SAC' 
tamed by lefs boiling than thofe Canes in the clofe 
manner they are commonly planted : this is well 
known to the judicious to be the cafe, in moft kinds 
of vegetables ; and it is by thus carefully propagating 
all kinds of efculent plants, either in the choice of the 
belt feeds or cuttings, that moft of the kinds have 
been fo greatly improved of late years. 
The diftance which the Canes are ufually allowed in 
planting, is from three to four feet, row from row, 
• and the hills are about two feet afunder in the rows ; 
in each of thefe hills they plant from four to feven or 
eight cuttings, which is a very great fault, and is the 
caufe of moft of their blights fo much complained of 
lately ; for if all thefe grow, which is often the cafe, 
they rob each other of their nourishment ; and if a 
dry feafon happens before they have acquired ftrength, 
they are very loon Hinted in their growth, and are 
then attacked by infefts, which fpread and multiply 
fo greatly, as to cover a whole plantation in a little 
time : when this happens, the Canes are feldom good 
after, fo that it will be- the better way to root them 
entirely ,up when they are fo greatly injured, for they 
very rarely recover this diforder *, for although the in- 
fers are not the caufe of the difeafe, yet they confirm 
it, and caufe it to fpread. 
Therefore, if inftead of planting fo many, there was 
but one good cutting planted in each hill, or to pre- 
vent mifcarriage, two at moft •, and if both fucceeded, 
the weakeft were drawn out foon after they had 
taken root, if will be found of great fervice to pre- 
vent thefe blights ; and although the number of 
Canes will not be near fo great from the fame fpace of 
ground, yet the quantity of Sugar will be full as much, 
and will require little more than a fourth part of fuel 
to boil it. 
I have been allured by two of the moft fenfible and 
judicious planters of Sugar in America, that they have 
made fome experiments of the horfe-hoeing culture 
for their Canes, which anfwered much beyond their 
expectations •, one of thofe gentlemen told me, he 
planted one acre in the middle of a large piece of 
Canes, in rows at five feet afunder, and the hills were 
•two feet and a half cliftant, and but one cutting to 
each hill. The ground between the rows was from 
time to time ftirred with the horfeplough, todeftroy 
the weeds and earth the plants ; with this culture the 
Canes were double the fize of thofe in the fame piece, 
which were cultivated in the ufual way ; and when 
the Canes were cut, thofe which had been thus plant- 
ed and managed were ground and boiled feparately ; 
the produce of Sugar was full as great as the belt acre 
in the fame piece, and the expence of boiling was little 
more than a fixth part of the other, and he fold the 
Sugar for fi^ drillings per hundred weight more than 
he could get for the other. 
The time for planting the Canes is always in the 
rainy feafons, and the looner they are planted after the 
rains have begun to fall, the more time they will 
have to get ftrength before the dry weather fits in *, 
for when they have put out good roots, and are well 
eftablifhed in the ground, they will not be fo liable to 
fuffer by the drought, as thofe which have but newly 
taken root. 
The feafon being come for planting, the ground 
fhould be marked out by a line, that the rows of 
Canes may be ftrait, and at equal diftances ; but firft 
it will be proper to divide the piece into lands of fixty 
or feventy feet broad, leaving intervals between each 
of about fifteen feet ; thefe will be found of great ufe 
when the Canes are cut, for roads in which the car- 
riages may pafs to carry off the Canes to the mill j 
for where there is not fuch provifion made, the car- 
riages are obliged to pafs over the heads of the Canes 
to their no fmall prejudice : befides, by thefe inter- 
vals, the fun and air will have freer paffage between 
the Canes, whereby they will be better ripened, and 
their juice will be fuller of falts •, therefore when the 
Canes are ground, they will not require fo much fuel 
to boil their juice. The middle of thefe intervals 
may be planted with Yams, Potatoes, or other efcu- 
4 
SAC 
lent plants, which may be taken off before the Canes 
are cut, that the paffages may be clear for the car- 
riages but a path fhould be left on the fides of each 
land, for the more convenient riding or walking of 
the overfeer of the plantation, to view and obfervc 
how the labour is performed. 
The common method now pra&ifed in planting of 
the Canes is, to make a trench with a hoe, which is 
performed by hand ; into this one negro drops the 
number of cuttings intended for planting, at the dif- 
tance the hills are defigned *, thefe are by other ne- 
groes placed in their proper pofition, then the earth is 
drawn about the hills with a hoe, all this is performed 
by hand; but if the right ufe of ploughs was well 
known in thofe countries, the work might be much 
better performed, and for lefs than half the ex- 
pence ; therefore inftead of making a trench with a 
hoe, a deep furrow is made with a plough, and the 
cuttings . properly laid therein, the ground will be 
deeper ftirred, and there will be more depth for placing 
the Canes. 
If the ground is to be afterward kept clean with the 
horfe hoe, the rows of Canes fhould be planted five 
.feet afunder, that there may be room for the horfe 
and plough to pafs between them*, and the diftance of 
the hills from each other fhould be two feet and a 
half, and but one Cane fhould be permitted to re- 
main in each hill. After the Canes are planted and 
have made fome ftioots, the fooner the horfe plough 
is ufed the better will the Canes thrive, and the 
ground will be eafier kept clean from weeds for if 
thefe are torn up when they are young, they will pre- 
sently die ; whereas when they are buffered to grow 
large before they are disturbed, they are with great 
difficulty deftroyed. 
As the growth of the Canes is promoted according 
to the cleannefs of the ground, fo there cannot be 
too' much care taken to keep the Canes perfectly 
clear of weeds ; and the beginning of this work foon 
will render it lefs- troublefome, and it may be per- 
formed at a lefs expence, than when it is negleded 
for fome time. When this is performed with a 
plough, the earth in the interval fhould be thrown up 
to the rows of Canes, firft on one fide of the row, 
being careful not to difturb the roots of the Canes, as 
alfo not to bury their new fhoots *, and in the fecond 
operation, the earth fhould be turned over to the 
other fide of the rows, with the fame care as before. 
By this turning and ftirring of the land, it will be 
rendered loofer, and the earthing of the plants will 
greatly ftrengthen them ; fo that from each hili there 
will be as many fhoots produced as can be well nou- 
rifhed, and the fun and air will have free ingreft 
among the rows, which will be of the greateft fervice 
to the Canes. 
When the Canes are from feven to ten feet high, and 
of a proportionable fize, the fkin fmooth, dry, and 
brittle, if they are heavy, their pith gray, or inclina- 
ble to brown, the juice iweet and glutinous, they are 
efteemed in perfection. 
The time for cutting of the Canes is ufually after they 
have grown fix months ; but there fhouid not be a 
fixed period for this, for in fome feafons and in diffe- 
rent foils, there will be more than a month’s difference 
in their maturity ; and thofe who have made the ex- 
periments of cutting their Canes before they were ripe, 
and letting others ftand till after they were ripe, have 
found the Sugar made from the latter, was much 
finer than that of the former, though the quantity 
was not quite fo great •, however, it will always be belt 
to let them ftand till they are in perfection before they 
are cut, but not longer. 
They have alfo found thofe Canes which are cut to- 
ward the end of the dry feafons, before the rains be- 
gin to fall, have produced better Sugar than thofe 
which are cut in the rainy ieafons, when they are 
more replete with watery juice *, and there has been 
much lefs expence of fuel to boil it, which is a ma- 
terial article in large plantations ; therefore the better 
the Canes are nourished in their growth, and the more 
air 
