SUGAR-CANE CULTURE FOR SIRUP PRODUCTION. 11 



so-called hammock lands and with the rolling lands farther from 

 the coast, or with the delta lands near the rivers, where a consider- 

 able percentage of fine silt and clay is mixed with the sand, making a 

 good loam or clay-loam soil. Too heavy a clay is likewise not well 

 adapted for sugar-cane production, because it is practically impossi- 

 ble to keep it in good tilth. Thus, along the lower Mississippi River 

 and the various bayous in Louisiana, the lands immediately adjacent 

 to the streams are usually well adapted to sugar-cane production. 

 These lands were formed by the sediment first deposited on occa- 

 sions when these streams, during past ages, overflowed their banks, 

 and they contain therefore much of the coarser silts and some sand. 

 The land of the swamps lying farther back from these streams is 

 composed almost entirely of a heavy clay, which is difficult to get in 

 good tilth and is thus poorly adapted to cane culture. The condi- 

 tions are vastly better if this clay has much vegetable mold or humus 

 in it. In that event, provided the land is properly drained, good 

 crops of cane can be grown so long as this supply of humus lasts. 



The muck soils, provided they have a high mineral content, will 

 produce big yields of cane if well drained. With muck land that is 

 very low in mineral content or with peat land, it is doubtful whether 

 it can be used successfully for sugar-cane production even if drained. 

 A disadvantage with muck land is that it affords such poor anchorage 

 for the cane roots that the cane very easily lodges, and this gives a 

 tangled mat of stalks instead of relatively erect rows. In Georgia 

 it is commonly reported that the rich dark soils along the edge of 

 swamps, while producing high yields of cane, exert a deleterious 

 effect upon the color, clearness, and flavor of sirup made therefrom. 

 The farmers there, in consideration of the quality of sirup, prefer the 

 lighter colored, loamy upland soils, suitably enriched with com- 

 mercial manures, especially cottonseed meal. 



In the low flat areas, where natural drainage does not keep the 

 ground- water level 3 feet or more below the surface, it is essential 

 that artificial drainage be provided. A depth to ground water 

 greater than 3 feet should be attained if possible. 



MANURIAL REQUIREMENTS. 



The use of commercial fertilizers in sugar-cane growing is almost 

 universal in the United States and in other cane-growing countries. 

 As to the particular feritlizer elements required and the forms and 

 proportions in which they are applied, the various localities differ 

 widely. 



Some form of nitrogenous fertilizer can be applied with profit or 

 is absolutely essential in practically all localities. The amount of 

 nitrogen that is applied on the best-managed farms of the Southern 



