SUGAR CANE. 367 



stem decays and the young plants produce roots of their own. In Guam the plants 

 mature in about nine months, when they are cut close to the ground and the 

 leaves stripped off, spread over the surface of the field, and burned. Ratoons 

 (retoiios) spring up from the old stoles, or "stools," which yield more abun- 

 dantly than the original plants. The operation is repeated, and a third crop, per- 

 haps a little less liberal than the second, is gathered. After the third crop, when 

 the cane shows evidence of deterioration, the old stalks are uprooted and burned and 

 the land cleared. As sugar cane soon exhausts the soil, the land would become 

 "cansado," or barren, if measures were not taken to restore its fertility. It is there- 

 fore allowed to lie 'fallow for several years. In some countries the planters grow 

 indigo or other leguminous plants between the rows when the canes are first planted 

 and turn them under while they are still green and succulent. « This process has a 

 very beneficial effect. It could easily be practiced in Guam, where indigo grows 

 spontaneously, together with a number of cassias and other nitrogen-gleaning legumi- 

 nous plants. In Mauritius rotation of crops is practiced. In that island, after the 

 land has produced cane for two seasons, it is planted in maize, arrowroot, mandiona^ 

 or peas, allowing a period of three years between the cane crops. In Guam moiiggos 

 (Phaseolus mungo) may be used for this purpose. 



Cane does not thrive either on the elevated mesa or in situations where only pure 

 sand is found. This is owing, in the former case, to the porosity of the coral which 

 forms the subsoil, allowing the water to filter through immediately after each rain. 

 Don Felipe de la Corte, who, during his administration as governor, tried earnestly to 

 develop the resources of the island, hoped to succeed on the mesa with the "morada" 

 variety, thinking that it might there "prove less watery and sweeter, as in the case 

 of the sweet potato and other plants grown there, as compared with the same plants 

 grown on the lowlands."'' He accordingly started a cane plantation on the mesa, 

 on the finca (farm) belonging to the Colegio de San Juan de Letran; but his experi- 

 ment proved a failure. Its site is now occupied by cornfields, and the foundations 

 of the sugarhouse alone remain as a monument to the zeal of this good governor. 



After the cane has been gathered and stripped of its leaves it is carried to the mill 

 (trapiche), in which it is crushed between rollers. The juice is then strained and 

 lime is added to purify it. The lime neutralizes any acids resulting from fermenta- 

 tion and combines with any carbonates present, forming an insoluble precipitate, 

 which carries down with it the impurities in the juice. The juice is then boiled in 

 kettles, as in the case of the sugar made of coconut sap, and the scum iS removed as 

 it rises to the surface. Only the crude, brown, moist sugar, called "panoche," is 

 made in Guam. The natives are very fond of it and use it in various ways to make 

 sweetmeats. The sirup which drains from the panocha is used as molasses, or 

 "almibar," and serves instead of sugar for preserving fruit. 



Notwithstanding the advantages which Guam offers as to soil and climate and the 

 absence of enemies of sugar cane, it is not probable that the production of sugar 

 on the island would be profitable from a commercial point of view. For, in order to 

 compete with sugar produced in other parts of the world, its cultivation and manu- 

 facture would have to be carried on on a large scale, and would necessitate the 

 employment of labor which it is impossible to get on the island. 

 Befeeences: 

 Saccharum officinarum L. Sp. PI. 1 : 54. 1753. 



Sadyiafi. See Sayiafi. 



Sagdsa (Philippines). See LumnUzera littorea. 

 (Philippines). See Abrus abrus. 



fflSpons' Encyclopedia, vol. 2, p. 1865, 1882. 



6 See La Corte, Memoria descriptiva, p. 64, 1875. 



