SUGAR CANE. 



ment it is expressed, unless the juice 

 shows acidity with litmus paper; in 

 tliat case, no lime should be uacd, but 

 a solution of sal-soda, or soda ash, 

 should be added until it is precisely 

 neutral. 



" 4. When the juice is neutral, free 

 from excess of acid or alkali, it should 

 be evaporated in such an apparatus as 

 would finish its charge in thirty min- 

 utes : if the boiling power is too small, 

 good crystallization cannot possibly be 

 obtained. 



" The whole time occupied, from 

 the cutting of the cane to finishing its 

 boiling, should not exceed one hour. 

 "5. To know when the boiling is 

 finished, place a thermometer in the 

 kettle, and continue to evaporate un- 

 til it stands at 239= Fahrenheit. If, 

 when placed to run off after cooling, 

 it should be found too freely boiled, 

 the next time boil to 240^, or, if too 

 light to run off, to 338°, and so on. 



"6. The kettle or boiler should be 

 so arranged, that the moment it is 

 done its charge should be thrown into 

 a cooler capable of holding a number 

 of charges. The first charge should 

 be left in the cooler, without stirring, 

 until the second charge is thrown in ; 

 then with an oar scrape the crystals 

 found on the side and bottom of the 

 cooler loose, and gently stir the whole 

 mass together : the less stirred the 

 better ; so continue at the letting in 

 of each charge, to stir gently : and 

 when all is in the cooler, let the 

 whole stand until it cools down to 

 175° ; then fill out into sugar moulds 

 of a capacity not less than 14 gallons. 

 When' cooled in the mould sufficient- 

 ly, say fourteen hours, pull the plug 

 out of the bottom of the moidd, and 

 insert a sharp point, nearly as large 

 as the hole, some six inches ; with- 

 draw the point, and stand the mould 

 on a pot to drip. 



"7. If the sugar is intended to be 

 brown, leaving it standing on the pot 

 for a sufficient length of time, in a 

 temperature of 80°, will run off its 

 molasses, and leave it in a merchant- 

 able shape : it will probably re()uire 

 twenty days. It can then be thrown 

 out of the moulds, and will be fit for 

 764 



use. W'hen moulds cannot be ob- 

 tained, conical vessels of wood or 

 metal, with a h(de at the apex, will 

 answer equally well." 



The stools of the cane throw up 

 stems or ratoons for two or three 

 years, unless destroyed by frost, to 

 guard against which they are hilled 

 up in the fall, and opened in part in 

 spring: the same treatment is pur- 

 sued in regard to the cuttings for 

 propagation. The blue riband cane 

 is that most used in Louisiana. The 

 following from Boussingault gives an 

 account of the cultivation in the West 

 Indies and Central America : 



" Three principal varieties of su- 

 gar cane are cultivated — the Creole, 

 the Batavian, and the Otaheitan. The 

 Creole cane has the leaf of a deep 

 green, the stem slender, the knots 

 very close together. This species, a 

 native of India, reached the New 

 World after having passed through 

 Sicily, the Canaries, and the West 

 India Islands. The Batavian cane is 

 indigenous in the Island of Java; its 

 Adiage is very broad, and has a pur- 

 ple tint : the sap of this variety is 

 much employed in making rum. The 

 Otaheite cane is that which is most ex- 

 tensively grown at the present time. 

 It was introduced into the West In- 

 dia Islands and neighbouring conti- 

 nent by Bougainville, Cook, and Bligh, 

 in tiieir several voyages, and is cer- 

 tainly one of the most important ac- 

 quisitions which the agriculture of 

 tropical countries owes to the voy- 

 ages of naturalists. This variety of 

 cane grows with extraordinary vig- 

 our : its stem is taller, thicker, and 

 richer in juice than that of the other 

 species. I observed it along the 

 whole coast of Venezuela, of New 

 Grenada, and of Peru ; far from hav- 

 ing degenerated by its transplantation 

 to the American continent, it appears 

 to have preserved all its original qual- 

 ities without alteration. 



" The sugar cane is propagated by 

 cuttings. Pieces of the stem about 

 18 or 20 inches long, and having sev- 

 eral buds or eyes, are placed two or 

 three together in holes a few inches 

 in depth, and are covered witli loose 



