THE SUGAR CANE. AND SUGAR. 



561 



indeed the only manner in wbicli it is now propagated. There is not and probably has 

 not been for ao-es, a single plant raised from the seed. In Louisiana, a third of the 

 crop is required for seed. In Cuba, much less is required, as the cane requires 

 planting only every ten or twelve years ; while in Louisiana it must be renewed every 

 two or three years. To this is mainly due the advantage as a sugar country of Cuba 

 over Louisiana. 



As the cane is a rank, succulent plant, it requires a strong, deep soil to bring it to 

 perfection, and generally grows best in a low, moist situation. On the eastern, well- 

 watered slopes of the Andes, however, it still thrives at a height of 6,000 feet above 

 the level of the sea. In preparing a field for planting with the cuttings of cane — for 

 the cultivator nowhere resorts to the sowing of seed, which in America at least, has 

 never been known to vegetate — the ground is marked out in rows, three or four feet 

 apart, and in these lines holes are dug, from eight to twelve inches deep, and with an 

 interval of two feet between the holes. In these the cuttings are inserted, which 

 invariably consist of the top joints of the plant, because they are less rich in saccharine 

 juice than the lower parts of the cane, while their power of vegetation is equally strong. 

 While the shoots are growing and progressing to ripeness, great care must be taken to 

 irrigate and weed the field. The canes annually yield fresh shoots, or rattoons, but as 

 they have a tendency to deteriorate — at least in size — it is customary in all well-man- 

 aged estates to renew every year one sixth part of the plantation. 



The manufacture of sugar has been greatly improved by the introduction of steam- 

 power, which thoroughly presses out all the juice of the canes on their being passed 

 but once between the three iron rollers which the crushing-machine sets in motion. 

 The sap is collected in a cistern, and must be immediately heated, to prevent its 

 becoming acid — an effect which frequently commences in less than an hour from the 

 time of its being expressed. A certain quantity of lime is added to promote the sepa- 

 ration of the feculent matters contained in the juice, and these being removed, the cane 

 liquor is then subjected to a very rapid boiling, to evaporate the watery particles and 

 bring the syrup to such a consistency that it will granulate on cooling. 



In order to separate the granulated or crystallized sugar from the molasses, which 

 are incapable of crystallization and even attract the moisture of the air, it is placed in 

 a large square iron and air-tight case, divided into two compartments by a sieve-like 

 bottom of wire with narrow meshes. The sugar is placed in the upper compartment, 

 and the lower one communicates with two air-pumps, which are set in motion by the 

 same engine which crushes the canes. On the air being exhausted in this lower com- 

 partment, the liquid molasses come pouring in to fill up the void, while the crystallized 

 mass remains almost thoroughly purified at the top. This used formerly to be a very 

 tedious operation : the sugar was placed in large casks whose bottoms were pierced 

 with holes, and though left to drain for at least eight days, it still retained a quantity 

 of molasses, while by the new process the cleansing is most effectually performed in a 

 couple of hours, and the sugar, which has of course a much better appearance, can 

 Immediately be packed in hogsheads and cases ready for shipment. 



Our space will not permit us to give a full description of the entire process of culti- 

 vating the cane and manufacturing sugar. In Harper^s Magazine for November, 

 1853, and February, 1865, will be found fully illustrated articles describing these 

 processes as carried on in Louisiana and Cuba. 



