SUGAR-CANE 503 



cultivation continues with them, followed immediately by the 

 diamond or middle cultivator until ' lay by ' is desired. Then 

 a single large disk is substituted on either side for the smaller 

 equal ones on the disk cultivator, and the two forward shovels 

 on the middle cultivator are turned up, leaving only three for 

 work, and with these the cane is laid by." 



487. Burning. The burning of the dried tops and 

 leaves results in the loss of all the nitrogen, but is consid- 

 ered advisable in the sugar-belt of Louisiana as a means 

 (1) of destroying many cane borers ; (2) of causing the land 

 to dry out more rapidly than if the litter were left on it ; 

 and (3) of disposing of the unrotted vegetable matter 

 that would interfere with cultivation. 



Suggested system of cultivation in Cuba. Earle ("Southern 

 Agriculture," pp. 133-135) recommends for Cuba the following 

 as an improvement over the system generally practiced in that 

 country in the care of cane grown from stubble : 



" As soon as the cane is cut, take an ordinary horse hay-rake 

 and drive so as to cross the cane rows, taking the trash from one 

 middle and dumping it in the next one. This quickly and cheaply 

 clears half the ground so that it can be plowed and cultivated, and 

 it provides a double mulch of trash for the other half, so thick 

 and heavy that practically no grass or weeds can come through, 

 and these middles will require no further attention for the season. 



" Keep the alternate middles well cultivated until the begin- 

 ning of the rainy season, and then sow them down to cowpeas 



The next year, of course', the middles are reversed, so that all 

 the soil is thoroughly aerated and pulverized every two years. . . . 

 Plowed strips make an efficient fire break ; . . . (fire) is an enemy 

 more dreaded than any other by the Cuban planter." 



488. Rotation for sugar-cane. As a means of restor- 

 ing the nitrogen removed in the stalks and in the burning 

 of the leaves, the sugar planters of Louisiana grow and 



