26 
BULLETIN 486, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
to unload the cane at the mill or at the field railway by the use of 
power hoists. 
A light frost on the cane may kill the leaves without seriously 
damaging the cane except to check its growth. A somewhat heavier 
frost that kills the growing tip and the eyes renders the cane 
worthless for planting, but occasions no serious loss for sugar or sirup 
manufacture if the cane is not left standing in the field very long. 
Fermentation proceeds but slowly from the injured tips and eyes, 
resulting in no serious deterioration if harvesting is delayed even 
for a week or two. If, however, a hard freeze, sufficient to freeze the 
interior of the stalks, catches the crop still in the field, then the 
rind of the stalks is burst open. If warm weather follows and the 
cane is exposed to it, fermentation beginning along the injured stalks 
will in a very few days cause a sour- 
ing of the cane to an extent that 
makes it worthless for either sugar or 
sirup manufacture. In case of a 
heavy frost or of a freeze much may 
be done toward saving the cane or 
extending the time in which it can 
be ground profitably by promptly 
windrowing it. If possible, before the 
weather turns warm, the cane should 
be cut and laid in windrows, with 
the tops overlapping the stalks, the 
same as in putting away seed cane, 
but omitting the soil covering. The 
foliage will then protect the stalks in 
a measure from the heat of the sun, 
and fermentation proceeds much more 
slowly. Windrowing is the more 
effective if the cane is put down while it and the ground are cold. 
It is much better if the frost can be anticipated and the cane put in 
windrows just before the frost. Some deterioration will still take 
place, but it is relatively small. Of course the possibility of fur- 
ther growth is sacrificed. It thus occasionally happens that, with 
weather conditions threatening a freeze, or immediately following 
a freeze, the plantation manager shuts down the mill and puts all 
available hands at windrowing cane, working under pressure almost 
night and day until the cane is all down. It is later stripped out 
of the windrows and topped as fast as the mill can work it up. If 
the cane is not badly frozen and time permits, it is more economical 
and equally effective in protecting the cane to strip, top, and cut it, 
drop it in small heaps, and cover it with trash until it can be milled. 
Fig. 13. — Harvesting tools used in 
Georgia and Florida : a, a, Strip- 
ping tools ; 6, cane knife ; c, hoe. 
