270 



A TEXT-BOOK OF BOTANY 



F 



India, China, Japan, and the East Indies; but our own Gulf 

 States are developing the industry rapidly. The Carolina 

 rice is said to be the best in the market, and before the 

 Civil War South Carolina was our great rice-producing 

 State. In 1899, however, Louisiana produced more than 

 twice as much rice as all the other Gulf States combined, 

 South Carolina being second. Rice in the husk is called 

 paddy; and this is the general name also for rice in India. 

 (2) SUGAR-CANES. The ordinary sugar of commerce is 

 cane-sugar, which is obtained mostly from sugar-cane; 



but in Europe it is ob- 

 tained largely from beets. 

 Sugar-cane is a tropical 

 and subtropical grass, a 

 native of the East In- 

 dies, but is cultivated 

 wherever there is a warm 

 climate, a deep rich soil, 

 and abundant moisture. 

 The plant is about the 

 height of corn, but has a 

 much more slender stem, 

 and bears at the summit 

 a very large and spread- 

 ing flower cluster (Fig. 

 267). Its cultivation is 



^i T^~" usually carried on in large 



|J S jn plantations, our greatest 



sugar-producing State be- 

 I ing Louisiana. When the 



BHHH HE canes (as the stems are 



FIG. 267. Sugar-cane. After WOSSIDLO. called) are mature, they 



are cut, stripped of their 



leaves, and crushed. Associated with the production of 

 sugar as by-products are the various sirups or molasses. 



