THE HUSBANDRY OF THE CANE. 



After the land has been cleared in those countries which employ land 

 carriage, roads wide enough for carts to. pass are made through ,the new 

 sections, and the area divided up into . convenient fields ; the land is prepared 

 for cultivation by ploughing, either by manual, animal, or steam power. 



Fm. 35. 



When hand labour is employed, the soil is merely turned over by forks or 

 shovels ; in other cases the whole area is ploughed, cross-ploughed and horse- 

 hoed, and the soil properly broken up and aerated. 



British Guiana. In British Guiana and the Straits Settlements, which 

 are flat alluvial countries, a somewhat more complicated procedure is 



FIG. 36. 



necessary ; the area of the new plantation being decided, three dams formed 

 by the excavation of three trenches are thrown up. These dams are known 

 as the navigation or middle walk, sideline or drainage, and back dams, and they 



109 



