July 1, 1895.] 



KNOWLEDGE 



147 



great diversity of opinion among planters. In some places 

 the appearance of much arrowing among the canes is 

 looked upon with indifference, while in others it is regarded 

 with apprehension ; and again, it is found that the varieties 

 of cane behave differently. The Caledonian Queen, for 

 instance, is much more prone to arrow before reaping than 

 the Otaheite, as it reaches maturity sooner. 



For those not immediately interested in the yield of juice, 

 the inilorescence of the sugar cane is a very beautiful 

 object indeed, and few sights in the tropics are more 

 striking than a field of arrowing canes. A considerable 

 trade might doubtless spring up if the heads were cut and 

 prepared so as to prevent the scattering of the flowers. 

 Each inflorescence is a pyramidal mass of feathery florets, 

 supported by a shaft or stalk from four to six feet long. 



It will be of interest briefly to trace the growth of the 

 cane-plant from sowing to reaping. The method of propa- 

 gation universally adopted in the field is that of burying in 

 the earth pieces of the stem bearing undamaged buds, which 

 are then called " plants." Such is the vitality of the plant 

 that the buds thus treated rapidly shoot out, giving off 

 roots at their bases, and becoming independent plants 

 almost before the decay of the piece of parent stem. A young 

 shoot is drawn still adhering to the planted piece (Fig. 4). 

 The part of the stem chosen for planting is usually the top, 

 although almost any part with sound buds would do. The 

 advantages of choosing this part are that there is compara- 

 tively little sugar 

 in it, and therefore 

 there is no loss in 

 the quantity of sugar 

 obtained from the 

 crop; the buds are 

 closer together, and 

 there is thus a 

 greater chance of 

 obtaining a good 

 stand; and, lastly, 

 the buds of this 

 portion of the cane 

 are probably in a 

 more plastic con- 

 dition. Not infre- 

 quently, however, 

 the canes themselves are cut up and laid down, sometimes 

 in long furrows, as in the United States, at other times 

 freely scattered over the soil and covered up, as in parts 

 of India. 



When the crop is reaped in the West Indies, before the 

 canes are carted to the mill, the tops are cut off" and left 

 upon the field. A separate body of workers come round, 

 collect the undiseased tops, and trim them for planting. 

 Pieces are selected from six to eight inches in length, inclu- 

 ding on an average three buds. These are neatly arranged 

 in baskets and carried to the liming tank. Here they are 

 immersed in a mixture of lime and water for about twelve 

 hours, to free them from unobserved caterpillars, etc. ; and 

 it is quite surprising what a number of these creatures are 

 seen shortly afterwards wriggling on the surface of the 

 water. After immersion they are spread out in the sun 

 for an hour or so to dry, and are then ready for planting. 



The soil of cane fields is usually kept in a fine state of 

 tilth to the depth of nine inches or more. This is greatly 

 facilitated by the presence of quantities of decaying vege- 

 table matter in the shape of the cast-off leaves and dead 

 roots of the previous crop of canes. 



After the field has been cleared of canes for the mill, of 

 tops for the plants and fodder for the cattle, and finally of 

 the diseased pieces which have been cast aside in the 



Fig. 3. — Floret of Sugar Cane, greatly 

 magnified. (After Morris.) 



bustle of cane-cutting, the new cultivation is commenced. 

 The whole field is still covered by a thick layer of dead 

 leaves or "vowra." The first operation is the "ranging" 

 of the vowra, or drawing it over the stumps of the canes 

 just reaped. A gang of labourers is then told off to dig a 

 series of parallel furrows, about five feet apart, throughout 

 the entire field. The furrows are dug between the rows of 

 last year's stumps, and the soil is heaped upon the masses 

 of vowra. The ridges thus formed, or " banks," are 

 broken up by a plough after a few weeks, and the decom- 

 position of the vegetable matter contained adds to the 

 humus, so necessary to the growth of the canes. 



After the furrows are prepared the " cross-holing " is 

 done. A few dexterous strokes of the hoe — which is 

 almost the only agricultural implement in the negro's hands 

 — build a narrow ridge across the furrow, to be followed by 

 another and another till the whole field is honeycombed 

 with a multitude of square pits. The centres of these 

 "cane-holes" are about five feet by five apart, although 

 the distance varies with the locality and the kind of cane. 

 The cross-holing is intended to collect the rain and supply 

 the young plants with moisture, and consequently, in wet 

 regions, they are dispensed with, the furrows becoming 

 rather a system of drains for carrying off the superfluous 

 water — canes cannot stand stagnant water. 



It is usual to add to each hole a small supply of stable 

 manure, " pen-manure " as it is called ; but the quantity 

 available is rarely sufiicient to provide for the entire 

 acreage of " plant canes " every year. The fields are 

 treated in succession, so that each has its supply of pen- 

 manure once every few years. 



The pieces of canes selected for propagation, or "plants," 

 are pressed down in a slanting position in the bed of the 

 cane-hole. In a few weeks the tender green blades appear, 

 and the cane growth has commenced (see Fig. 4). While the 

 young plants do not cover the ground constant weeding is 

 necessary, and, in the case of lighter soils, a " cultivator " 

 may be driven between the rows. But the dense mass of 

 cane leaves quickly covers the ground and effectually 

 strangles any unbidden growths. 



It is necessary from the first to be on the look-out for 

 dying shoots or " dead-hearts." These are shoots which 

 rather suddenly turn brown and die. They are the sign 

 of the progress of the moth-borer, which works its way 

 upwards till the growing apex is reached, when all growth 

 is checked and the part commences to rot. All dead-hearts 

 are persistently cut out and destroyed, for fear that the 

 caterpillars should turn to moths and spread the disease. 



Meanwhile the plants are growing apace. Instead of 

 one or two shoots from each cane-hole, we now see six or 

 ten, the number constantly increasing with the age of the 

 plant. The shoots in the " bunches " grow for some 

 months before any solid " canes " are formed. This 

 depends to a very large extent upon the season. If the 

 desired rain is too long withheld, no cane is formed at all 

 by crop-time, and the field is not worth cutting. This is, 

 however, not frequently the case. Although the seasons 

 vary considerably, the rainfall in the tropics is a fairly 

 reliable factor in cultivation. There are, of course, " dry " 

 islands, generally such as have no great elevation. 

 Antigua, for instance, with a maximum height of some 

 one thousand . three hundred feet, is liable to droughts. 

 One such occurred in 1894. The average rainfall may be 

 taken as from forty-five to fifty inches per annum. On 

 one estate, in the windward part of the island, nine or ten 

 inches were recorded in 1894 in as many months, a quantity 

 with no appreciable effect in the fierce heat of the tropical 

 sun. It is not surprising, then, that even the cactus 

 began to wither, and every cane-plant upon the estate died. 



