THE  SUGAR-CANE  IN  LOUISIANA. 
12P 
THE  SUGAR-CANE  IN  LOUISIANA. 
By  M.  J.  B.  Avequin. 
In  an  article  published  some  time  ago,  we  said  that  the  sugar- 
cane is  indigenous  to  the  East  Indies,  China,  the  Kingdom  of 
Siam,  Assam,  some  islands  in  the  Indian  Ocean,  Tanna  in  the 
New  Hebrides,  Tahiti,  the  Society  Islands,  and  the  Lieou 
Khieou  Islands  belonging  to  Japan. 
There  exist  in  India  many  varieties  of  the  sugar-cane ;  some 
are  unknown.  Each  of  the  above-named  countries  has  pro- 
duced one  or  many  varieties  which  are  peculiar  to  them.  I 
shall,  in  another  article,  give  the  description  of  all  the  known 
varieties  of  the  sugar-cane. 
The  cane  called  Creole,  of  Malabar  and  Bengal,  is  the  first 
kind  that  was  known  to  the  western  nations.  It  spread  from 
India  first  into  Arabia  soon  after  the  conquests  of  Alexander 
the  Great,  then  into  Egypt,  long  afterwards  into  Sicily,  Spain, 
and  even  into  Provence  in  France,  into  the  Canary  Islands, 
from  there  to  the  West  Indies  (the  Antilles,)  Brazil  and  the 
whole  of  South  America. 
The  sugar-cane  is  now  cultivated  in  all  tropical  countries,  in 
the  East  Indies  and  South  America,  and  in  the  United  States, 
as  far  as  34°  North  latitude.  There  only  molasses  is  made  ; 
the  sugar  does  not  crystallise.  We  shall  not  at  present  enter 
upon  the  consideration  of  that  subject. 
The  half-civilised  Indians  of  Peru,  Brazil,  Colombia,  Mexico, 
and  the  whole  of  Central  America,  cultivate  the  sugar-cane, 
squeese  out  the  juice,  and  ferment  it  to  make  an  intoxicating 
drink,  Huarapa  fuerte,  la  Chica,  a  kind  of  wine  which  is  very 
agreeable  in  hot  countries.  They  likewise  make  la  Qhaneaca, 
a  kind  of  raw  sugar  which  is  not  separated  or  freed  from  the 
molasses.  They  also  make  Baspadura,  a  very  close  cooked 
sugar,  which  they  keep  in  the  sheath  of  the  Indian  corn  ear. 
Here  we  will  stop. 
The  sugar-cane  was  imported  into  Louisiana  from  Hispaniola 
(from  St.  Domingo.) 
Historical  Notice  of  the  Introduction  of  the  Sugar-cane  into 
Louisiana. 
It  was  in  1751,  under  the  administration  of  the  Marquis  de 
9 
