SUGAR-CANE CULTURE FOR SIRUP PRODUCTION. 33 



for propagating and testing, an avenue is open through the United 

 States Department of Agriculture. They will be propagated under 

 suitable quarantine isolation until it is ascertained that the samples 

 harbor no dangerous pests or diseases. 



The risk incurred in introducing cane from other regions is illus- 

 trated by an incident that occurred a few years ago. The United 

 States Department of Agriculture introduced a small mail shipment of 

 cane of a rare variety from Hawaii for propagation in Porto Rico, 

 observing the precaution of planting it the first season in one of our 

 quarantine greenhouses. In spite of the fact that the cane had been 

 carefulty selected and prepared for shipment by an official of the 

 Hawaiian Sugar Planters' Experiment Station and that when the 

 package arrived at Washington, D. C, it seemed to be free from pests 

 and diseases, it developed during that season an abundant crop of 

 the Hawaiian leafhopper, one of the most destructive insect pests 

 that have ever been known to attack sugar cane. This simple pre- 

 caution, which led to the subsequent destruction of the cane, doubtless 

 saved the Porto Rican planters from losses by this pest such as the 

 Hawaiian planters suffered, amounting in Hawaii at one time to mil- 

 lions of dollars annually and threatening the complete destruction of 

 their great sugar industry. 



SOME BUSINESS CONSIDERATIONS IN CONNECTION WITH THE 

 SUGAR-CANE AND SIRUP INDUSTRY. 



One of the first questions that a new settler in a sugar-cane and 

 sirup-producing section will ask is "What profit can be expected 

 from this branch of the farm business ? " Even the old settlers and 

 old sirup producers as a rule can profit by making a closer study 

 of the farm-economics side of their industry. The publication here 

 of data on the business side of the industry, collected from some of 

 the best-informed farmers in the sirup belt of southern Georgia and 

 northern Florida, may therefore be of interest. The subject will be 

 considered under the several headings: (1) Equipment and capital 

 invested, (2) cost of producing the cane, (3) cost of manufacturing 

 the sirup, and (4) value of products and profits. 



EQUIPMENT AND CAPITAL INVESTED. 



Sugar-cane growing requires the best of land that the sections in 

 question afford. While vast areas of land in these States can be 

 bought at $10 an acre and less, it is not to be expected that such cheap 

 lands have much value for cane production. There are large areas 

 of flat coastal plains that are too sandy for profitable cane culture. 

 One must expect to pay from $20 to $60 for good cane land in Geor- 



