22 THE SUGAR INDUSTRY. 
and tear. Hence the depreciation account of a sugarhouse is a very large item. It 
will be seen from this how different this industry is from running a refinery on raw 
sugar the year through, and how different it is from other kinds of manufacturing. 
THE SOIL BEST ADAPTED TO SUGAR CANE 
is a sandy loam, rich in vegetable matter. The cane does not seed, and since we 
grow it exclusively for sugar, the draft upon the soil is not heavy, provided the fod- 
der and tops, the bagasse from the mill, and the ashes from the sugarhouse, are all 
carefully returaed to the soil. But to make a crop profitable, a large amount of ton- 
nage must be secured. It is nothing unusual to secure a crop of 40 to 45 tons of 
stripped cane per acre (though 20 tons isa fair average over a large area). Forty 
tons means fully 70 tons of green matter growing upon one acre of land; and while 
the per cent of nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash is comparatively small, the 
aggregate of these three ingredients removed from the soil by such a crop is large. 
The cane seems to be specially adapted to soils of an alluvial character on account 
of the tendency of these soils to make weed. The ‘‘raging fertility’’ of such soils 
has to be dampened by the growth of just such crops as sugar cane, which is a 
gigantic grass, before it can be adapted to the growth of cereals or other crops raised 
exclusively for the seed. Hence, the alluvial lands of Louisiana are peculiarly and 
singularly adapted to the cultivation of cane. 
THE SOIL IS USUALLY PREPARED 
in the following manner: Thoroughly broken with two to four horse plows, thrown 
up in beds six to seven feet in width, the midales deeply plowed and opened, and at 
intervals of short distances, what are termed quarter drains, running at right angles 
to the rows, are cut, leading into the ditches so that excessive rainfalls may be car- 
ried off without injury to the soi]. This plowing is usually done in the fall;—though 
sometimes, from necessity, it is forced into the spring. 
PLANTING. 
After the soil is well prepared, the rows are opened with a double mold board 
plow, and the canes are deposited in this furrow—two to three continuous canes along 
the whole length of the row. These canes are then cut with a cane knife to adjust 
them to the ow, and covered either with a plow, a cultivator, or with a hoe. The 
planting is done any time between September and April. It is usually done by hand, 
though we have one or two cane-planting machines that have been experimenting in 
this line. After the cane has been planted, from each joint where is an ‘‘eye,’’ 
springs a sprout. To assist this sprout in reaching the surface early in the spring, 
it is customary to scrape off the excess of dirt which was placed on the cane in the 
fall or early spring in order to protect it against the cold. 
CULTURE. 
After the cane has obtained a ‘‘stand,’’ it is then cultivated, largely after the 
order of corn, care being taken to preserve always the cane upon a ridge so that the 
excessive rainfalis of summer may be easily disposed of. It is usually laid by in June 
