SUGAR-CANE 507 



The red or purple cane was hardier and multiphed 

 better, producmg about 16 per cent more suckers than 

 did striped cane. The stalks of the former were smaller, 

 due to the thicker stand. 



491. Japanese sugar-cane. — This cane is quite dis- 

 tinct from the other kinds generally cultivated in the 

 United States. The canes are more slender, which makes 

 stripping of leaves more expensive and thus decreases 

 the value of this variety for the manufacture of sirup. 

 Japanese cane is much hardier toward cold than other 

 varieties. The stubble, even as far north as latitude 33, 

 puts out a sufficient numlier of shoots to insure a stand 

 the next year. A single planting maj- suffice for a numloer 

 of years. Only a thin stand is needed at the beginning 

 of the season, since this cane suckers very profusely, fifty 

 or more stems sometimes arising from the same cluster. 

 Its hardiness makes Japanese cane available for sirup 

 even above the central part of the Gulf States. However, 

 its best use here is as a green soiling food for live-stock, 

 especially for hogs. 



Harvesting and Uses 



492. Stripping, topping, and cutting (Fig. 212). — "V^Tiere 

 cane is grown for sugar, the plant is mature enough 

 to be stripped of its leaves when the lower leases have 

 become bro^^m and partly loosened on the stalk. Another 

 rule as to the best time for cutting cane for sugar-making 

 is to wait, if practicalile, until the fresh juice is thick enough 

 to show a test of 8 degrees on the Baume spindle. "When 

 the usual time for killing frost draws near, stripping and 

 harvesting must l)e done, even tlxough only a few leaves 



