36 



sixty years. The previous crops were principally cotton and corn. Thirty-five acres 

 of the purple variety of cane were planted by Mr. Black, 10 acres being reserved and 

 bedded for seed and no care whatever taken of the stubble. 



The cane was planted March 1 and cultivated about the same as corn. It was 

 fertilized with 50 bushels of cotton seed and 600 pounds of guano per acre. The cane 

 was cut about December 1, piled in rows, and left in the field until grinding began, 

 when it was stripped and hauled to the mill. 



The yield of cane and sirup per acre could not be obtained, as there were no scales 

 available at the factory. However, 6 acres of the cane land were measured off, and it 

 was found they produced 1,980 gallons of sirup, or an average of 330 gallons per acre. 

 The farmers in this section greatly prefer the sandy lands for cane, as they find that 

 the sirup from the cane grown on sandy lands is lighter in color than that produced 

 on the dark bottom lands, and also that the juice contains a larger per cent of sugar. 

 It is also claimed that it is difficult to obtain a good stand of cane on the bottom 

 lands owing to the cold, damp nature of the soil. 



The purple variety of cane is better adapted to the conditions in this section than 

 the other varieties. The farmers think that it is hardier and that while the ribbon 

 and green varieties produce a lighter sirup than the purple cane, the yield of sirup is 

 smaller. 



The following table gives the analyses of juices from farms in the vicinity of 

 Geneva: 



TABLE XVIII. Composition of cane juices sampled in the vicinity of Geneva, Ala. 



These data show that the greater part of the cane juice sampled in Alabama, espe- 

 cially that from Geneva, is of a fine quality, having a comparatively low percentage 

 of reducing sugar and a high purity. In this connection it must be remembered that 

 the samples of juice were not representative of a single cane, but were taken from a 

 large volume of expressed juice, which represented the regular mill juice. The 

 smallest amount of juice from which a sample was taken was 600 gallons and the 

 largest 1,600 gallons. 



