216 



THE POPULAR EDUCATOR. 



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It is not our intention here to dwell long on the cultivation of 

 the sugar-cane, as it varies in detail with nearly every country 

 in which its various species are grown. It may be well, how- 

 ever, to state that it is usually propagated by slips or cuttings 

 kaken from the tops of the canes. When the lower leaves have 

 been stripped off the slips are planted in holes dug by the work- 

 people, or arranged in a furrow turned up by the plough in such 

 a way that a second or ridge furrow may help to form a trench, 

 in the bottom of which the cane-tops are laid. The trench is 

 gradually filled in as the young shoot springs up, until the trench 

 or hole is completely filled to the top, when the young growing 

 plant is called a plant-cane, to distinguish it from the sprouts 

 thrown up by old-established roots or stools. These latter are 

 known as rattoons, and although not quite as vigorous and luxu- 

 riant in growth as the plant-canes, yield a better description of 

 sugar-bearing sap. 



Mills for cane-crushing are of various forms of construction, 

 and range from the ponderous and costly machine constructed 

 by the accomplished engineer, to the make-shift wooden screw 

 rollers or the primitive stone pestle mill of the poor and un- 

 instructed native cultivator. The utensils made use of in 

 boiling the syrup before crystallisation vary in capacity, form, 

 and character of material quite as much as do the mills, and 

 are proportioned in worth and mode of fitting up to the position 

 and means of the owner. The most complete sugar-boiling 

 establishment we have ever visited belonged to a rich planter in 

 the island of Mauritius, and must have cost many thousands of 

 pounds to erect and 

 complete ; whilst the 

 most unpretending we 

 stumbled on one day 

 when wandering 

 about among the jun- 

 gles of Central India. 

 It consisted of an 

 old, cracked, rope- 

 bound, and smoke- 

 begrimed earthen pot, 

 mounted on three 

 stones, set on the 

 edge of a fire-hole dug 

 in the ground. The 

 whole affair would 

 certainly have been 

 dearly purchased by 

 the expenditure of 



sixpence, and yet the sable owner of this rough-and-ready 

 sugar-boiling establishment managed to lay in for domestic 

 use a store of sweets (such as they were), the produce of his 

 small but carefully guarded and much prized cane patch. 



The true sugar-cane is not the only sugar-yielding member of 

 the grass family. Next in order we may place the sugar-grass 

 (Sorghum saccharatum), or " durra," which yields grain abun- 

 dantly, and is, in fact, a true millet. The seed of this plant 

 was first brought to Europe by Count Martigny, the French 

 Consul for Shanghai, in 1851. Strangely enough, one seed only 

 of the whole number introduced germinated, but from the plant 

 raised from this single seed a sufficient number of grains were 

 produced to enable those interested to carry on the process of 

 cultivation. We find that 800 of these seeds were sold to 

 Messrs. Vilmerrin, Andrieux and Co., of France, at the rate of 

 one franc per seed. About the year 1857 a sufficient number 

 of these French grass-seeds were exported to America to enable 

 the cultivators to practically test their fitness for cultivation 

 in that country. Shortly after the introduction of the European 

 consignment, an African traveller (Mr. Wrey) brought with him 

 a number of seeds gathered from the Imphee, or African sugar- 

 grass. 



The success attending the growth of these newly-introduced 

 grasses was truly extraordinary. A short time sufficed to enable 

 the American growers to lay down over 100,000 acres of sugar- 

 grass crop, which it was computed produced 16.000,000 gallons 

 of sap adapted for sugar-making. 



Strenuous efforts have been made from time to time to 

 introduce sorghum as a cattle food in this country, but with- 

 out much success, as the climate of Great Britain is too vari- 

 able for it to fully mature in. That which wheat and barley 

 are to us, millet, in some of its various forms of growth, is to 



the native of India and Africa. Growing under an ardent sun, 

 nurtured by rich deep soil, and stimulated by irrigation, the 

 millet stalks of tropical countries reach an altitude and size 

 almost great enough to lead to their being mistaken for bamboo 

 canes. We have often used a millet stalk for a fishing-rod, and 

 have not unfrequently cut for ourselves a good stout walking- 

 cane from amongst the ripening culms of this gigantic grain 

 plant. The millet seed is too well known as a type of diminu- 

 tive size to need description here. When harvest arrives the 

 tall stalks, with their plume-like and tufted crowns, are cut down 

 with heavy stout knives. The tops are then, with their rich 

 burden of clustering seed (some of them containing between 4,000 

 and 5,000), stored away in wicker or dried skin grain coffers 

 until required for use, when it is beaten off the stem on a cloth 

 or set of dried skins ; winnowed by throwing it in the air from 

 a flat cane basket, all the husk or chaff is blown away, whilst 

 the grain falls on the sheet spread to receive it. When ground 

 in a stone mill in form and mode of use precisely like the ancient 

 querns at one time used in this country, the millet is crushed 

 into meal. This, when wetted and kneaded into dough, forms 

 the " attah" used in the preparation of unleavened bread. When 

 leavened bread is required the dough is allowed to ferment. 

 The bruised seed of the Sorghum andropogon, when fermented 

 and treated with numerous native ingredients, yields the so-called 

 "merissa" or African beer, of which the dark-skinned potentates 

 are so fond. The dried stalks, when denuded of their seed- 

 tassels, are extensively used as food for horses and cattle. They 



are also used in build- 

 ing the huts of the 

 natives, as they form 

 excellent walls when 

 set on end, tied to 

 frames, and plastered 

 with clay, mud, or 

 cow-dung ; good roofs 

 are also made from 

 them. 



Although the mil- 

 lets are truly corn, 

 and often of Indian 

 growth, they must noi 

 be confounded with 

 the plant which is 

 properly known aa 

 "Indian corn." This 

 description of grass, 



the maize or Zea Mays of botanists, is met with in numerous 

 varieties, and is found growing wild in Chili, Paraguay, and in 

 North America. Comparatively common as the maize plant is 

 in our own gardens, it rarely reaches full development, or arrives 

 at maturity in England. In the United States of America maize 

 is one of the principal food-yielding plants, and on the planta- 

 tions of the Southern States, before the abolition of slavery, 

 it was almost the only bread staple of the lower orders ; besides 

 being made into bread, the seed of the maize is used in a variety 

 of ways in the preparation of food. Soaked in lime-water it is 

 easily freed from its capsule or shell, and when crushed under a 

 heavy stone forms a paste which, by the deft fingers and patting 

 palms of the women of Mexico, is converted into the inevitable 

 tortilla. This, when rapidly browned on a heated iron plate 

 and associated with Chili Colorado, or capsicum pod, constitutes 

 the principal and almost universal food of a vast population. 

 The young, green, and undeveloped maize ear, when in the milk 

 stage, as it is called, forms, either roasted or boiled, a most 

 delicious vegetable for the table ; the grains are sucked or bitten 

 from the stem to which they are attached. Every part of the 

 plant is useful. The grain, as we have seen, variously prepared, 

 makes excellent provender for the human race. In its raw state 

 it is extensively used as horse, cattle, and pig food. The stalks, 

 like those of the millet, are used for thatching, and a whole host 

 of valuable purposes. The leaves serve for stuffing mattrasses 

 and making coverings for cigars ; oranges are commonly packed 

 in maize leaves, which protects them from the jolts consequent 

 on stowage on board ship. Maize grows well throughout the 

 south of Europe, and in its green state it is extensively used for 

 fodder. 



The corn cob, or centre core to which the grain is attached, is, 

 by settlers and hunters, converted into an excellent and con- 



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