A CHAT ABOUT SUGAR-CANE 13 



And there is still one other important operation that 

 must be performed between successive harvests. The 

 full-grown leaves of a sugar-cane field make up a 

 tangle of exuberant, tropical vegetation ; a few of 

 them drop off of their own accord as the canes ripen, 

 but the majority retain a tenacious hold of the stalks, 

 and, in commingling, rival the impedimental under- 

 growth of a tropical forest. Not only are they so 

 thick as to be wellnigh impenetrable, but their edges 

 are sharp as a razor. This tangle of leaves, called 

 *' trash," has to be cleared away before the canes can 

 be reaped. Trash is usually cut away by hand, but 

 sometimes it is removed by fire. Forewarned, even, 

 when first you see a cane-field in which the trash is 

 being burned away, you will find it difficult to realize 

 that you are not witnessing a terrible catastrophe. 

 Ferocious tongues of flame lick through the whole 

 field and dart up to the sky, amidst awesome clouds 

 of smoke. Not only does it look as though the whole 

 field would be devoured, but as if the neighbouring 

 fields must surely be devastated ; as if, just as surely, 

 the catastrophe will reach the proportions of a prairie 

 fire and ravage a myriad acres of sugar plantations. 

 The marvellous fact remains, however that the flames 

 are confined within a stipulated area, and that they 

 devour the trash without actually destroying the 

 canes. It is a matter of dispute as to whether fire 

 damages the crop : some planters maintain that it 

 does not harm the sugar- juice ; others are equally 

 certain that the scorching heat is prejudicial even to 

 the canes, which have a very stout coat, and, in con- 

 sequence, they adhere to the much more arduous 

 method of having the trash removed by hand. 



