146 



KNOWLEDGE 



[Jdly 1, 1895. 



first time of really fine white sugar — " axe-hewn " as it was 

 called. This was obtained by repeatedly boiling, straining, 

 and refining with milk. The Arabs obtained the plant on 

 their conquest of Persia, and carried it westwards with 

 them. In 750 a.d., it is stated that the most fertile land 

 in Egypt was almost entirely under sugar cultivation, and 

 the manufacture of sugar increased largely. It is said that, 

 at marriages and festivals at the Arabian court in Egypt, 

 quantities of sugar were consumed, on individual occasions 

 amounting, in our reckoning, to from sixty-seven to 

 seventy-one tons— the annual yield of a small estate. 

 About the same time it was introduced into Spain by 

 the Moors. 



Next in its westward course the cane was carried to the 

 Canaries, while in 1493 Columbus took it to San Domingo, 

 where it increased so remarkably as to become in after 

 years the main cultivation of the West Indian Islands. 

 And so it continues to be at the present day, after the lapse 

 of four centuries. 



The sugar cane is now cultivated within the tropics in 

 both hemispheres, especially in the West Indies, Java, 

 Mauritius, the Sandwich Islands ; also in Egypt, Queens- 

 land and the Southern United States. In America its 

 northern limit is 32", in China 30°, while it is grown in 

 individual gardens in Spain as far north as 87° of latitude. 



There is no more beautiful sight in the tropics than a 

 sea-girt coast clothed by cane fields. In some islands — for 

 example, St. Kitts and Barbados — there is no other cultiva- 

 tion, if one omits the smaller patches of vegetables grown 

 for local consumption. In all directions one sees field after 

 field of canes in every stage of growth, from the young plants 

 just emerging from the black soil to the waving feathery 

 " arrows " of the mature plants, with here and there the 

 tall chimney of the half-hidden cane mills. The feeling of 

 novelty experienced on driving for the first time through 

 these gigantic grass fields — for the cane is a grass — is not 

 easily forgotten. Shut in by an avenue of reed-like stems 

 and waving leaves, one receives a lasting impression of the 

 luxuriance of tropical agriculture ; and, while fighting one's 

 way into the cane fields in search of the various pests by 

 which the plants are just uow so abundantly attacked, one 

 sympathizes with the ants at home which may be seen 

 climbing about among the grass stalks. 



The sugar cane, as already mentioned, belongs to the 

 order of grasses — the Graminese of botanists. The follow- 

 ing is a brief botanical description. Each plant consists 

 at crop-time of a much-branched underground root-stock, 

 which gives ofi" a tangled mass of thread-like roots below, 

 and a buuch of from ten to eighteen aerial shoots above. 

 The latter, from six to fifteen feet in height, may be 

 roughly divided into two portions — the lower part, from 

 which the leaves have dropped or are readily detachable, 

 called the " cane," and the upper younger part or " top." 

 The canes are cylindrical and jointed, and of various 

 shades of green, yellow and purple, sometimes variegated 

 with beautiful stripes. Those of ordinary cultivated varieties 

 are from one to two inches in diameter, with joints from 

 one to eight or nine inches in length. The broad, strap- 

 shaped leaves arise in two opposite rows from the cane, 

 one from each node or knot. They are from three to six 

 feet in length, with a diameter of one to three inches. 

 Each leaf is di\'ided into two parts — a lower shorter portion, 

 the sheath, usually of the colour of parchment, which 

 completely embraces the stem and is attached all round 

 the node, and a much thinner flat blade of bright green, 

 with a white mid-rib, or "bone," in the centre and a 

 finely-toothed edge. The sheath is in some kinds thickly 

 covered on the outside with long siliceous hairs, which 

 readily penetrate the skin, while very severe cuts are 



i'i:- 



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^■^^Ifnti 



sometimes received from the saw-like edges of the blade. 

 In the axil of each leaf, at the joint, and therefore 

 completely protected by the sheath, is a solitary bud. 

 Any bud upon the plant may be 

 used for propagation, and will, 

 under suitable conditions, reproduce 

 the whole plant. At the joint, and 

 on each side of the bud, is a zone 

 of several rows of small circular 

 prominences, which completely en- •. 



circles the cane. These are the 

 adventitious roots, which in contact 

 with damp earth at once develop 

 and cause the bud to burst into a 

 leafy shoot. la the ordinary upright 

 canes these roots remain dormant, 

 but when canes are beaten down ; , 



by high winds, or bend by their own '•" 



weight, they frequently become V- 



fixed to the ground. A cane dug {r ; ■ 



out of the mud in Dominica was [:. 



found to be nineteen feet in length 

 and extensively rooted at every joint. 

 At the upper part of each joint, just 

 below the insertion of the leaf- 

 sheath, there is usually a ring of 

 white waxy substance coating the 

 surface of the cane. This is 

 especially well marked in Figs. 1 

 and 2. 



The cane, or lower part of the 

 aerial shoot, is of importance, as 

 from it alone is obtained the sugary 

 juice. It is solid, as contrasted 

 with the hollow bamboo ; the ex- 

 terior, or " rind," is hard enough 

 to turn the edge of an ordinary 

 penknife, but the interior is soft 

 and juicy. At maturity the leaves 

 have fallen off. Two joints of a 



Caledonian Queen cane are shown in Fig. 1, where 

 may be seen the sharp ridge left by the broken-off leaf- 

 sheath, the buds on opposite sides of the stem, the zone 

 of dormant roots, and the waxy ring. 



The upper part of the shoot, or " top," is made up of 

 immature joints. These are much shorter than in the 

 cane and contain no sugar, or very little. The leaves are 

 all still attached and form a beautiful green plume. 



This part of the cane-plant is much attacked by cater- 

 pillars of different kinds. In the illustration, Fig. 2, four 

 leaves have been stripped ofi', showing the ragged bases from 

 which the sheaths have been torn ; two buds are visible, 

 the two alternating ones being on the opposite side of the 

 stem. The root zone at the lower, and the waxy layer at 

 the upper part of each joint, are very clearly shown. The 

 upper joints still retain their leaves. In the figure, 

 the "top" is severely attacked by the "moth-borer" 

 (IHatraa sair/iaralis). the ravages of whose caterpillars are 

 only too plain. 



The sugar cane is usually reaped before it flowers. The 

 solid stems are carried to the mill to be crushed, while the 

 tops are saved for planting next year's crop, and the surplus 

 used as food for the cattle. But if, instead of being cut, 

 the plant is allowed to grow on for a few weeks, each shoot 

 will throw up an inflorescence or " arrow." Although the 

 sugar cane is vegetatively reproduced in ordinary cultivation, 

 and seed is not used, the flowering of the plant is a matter 

 of some consequence in agriculture, as thereby the yield of 

 juice is perceptibly diminished. In this matter there is 



V-- - 



Fig. 2. — The "Top" of 

 a Bourbon Cane from 

 St. Kitts, attacked by 

 " Borers.' 



