272 NATURAL HISTORY OF HAWAII. 



The probabilities are that it Avas used by man ages before there was any record 

 of thv fact, and that its cultui'e and use as food in a raw state were among the 

 first agricultural efforts of any tropical people. 



Tlio invention of the processes for extracting the jnice and converting it into 

 sugar or molasses has long been practiced. l)ut only during the last century has 

 it been brought to a liigh state of scientific perfection. The plant is now grown 

 under such exacting' conditions and handled by such a great variety of special 

 mechanical devices, and the sugar extracted by such intricate methods, that it is 

 doubtful if there is another plant grown that has been more exhaustively studied 

 and exploited. 



The plant, ^ as is well known, is a gigantic perennial grass with heavy maize- 

 like stalks that grow from eight to twenty feet tall. Unlike most members of the 

 grass family the stems are solid and contain an abundance of sweet juice. 



The many varieties of cane have different sugar-producing qualities that 

 cause one kind to be substituted for another owing to their adaptability to pecu- 

 liar soils. The varieties vary usually in the color of the stem; being yellow, 

 purple, green and variously striped. Five well recognized types of cane are 

 extensively grown in Hawaii, though there are numerous varieties of doubtful 

 scientific value. The chief types are the Yellow Otaheite; the Uheribon or 

 Wray's Batavian ; the Tanna, the Salangore and Cavengerie canes. 



The cane leaves ai-e about two inches in width by three to five feet in 

 length. The flower stem is pampas-like, silvery-gray, or mauve, in color, and 

 when in l)lossom the field is strikingly beautiful. 



AVhile cane had long been used in the islands, it was not until about 1828 

 that it was first made into sugar. Its culture was not really begun, however, 

 until about 1850. when with crude wooden and stone mills and inferior boiling 

 kettles a yield of one ton of low-grade sugar per acre was secured. 



Since then all of the resources of science have been brought to bear on 

 the production of sugar, wnth the result that today Haw^aii leads the world in 

 the scientific production of this valuable commodity. By experimentation, 

 many kinds of soil have proved suitable to the growth of cane. Those pre- 

 ferred are the deep sedimentary deposits common in the lower zone or cane- 

 belt of the islands. These deposits, varying in thickness from one to fifty 

 feet, have been derived from the normal lavas that have undergone decomposi- 

 tion and disintegration in the warm and often dry climate of the lower coastal 

 zone. The process of erosion has been actively at Avork on them for ages. 

 Such soils are mainly red in color, owing to the great amount of iron they 

 contain. The most fertile of these soils are usually those that have been 

 darkened as the result of the decay of vegetable matter. 



The first step in preparing the land for cane, or, indeed, almost any crop, 

 is to clear it of all trees, shrubs and stone, and render the surface as level as 

 possible. Plowing is then undertaken. This may be done by mules or oxen. 



* fiaccharum officinurum. 



