THE CAYENNE CANE. 



139 



this is the practice. The cane-trash, that is, the 

 rind of the cane from which the juice has been 

 extracted, is thus entirely lost, with the ex- 

 ception of the small part of it which is eaten by 

 the cattle. The manure of cattle is likewise of 

 no use. Lands are not yet of sufficient value to 

 oblige each planter to confine himself to certain 

 pieces of ground for certain purposes, with any 

 sort of regularity. The population of the coun- 

 try is yet too scanty to make every man husband 

 what he possesses, or to oblige him to draw in 

 and give room for others, as, imperceptibly, 

 these others require that he should do so. For 

 the present, the planter finds that it is more 

 convenient to change from one piece of land to 

 another, as each becomes unfit to be cultivated ; 

 he allows the wood to grow up again as soon as 

 the ratoons no longer spring forth and yield him 

 a sufficient profit to compensate for the trouble 

 of cleaning them. 



The Otaheitan or the Bourbon cane has been 

 brought from Cayenne to Pernambuco, since 

 the Portuguese obtained possession of that set- 

 tlement. I believe the two species of cane are 

 much alike, and I have not been able to discover 

 which of them it is. Its advantages are so ap- 

 parent, that after one trial on each estate, it has 

 superseded the small cane which was in general 

 use. The Cayenne cane, as it is called in Per- 

 nambuco, is of a much larger size than the 



