SUGAR-CANE CULTURE FOR SIRUP PRODUCTION. 3 



It will be noted from Table I that at present the production of 

 sugar from sugar cane in the continental United States is limited 

 exclusively to Louisiana and Texas except for small quantities made 

 by plantation mills. In those localities where sugar is manufactured 

 the cane industry is conducted on an extensive scale. 



The sirup, on the other hand, is almost wholly made by the small 

 farm or plantation outfits. Only a small portion of it is made by 

 big factories, and that wholly in Louisiana and Texas. In the sirup- 

 making section it is rare that large plantations are devoted mainly 

 to the production of cane. The cane crop for sirup comes mostly 

 from small fields or patches. 



Half a century ago, while the price of sugar was high, certain sec- 

 tions of Florida were extensively engaged in cane-sugar production. 









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Fig. 1. — Ruins of a cane-sugar mill of antebellum days, near Manatee, Fla. 



During slave days large sugar plantations were operated along the 

 Manatee River. However, the industry never revived from the shock 

 it received during the Civil War, when nearly all the sugar houses 

 were destroyed. (Fig. 1.) At present, while this is still an impor- 

 tant sirup section, the cane is produced in only small areas and it is 

 no longer the chief industry. 



THE NATURE OF THE SUGAR-CANE PLANT AND METHODS OF 



PROPAGATION. 



The sugar cane {Saccharum ojficinanim) belongs to the family of 

 grasses Graminaceas. It is one of the largest of this family of plants. 

 usually standing about 9 to 11 feet high before "arrowing," or go- 



