428 



GENERAL MORPHOLOGY OF PLANTS 



manufacture of various articles (see paragraph 442 for smut of 

 corn) . 



577. Sugar cane, sorghum, broom corn, etc. The sugar 

 of commerce is largely obtained from sugar cane (Saccharum 

 officinarum), though the sugar beet is also the source of a great 

 quantity. The sugar cane is a tropical and subtropical member 



Fig. 401. 

 Cutting sugar-cane in Louisiana. From Louisiana Agricultural Experiment Station. 



of the grass family. Louisiana is the greatest sugar- producing 

 state in the Union. The plant is ten to twenty feet high and 

 has a widely spreading panicle of flowers at the top. It does not 

 produce seed in the United States but is grown on large planta- 

 tions from cuttings. The canes, after being stripped of the 

 leaves, are crushed to obtain the sap, which is boiled down to 

 obtain the sugar and various syrups and molasses. Some of 

 the great sugar-growing regions are Cuba, Java, the Hawaiian 



