CANE SUGAR. 



distinguished : Dutch fields, Fig. 38, and English fields, Fig. 39. In the 

 Dutch form the fields are divided into beds 35 feet wide, running parallel to 

 the navigation trench ; running down the centre of each field is the drain / 

 known as a tracker or four-foot, which communicates with the main drainage 

 trench ; between each bed are small drains i which discharge into the four- 

 foot. In the English fields the beds d run at right angles to the navigation 

 trench. There is usually one bed g called the dam bed, running parallel. 

 In front of the dam bed is a cross tracker h, and between the beds are the 

 small drains i. Through the centre of the field runs, as before, the four- 

 foot /. The drains i discharge both into the cross tracker, and thence 

 by / into the main drainage trench, and also directly into the main drainage 

 trench ; very often a centre cross tracker is also provided. The dam, called 

 the back dam, is not shown in the sketches. It is the last dam on the estate, 

 and serves to keep out Savannah water. 



Approximate dimensions customary in Demerara are : Navigation trench : 

 16 feet- 20 feet top; 12 feet-16 feet bottom; 4 feet- 5 feet deep. Cross 

 canals : 12 feet top ; 9 feet bottom ; 4 feet- 5 feet deep. Small drains : 2 feet- 

 3 feet top ; 1 J feet-2 feet bottom ; 3 feet deep. Larger drains (trackers) : 

 5 feet top ; 3 feet bottom ; 4 feet deep. 



No furrow is formed in the soil, but a seed bed three to four feet wide is 

 made with the shovel into which the seed cane is pushed in a sloping direction. 

 Between the cane rows is a space about four feet wide called the "bank ; often 

 on very stiff clayey soils a shallow drain known as a drill, running parallel 

 with the cane row, is made in this bank. 



Louisiana. In Louisiana, where the sugar lands are flat and alluvial, 

 little, if any, new land is now taken in for sugar-raising purposes ; the prepara- 

 tion of the old land is as follows. The soil generally bears a plant and ratoon 

 crop of cane followed by corn ; at the last cultivation of the corn the land is 

 sown with cow peas at the rate of from one to three bushels per acre ; an immense 

 mass of vegetation is produced which is ploughed in with disc ploughs as a 

 green manure. When the vines have rotted sufficiently the ridges on which 

 the cane is to be planted are formed with the turn plough ; drains are made at 

 right angles to the ridges ; these quarter drains lead into larger ditches, and 

 these latter into the main drainage canals. 



Cuba. In Cuba, before the era of United States influence, forest land very 

 imperfectly cleared was used for cane planting ; in such land stones and the 

 roots of trees were left in situ and no ploughing was attempted ; the land was 

 of such fertility that up to twenty successive crops of cane could be obtained 

 from one planting. When the land became unproductive it was allowed to lie 

 fallow for long periods, and afterwards was again brought into bearing ; by 

 this time the stumps and roots of trees would have rotted, permitting the use of 



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