Cutting Sugar-Cane 



Sugar- Cane 



The mention of this crop is almost synonymous with a mention of the State. 

 Louisiana is the only State in the Union where sugar-cane is grown in any con- 

 siderable quantity for the production of sugar. Previous to the development 

 of the beet sugar industry in this country, Louisiana produced practically all 

 the sugar that was not imported. It stands second in value of the crops of the 

 State. It is grown for commercial sugar only upon the rich Alluvial and Re- 

 claimed Marsh Lands. 



Sugar-cahe requires a very rich soil and plenty of water, but it demands 

 good drainage also. Its cultivation at the present time is confined principally 

 to the large plantations from the mouth of the Red River south, although 

 many farmers are raising sugar-cane on a small acreage and selling it direct 

 to the mills on these plantations at prices ranging from $3.50 to $8.00 per ton. 

 Approximately three-fourths of the cane crop of the State in the sugar mill 

 district is produced by the mill owners; the remainder is purchased from tenant 

 farmers of small areas and planters who do not own or share in the ownership 

 of a mill factory. 



In addition to the growth of sugar-cane in Louisiana for the production of 

 sugar, a considerable acreage is grown for the production of cane syrup. Most 

 of the sugar-cane raised for this purpose is produced by the small farmer and 

 on the thinner, lighter lands of the State. It is an important fact also that 

 cane for the manufacture of syrup can be grown much farther north than it 

 can for the manufacture of sugar. The yield per acre is from 200 to 400 gallons 

 and it is sold at prices ranging from ninety cents to $1.25 per gallon at the present 

 time, with an active demand. The crop is particularly adapted to the Pine 

 Flats, when properly drained, to the Pine Hill Lands and much of the Uplands 

 of the State. 



Corn 



This crop will grow anywhere in the State that cotton will grow, and, in 

 addition, thrive in many places where cotton will not produce successfully. 

 The Alluvial Soils of the State, as well as the reclaimed Marsh Lands of the 

 Delta, are pre-eminent "corn lands." Louisiana has only recently given atten- 

 tion to the production of corn, and the results achieved have been surprising. 

 Not only has the yield per acre, under improved methods, been much higher 

 than formerly, but surprising results have been shown in the quality of the 

 corn. In the cane belt area of the State, cane is now commonly grown in rota- 

 tion with corn. Cowpeas are put in with the corn during cultivation of the 

 crop, usually with the last plowing, and thus the fertility of the land is steadily 



maintained for the cane crop. 



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