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140 



THE MILL. 



common cane ; it branches so very greatly, that 

 the labour in planting a piece of land is much 

 decreased, and the returns from it are at the 

 same time much more considerable. It is not 

 planted in trenches, but holes are dug at equal 

 distances from each other, in which the cuttings 

 arc laid. This cane bears the dry weather bet- 

 ter than the small cane ; and when the leaves of 

 the latter begin to turn brown, those of the 

 former still preserve their natural colour. A 

 planter in the Varzea told me that he had ob- 

 tained four crops from one piece of land in three 

 years, and that the soil in question had been 

 considered by him as nearly worn out, before 

 he planted the Cayenne cane upon it. Its rind 

 is likewise so hard that the fox cannot make any 

 impression upon it. The business of the boiling- 

 houses is in general so slovenly performed, that 

 I could not obtain any exact information respect- 

 ing the returns in the manufacturing of it ; but 

 most persons were of opinion that here, too, 

 some advantage was to be perceived. 



THE MILL. 



A sugar-plantation is doubtless one of the 

 most difficult species of property to manage in 

 in a proper manner. The numerous persons 

 employed upon it, their divers avocations, and 

 the continual change of occupation, give to the 

 owner or his manager constant motives for ex- 



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