Sorghum Culture. 25 



Another plan is to lay down say three hills side by side, cover these 

 crosswise with three hills, and so on, until they make a pile about 2^ 

 feet high. This raises the butts highest (as the pile nears completion 

 the tops will be spread out fan shape), and the pile will shed rain. The 

 blades should not be stripped nor the tops cut off until the cane is wanted 

 for grinding. The cut cane should be protected as much as possible from 

 rain and frost, and, when practicable, removed from the field and put under 

 cover. 



A good way to store the cane with blades on, is to tie it in bundles 

 (not over two hills in a bundle) and cross three or four bundles to give air 

 in the pile. If shocked up straight with the blades on, the cane will heat 

 in one night, and cane that receives such injury is unfit for use, as the syrup 

 is worthless. Cane cut twelve hours will be free from danger through frost. 



If it is desired to grind cane with the blades on, it should be cured before 

 grinding. If fresh cut cane with the leaves on is worked, the syrup will have 

 an unpleasant flavor. This will not be the case if the blades are wilted. 



TIME FOR WORKING UP. 



In regard to this. Dr. Collier says: "The importance of working up the 

 crop promptly after cutting can hardly be overstated, especially if the aim 

 is to make sugar. If departure from this rule is at any time admissible, it 

 is at least safe to say that the conditions which would warrant such departure 

 are as yet not determined. Prompt working of the cane so soon as cut is 

 always safe, and any delay 'is fraught with unavoidable risk of loss." 



" It is possible there may exist certain conditions of climate and crop, 

 when the cane may be kept even weeks after cutting without great loss of 

 sugar, but the experiments of the Agricultural Department conclusively prove 

 that such a course is extremely hazardous, and that the only safe course to 

 follow is to work the cane as soon after cutting it (never more than twenty- 

 four hours) as possible." 



IMPROVING VARIETIES. 



In every field of cane some stalks ripen earlier, some grow to a greater 

 size, some are more juicy, and some richer in sugar than others. It should 

 be the aim of every planter to select from his growing cane the individual 

 stalks which most fully combine these qjialities, and set apart the seeds 

 which they yield for the next season's planting. And this process should be 

 pursued from year to year, always producing from the richest, the largest, 

 and the earliest*~stalks. 



In selecting seed stalks from the standing cane, the comparative size and 

 time of maturity will be plainly enough indicated to the eye; but with refer- 

 ence to the other qualities something more is needed, and it is with reference 



