25 



TONS OF CANE PRODUCED PER ACRE. 



This season several of the large manufacturers have purchased 

 cane bj the ton, the price paid usually being $2.50 per ton for 

 stripped and topped cane delivered at the mill. This makes it 

 important to ascertain the number of tons produced par acre. 



I take the following yields from the same source as before : 



N. D. Comstock, Arcadia, Trempealeau county, grew fifteen 

 tons, yielding 171 gallons, on one acre. 



Geo. Grant, Janesville, report? one instance of eleven tons 

 grown on an acre, producing fourteen gallons of syrup p3r ton, 

 each gallon weighing eleven and a half pounds. A. C. Kent, 

 Janesville, puts the average product for the year at ten tons per 

 acre. 'The average may be safely stated at from ten to twelve 

 tons per acre, according to the soil and season, I think. Should 

 the industry grow in importance, purchasing cane by weight from 

 the grower will become a very common practice, and if we may 

 judge from the difficulties arising between beet growers and sugar 

 manufacturers in France, it is easy to see that no small amount of 

 trouble will occur with us. 



To ]>urchase cane simply by weight, without regard to its char- 

 acter, will be alike ruinous to manufacturer and grower. In some 

 way the quality of the juice must be considered. For syrup 

 making, a densimeter, as the Baume scale, will do fairly well in 

 helping determine the true value of cane. In the standard ton of 

 cane the stalks should be straight, with leaves and top removed, 

 all small canes and suckers being left out. The juice should have 

 a certain density, as shown by the Baume scale. 



The price for such cane could be agreed upon by growers and 

 manufacturers before planting time. At the same time the price 

 of cane which falls below this standard or rises above it, can also 

 be arranged. 



Those who are contemplating this business on a large scale can- 

 not turn their attention to this pirt of the industrj' any too soon, 

 for our farmers are too independent of any one crop to attempt 

 raising Amber cane for syrup boilers who are so careless that they 

 will not pay for what they get according to its true value. Great 

 care must be exercised to make the business a profitable one for 



