270 The Sugar-Beet in America 
In Hawaii, eighteen months are required for it to ripen; 
it tassels about a month before it is ready to cut. In 
Louisiana and Texas, the crop is harvested in nine or ten 
months after planting ; in Cuba, it is cut in twelve months 
whether it is ripe or not. In the Philippines, it is har- 
vested in about fourteen months, being planted in No- 
vember and December and harvested a year from the 
next January and February. 
ADAPTATION 
Sugar-cane is strictly a hot-climate plant. In order 
to flourish, it must have abundant sunshine, plenty of 
moisture, and a fertile soil. It is usually confined to the 
tropics, included between twenty-two degrees north lati- 
tude and twenty-two degrees south latitude, although in 
a few places it reaches beyond these boundaries, having 
been grown as far north as thirty-two degrees in Spain 
and as far south as thirty-seven degrees in New Zealand. 
The most favorable growing conditions are found with an 
average annual temperature of about 75° F. and seven to 
nine months of growing season with warm days and 
nights. 
It flourishes in the Hawaiian Islands, Cuba, Mexico, 
Central America, islands of the East and West Indies, 
Australia, China, India, along the shores of the China 
Sea and Indian Ocean, and in parts of Africa and South 
America. In the low altitudes of temperate zones it 
grows, but is only fairly successful. 
The water requirement of the crop is exceedingly large 
and can only be met by an extremely heavy rainfall or 
