SUGAR-CANE CULTURE FOR SIRUP PRODUCTION. 
17 
The spacing between the rows varies from about 4 to 6 feet. In 
the rich soils of Louisiana the usual spacing is 5 J to 6 feet. In 
southern Georgia 4J feet is the most common spacing. The more 
rapidly the cane grows and the longer the growing season, the wider 
may be the spacing. It is desired that by midsummer, at laying-by 
time, the crop shall shade the ground well. 
On the flat plantations in Louisiana, with the fields divided by 
permanent headlands and drainage ditches, it is customary to plow in 
beds, maintaining the same rows and consequently the same spacing 
from year to year. On the rolling uplands of southern Georgia and 
adjacent States there is need of special precautions against soil erosion. 
Besides terracing the land on the hill slopes, the rows are usually run 
on contour lines or so as to give them a fall of only 4 to 6 inches per 
hundred feet. If the field is terraced these terraces afford the neces- 
Fig. 5. — Stripping the sugar cane out of the bank ready for spring planting. 
sary guide lines. If it is not terraced it is most advantageous to 
run guide lines every 3 to 5 feet of vertical rise in advance of laying 
off the rows. This may be done rapidly and very satisfactorily by a 
crew of three persons, using a small telescopic level, a suitable leveling 
rod, and a 1-mule marker. The man with the level directs the rod- 
man up or down the hill slope until he has the proper altitude for 
the guide row that is to be run. (Fig. 6.) The rodman then steps 
off a distance of about 50 yards approximately on a level along the 
hillside. The man with the level again directs him up or down the 
slope until he has an elevation of 6 to 8 inches higher or lower than 
at the previous station. They thus locate a series of stations about 
50 yards apart, each varying 6 to 8 inches in elevation from the pre- 
ceding. The man with the marker meanwhile follows immediately 
behind the rodman, marking the gradually rising or falling contour 
63779°— Bull. 486—17 3 
