^20 



FxVRMERS' REGISTER— CULTURE OF THE VIOLET CANE. 



This, however, seems to be unnecessary, as I have 

 sesn it swim with perfect ease, which indeed Le 

 Court had also oijserved. 



ON TIIK CULTURE OF THE VIOLET CANE, AS 

 A FOOD FOU CATTLE. 



From the Southern Ag-ricultnrist. 



Bonavlsiure, (Lou.) July 30, 1S33. 



Dear Sir : — Your letter of the 24th of June is 

 before me. I am truly sur])rised to learn that there 

 is a want of original matter from the planters of 

 your State, as well as from the South generally. 

 My time, for the last three years, has been so en- 

 tirely occupied, in attention to my i)laiitatiou, that 

 it has been with diliiully I could appropriate a suf- 

 ficiency of it to the writing necessarily devolving 

 upon me. I have no relaxation as yet, but I wili 

 endeavor to furnisli you with something that will 

 serve to fill up a few pages, though it may not in- 

 struct. 



I am residing at present, in a district almost ex- 

 clusively devoted to the cultivation of the sugar- 

 cane, and where every one is so completely en- 

 grossed with his own affairs, as to afford but little 

 op})ortunity for intercourse v/ith each other ; and 

 our soil is so new and fertile as to require but little 

 agricultural skill or knowledge, to insure an abun- 

 dant return for the labor expended. It is known 

 to you that nothing is more exhausting to the soil 

 than sugar-cane, and yet, it is common here to 

 find it in the same field for twelve or fifieen years 

 successively, and yielding well all the while 

 With such a soil, you may readily suppose, very 

 little attention is })aid to manures, less to rotation 

 of crops, and still less to the introduction of any 

 thing like science among our planters. We, as a 

 body, are very much embarrassed, owing to the 

 three last fatal years, and the great want of a pro- 

 per agricultural economy, consequently, few have 

 leisure for any experiments, and many of those 

 who would, for fear of failure, which would be 

 ruin, will not attempt any improvement, in our 

 present method of planting: nevertheless, I con- 

 ceive, there is no staple grown in our country, the 

 cultivation of which is so little understood as that 

 of cane — it is a forced crop in this country, and 

 there must be something to force its approach to 

 maturity as nearly as possible in our climate, over 

 and above what is practised in its cultivation, on 

 the Islands and wilhin the tropics. Still, we are 

 Avith a few exceptions, pursuing the old island 

 method, and from those store-houses of ignorance, 

 the Spanish Islands, we annually import as new, 

 something that has been known, tried, and rejected 

 here, twenty times. 



But, Sir, I ^m not disposed to send you an essay 

 upon sugar planting: few of your readers are in- 

 interested in it. I propose, however, to offer some- 

 thing that will enable your planters, through five 

 months of the year, and those months from No- 

 vember to April, to keep fat cattle, horses and 

 hogs, from one eighth of the ground that will keep 

 them on corn. If you will turn to page 351 of 

 your journal of this year, (it is in your July num- 

 ber,) you will find it stated by Mr. Nicolau,of 

 .Georgia, that the tops from one acre of corn, will 

 go as far as the corn from eight acres.* This is 



* Our coiTespondent is mistaken in this. j\lr. Nico- 

 lauin his communication, observes, "1 have found tJiat 

 eight acres of corn will .support thirty head of cattle for 



not the case with us, perhaps, because our corn is 

 so much better than that grown on the low swamp 

 lands of Georgia. But, Sir, I assure you, that an 

 acre of the Violet-cane wili furnish an abundance 

 of food for thirty head of cattle twenty days, and 

 if indulged with the tops, will keep them a month. 



The Violet-cane is termed by some, the Red 

 Ribbon, by others, the Brazilian-cane, but here, 

 it is most generally known as the Violet. I do 

 not know that it possesses nutritious properties in 

 a superior degree to the Striped Ribbon, or the 

 common Creole-cane, but I know, from actual ex- 

 periment, that it is better suited to our climate, 

 than either of the others — because it resists the ac- 

 tions of frost longer in the fall, will keep in ma- 

 trass better, is not so liable to be injured by wet 

 or cold in the ground after j)lanting in the spring, 

 rises sooner, and grows oif with more rapidity 

 and vigor in the early spring. If planted in strong 

 land, it is apt to grow large, and a slight blow in 

 September or October, will sometimes throw it on 

 the ground, but this does not injure it half so 

 much as it does the Striped Ribbon, whilst the 

 Creole-cane is utterly destroyed by it. It affords 

 more tillers, or shoots, from the original stalk; 

 these put forth at an earlier period, and consequent- 

 ly, are much more likely to make the best of a 

 siiort season, than those of a moredilatory charac- 

 ter ; its leaves are longer if not more abundant, are 

 smooth, thick, and full of saccharine matter ; when 

 properly cured, they make an excellent hay or 

 it)dder, will not mildew and rot so soon as corn- 

 Idades, or hay from any of the grasses which we 

 possess : the rind it harder, and its juices not so 

 abundant as is afforded by any other variety, but 

 they are richer, and more nutritious as animal 

 food. The former quality is an objection, when 

 the cane is to be used for sugar, and the power for 

 expressing the juice, animal; but to those who 

 have an engine, 1 consider it superior to any cane 

 planted in Louisiana, esjiecially if the soil be new 

 and strong. Its progress to maturity, also is not 

 so nuich affected by the seasons; its roots are 

 larger and sink deejier into the earth than those of 

 any other variety whatever; it resists our long 

 suumicr droughts, and will continue to grow fine- 

 ly, whilst it seems equally unaffected by the wet 

 seasons of spring and tall. 



If things are not much altered since 1824, yours 

 is a sad State for rearing stock, and particularly 

 the lower secfk)n of it. It then, seemed to me, 

 that this branch of rural economy was entirely 

 neglected among you. The miserable skeletons 

 that were to be seen culling a precarious subsis- 

 tence along the road margins, were painful to one 

 who delighted in fine cattle. Every thing seemed 

 tortured to the utmost, to produce as much cotton 

 as possible ; and was I not fisarful of touching a not 

 yet cicatrised wound, I would charge to this very 

 liict, nuich of the present agricultural distress of 

 which you now complain. But yours is an intelli- 

 gent and patriotic people; the energies and capaci- 

 ties which you possess, will not sleep. The ex- 

 ample of such as Dr. Ravenel, and others, will be 

 emulated, and I have no fears but that South-Caro- 

 lina will be herself again. 



In Louisiana, it has been considered impossible 



sixteen days, and one acre of cane tops will go as far as 

 these eight acres of corn." It iscmie, and not corn tops, 

 which he thinks so valuable. — [Ed. So. ^Igr. 



