PART TWO. 



THE CANE SUGAR INDUSTRY. 



CHARLES A. FARWELL, 



First vice president American Sugar Growers' Society, 

 President United States Cane Planters' Association, 

 New Orleans, La. Having been in the sugar business 

 all his life, and possessing the confidence of the whole 

 sugar interests of the South, Mr. Farwell is a type of 

 the men who are doing so much to develop this and 

 other great industries in the South and throughout 

 the country. 



BRIEF HISTORY of this 

 industry is given on Page 

 12, from which it will be 

 seen that it is a very old 

 industry, although its prin- 

 cipal development dates from about 1885. 

 Cane was originally introduced into Lou- 

 isiana by the Jesuits from San Domingo 

 in 1757, but the ribbon cane now generally 

 planted was introduced via Georgia from 

 the island of St Eustatius. There are 

 many varieties of cane and these are be- 

 ing daily increased by additions obtained 

 from the planting of the true seed of the 

 cane. The Louisiana sugar experiment 

 station at Audubon park, New Orleans, 

 is experimenting with over 100 varieties; 

 of these, however, only two kinds are in 

 general use in the state the Purple or 

 Black Java, and the Purple Striped Rib- 

 bon cane. A few planters grow a white 

 variety known as the Light Java. These 

 varieties w r ere introduced about the year 

 1825 and have become so thoroughly ac- 

 climated to our soil and climate that they 

 are now almost universally used. 



THE AREA CAPABLE OF GROWING 

 SUGAR CANE 



is far larger than has been supposed. The 



sugar cane belt can be extended along the Gulf coast from a point near Savannah, 

 Ga, running almost parallel to the coast line, to the northern extremity of Louisiana 

 and on through Texas to the Rio Grande river. If irrigation could be secured, a por- 

 tion of Arizona and New Mexico could also be utilized for this crop. 



The area of cane in Louisiana for 1896-7 is about 300,000 acres. This amount can 



