SUGAR CROPS 185 



for market. The molasses, to which is added a little fresh juice, is again 

 boiled in vacuum pans until the remaining sugar crystallizes. The sugar 

 is separated out as before, the product being known as second sugar. The 

 molasses, after the second boiling, is sold as stock feed. 



By-Products of Beet Farming. — Beet tops left on the field after harvest- 

 ing may be cured as forage to be fed to livestock. If not fed, they should 

 be spread evenly over the ground and plowed under as a fertilizer. 



Beet pulp, a by-product of the sugar factory, is an excellent substitute 

 for corn silage. Wet beet pulp contains about 90 per cent of water and 10 

 per cent of solids, which compares favorably with mangels as a feed. Many 

 factories dry the pulp. Dried pulp makes a better feed, in that it remains 

 in better condition for a longer time and is worth about eight times as much 

 as the wet pulp. 



Beet molasses, another by-product, is not palatable when fed alone; 

 but when mixed with dried pulp, chopped hay or straw, has considerable 

 feeding value. 



CANE SUGAR 



Sugar-cane has been cultivated for many centuries in the tropical and 

 semi-tropical portions of the world. According to the best authorities, 

 sugar-cane appears to have originated in India. From there it was taken 

 to China and other parts of the Old World, where it has been extensively 

 cultivated from time immemorial. After the discovery of the New World 

 sugar-cane was introduced first in San Domingo, then into Mexico, Marti- 

 nique, Guadaloupe, Cuba, the Guianas and the warmer states of South 

 America. 



The State of Louisiana produces almost all of the cane sugar produced 

 in the United States. Texas and Florida produce some. Sugar-cane was 

 first introduced into Louisiana in 1751, but sugar was not manufactured 

 from it until about 1792. 



Description and Mode of Reproduction. — Sugar-cane is a perennial 

 grass, growing from eight to fifteen feet tall. The stalks are thick and 

 heavy, being filled with a sweet, juicy pith. The flowers are borne in 

 silky-like panicles. Seed is never formed in this country, and is not 

 abundantly produced in Egypt or India. Cane in its wild and native 

 state reproduces vegetatively more often than by seeds. 



The stalk of cane is divided into joints or nodes and internodes. At 

 each joint is a bud which under proper conditions develops into a stalk. 

 Around each bud, on the stalk, are semi-transparent dots which develop 

 into roots that feed the bud when planted. 



Soils. — Sugar-cane requires a large quantity of water during the grow- 

 ing season; consequently, it grows best on soils well supplied with humus 

 and having a high water-holding capacity. Well-drained alluvial bottoms 

 and muck soils are very good soils for sugar-cane. The more fertile clay 

 uplands produce cane higher in sugar, but do not supply the required amount 

 of water for large yields. 



