SUGAR CANE 317 



seventy-five to one hundred and one gallons of water are 

 required to make a pound of sugar, and that a rainfall 

 of two inches every week during the cane's growth will 

 produce the largest yields of cane. While this crop 

 requires an abundance of water, it is also true that a well- 

 drained soil is absolutely essential to vigorous growth and 

 to large, matured canes. This is easily understood when it 

 is learned that cane, like all grasses, requires a large quan- 

 tity of nitrogen for perfect growth, and this must be fur- 



FIG. 274. CUTTING SUGAR CANE 



nished usually by the soil. Only well-aired, moderately 

 moist soils furnish the conditions which render the nitrogen 

 of the soil available ; hence on every estate the lands should 

 be well drained either by open ditches or tiles. 



The varieties of cane are numerous, but the kinds 

 usually grown in the South are the purple, purple-striped 

 or ribbon, and the green. Recently there have been 

 distributed several varieties of "seedlings," which are 



