SUGAn-CANE 519 



6,000,000 tons of sugar annually. Sorghum, the sugar 

 palm, and the sugar-maple tree afford relatively insig- 

 nificant amounts of sugar. 



505. Home consumption. — The United States con- 

 sumes a larger quantity of sugar in proportion to popula- 

 tion than any other country ; it produces in the Southern 

 States and in Hawaii and Porto Rico, less than half of 

 the sugar consumed in the United States. Therefore, 

 there is room for immense expansion in .this country in 

 the growing of sugar-cane for the manufacture of sugar. 



Enemies 



506. Insects. — The cane-borer {Diatrea saccharalis) 

 is the principal insect enemy of sugar-cane in Louisiana, 

 and this pest is widely distributed in cane-growing coun- 

 tries. It is the larva, or caterpillar form, of a yellowish 

 moth. The full-grown larva measures about one and 

 a quarter inches in length. The injury is done by boring 

 into the stalks of cane. Sorghum, Johnson grass, and corn 

 are also attacked ; this insect is also known as the " larger 

 corn-stalk borer." 



The best treatment is merely preventive, and consists in 

 burning the tops and other htter of the cane in those regions 

 where this borer is found, and in destroying any Johnson 

 grass in and near the cane-fields. Since the borer has 

 not been reported extensively, if at all, in the American 

 sirup-belt, where cane is not grown for several years 

 in succession on the same land, care should be taken 

 not to import this pest in seed canes from any infested 

 region. 



