30 BTJLUETm 456 : U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGBICTTLTUBE. 
the plows have thrown up. and finally hand hoes are employed to 
cover such gaps as the plows and cultivator failed to cover. At plant- 
ing time the cane is pulled out of these windrows by the use of a mule 
pulling a specially constructed implement with prongs or hooks 
crosswise of the rows. The storage of cane by banking is similar to 
windrowing in principle, but the layer of cane is usually deeper and 
the space covered wider. The depth of the cane in the bank before 
covering is from IS to 30 inches and the width from about 5 to 10 
feet. The length of these banks is governed by convenience. Only 
the edges can be covered with plows and the center strip of the bank 
must be covered by hand with shovels. (Fig. IT.) About 1 to 2 
inches of soil is put on the bank. Some prefer to leave a strip of 
about S inches in the middle of the bank uncovered until colder 
weather or all winter. At planting time the soil is shoveled off these 
Itef i 
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HI 
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Fig. 17. — A bank of sugar cane in Georgia ready to cover. 
banks and the cane pulled out by hand and stripped of leaves and 
topped. It is thus seen that banking the cane, while possibly some- 
what more economical of planting material, requires proportionally 
much more hand labor, and it can therefore be practiced only where 
the cane areas are small and the labor available is relatively abun- 
dant. 
Whether the cane is to be banked or windrowed, it is necessary 
to take every precaution to see that it is well matured and kept 
as cool as possible in storage. The nonavailability of labor while 
harvesting for the mill and the danger from frosts lead the 
planters usually to store the seed cane before beginning to harvest 
for the mill, thus sacrificing some in maturity of the cane. Cool. 
wet days are chosen, if possible, for the work of storing. If it must 
be banked when the ground is warm and dry. it is advisable to scrape 
