts of Africa near the Zambesi, and may be had for as little as one halfpenny 

 per pound. 



In all the colonies of the New "World the sugar-cane flowers, but it then sends forth 

 a shoot (arrow), that is, its stem elongates, and the seed-vessels prove abortive. For 

 this reason, the bud-joints must there be used for its propagation. It is said to grow 

 to seed, however, in India. This circumstance occurs with some other plants, which, 

 when propagated by their roots, cease to yield fertile seeds ; such as the banana, the 

 bread-fruit, the lily, and the tulip. 



In the proper season for planting, the ground is marked out by a line into rows 

 4 or 6 feet asunder, in which rows the canes are planted from 2 to 5 feet apart. The 

 series of rows is divided into pieces of land 60 or 70 feet broad, leaving spaces of 

 about 20 feet, for the convenience of passage, and for the admission of sun and air 

 between the stems. Canes are usually planted in trenches, about 6 or 8 inches deep, 

 made with the hand-hoe, the raised soil being heaped to one side, for covering in the 

 young cane ; into the holes a negro drops the number of cuttings intended to be 

 inserted, the digging being performed by other negroes. The earth is then drawn 

 about the hillocks with the hoe. This labour has been, however, in many places 

 better and more cheaply performed by the plough ; a deep furrow being made, into 

 which the cuttings are regularly planted, and the mould then properly turned in. If 

 the ground is to be afterwards kept clear by the horse-hoe, the rows of canes should 

 bo 5 feet asunder, and the hillocks 2 i feet distant, with only one cane left in one hillock. 

 After some shoots appear, the sooner the horse-hoe is used the more will the plants 

 thrive, by keeping the weeds under, and stirring up the soil. Plant-canes of the 

 first growth have been known to yield, on the brick-mould of Jamaica, in very fino 

 seasons, 2 tons of sugar per acre. The proper season for planting the cane-slips 

 containing the buds, namely, the top part of the cane stripped of its leaves, and the 

 two or three upper joints, is in the interval between August and tho beginning of 

 November. Favoured by the autumnal weather, the young plants become luxuriant 

 enough to shade the ground before the dry season sets in ; thereby keeping the roots 

 cool and moderately moist. By this arrangement the Creole canes are ripe for the mill 

 in the beginning of the second year, so as to enable the manager to finish his crop early 

 in June. It is a great error for the colonist to plant canes at an improper season of 



