Sugar cane

“ The cultivation of sugar-cane seems to have spread very rapidly. It early found its way to Persia and Arabia, and then from Arabia as a center has spread to the Mediterranean districts, Sicily, Cyprus, Spain and Italy. It found its way to Santo Domingo as early as 1494 and to Brazil early in the sixteenth century. At the present time cane is grown in nearly all tropical and sub-tropical countries, the Southern United States producing more than any other country.
There are many varieties recognized by cultivators, differing in color, texture and other minor characteristics. ”

“ Cane sugar is obtained from sugar cane, beets, and the palm and sugar-maple trees. Sugar cane is a grass supposed to be native to Southern Asia, but now grown throughout the tropics, a large amount coming from Cuba and Louisiana; it is the commonest of all, and in all cases the manufacture is essentially the same. The products of manufacture are: molasses, syrup, brown sugar, loaf, cut, granulated, powdered, and confectioners’ sugar. Brown sugar is cheapest, but is not so pure or sweet as white 7grades ”

“ Sugar.The sugar-cane thrives well here. It is planted after the French fashion, by sticking the piece diagonally into the ground. Some, finding the cane has suffered in times of drought, have adopted other modes. It comes to perfection in a year, and they seldom have two crops from the same piece of land, unless the season is very favorable.
There are many kinds of cane cultivated, but that grown in the valley of Pampanga is thought to be the best. It is a small red variety, from four to five feet high, and not thicker than the thumb. The manufacture of the sugar is rudely conducted ”

“ In many colonies the yield is said to be far inferior to what it should be; yet the juice is obtained in a state allowing of easier purification, when its extraction is not carried to the furthest limit.
In beet root as well as in the sugar cane, cane-sugar only was said to be present; Icery however has proved that in the cane some uncrystallizable (inverted) sugar is always present. Its quantity varies much, according to the places where the cane grows, and its age. The tops of quick-growing young canes yielded a vesou containing 2·4 per cent. of uncrystallizable sugar; 3·6 of cane sugar ”

“ The cane is grown from stalks which are laid in pits during the winter till the ground has been ploughed, when each piece of cane is laid longitudinally on the ridge and covered with earth, and from each joint of the stalk springs forth a separate sprout when the crop begins to grow. At present the sugar-cane is waiting for its full development, but the negro labour around its stem has ceased. ”

“ The Otaheitian cane is very much valued. A plantation of sugar-cane requires renewal once in about seven years. The canes are about the size of a walking-stick, are cut off near the root, and laid in piles, separated from the tops, and then conveyed in carts to the sugar-mill, where they are unladen. Women are employed to feed the mills, which is done by throwing the canes into a sloping trough, from which they pass between the mill-stones and are ground entirely dry. ”

“ Another parable is furnished by the sugar-cane, which grows tall and beautiful to the eye, but unless due care is taken to clear away the decayed leaves from around its roots, worms gather there, and pierce the cane, and rapidly multiplying within, fatten and flourish, so that when the husbandman gathers his cane, he finds its precious juice all gone, and in its place a multitude of loathsome worms. ”

“ Botanical Origin—Saccharum officinarum L., the Sugar Cane. The jointed stem is from 6 to 12 feet high, solid, hard, dense, internally juicy, and hollow only in the flowering tops. Several varieties are cultivated, as the Country Cane, the original form of the species; the Ribbon Cane, with purple or yellow stripes along the stem; the Bourbon or Tahiti Cane, a [Pg 715] more elongated, stronger, more hairy and very productive variety. Saccharum violaceum Tussac, the Batavian Cane, is also considered to be a variety ”

“ In my Despatch, No. 3, of the 28th November ultimo, I mentioned that extensive districts within the colony of Queensland are well adapted for the growth of the sugar cane among a variety of other produce.
2. Since I wrote the above Despatch, I have seen three specimens of the sugar cane, which have been grown near the town of Maryborough. These specimens, which were finer than any that were shown me at Mauritius, were forwarded to Sir William Macarthur, a gentleman of large property, well-known ability, and great experience in scientific and agricultural pursuits ”

“ Sugar has become not only an article of luxury, but of utility, to such a degree, that a supply of it constitutes an important article [Pg 205] of importation, and is of national consequence. For sugar the world has hitherto relied on the cane, with the exception of some parts of India, where the sugar palm yields it much more cheaply. The sugar cane is, however, a tropical plant, and, of course, its cultivation must of necessity be limited to such hot countries. ”

“ The growers of sugar cane in Mauritius have adjusted themselves to the new conditions. They have reduced plantation and manufacturing costs, and scientific methods have enabled them to grow cane profitably on land which could not possibly have been cultivated in the old way without severe loss. Crude processes have given way to the modern sugar factory with its up-to-date roller mills, clarifiers, triple effects, vacuum pans and centrifugal machines, and the chemical engineer has changed the dark mixture of crystals and molasses into an almost pure white granulated sugar. ”

“ In the earliest times practically the only sugar which was used by man was that stored by the bees, namely, honey. The sugar cane is indigenous to Asia and was not known as a source of sugar in Europe until the 13th or 14th century, when it was brought by Eastern merchants to Europe. The discovery of America and the introduction of sugar cane into the islands adjacent thereto opened up a new field for the culture of that plant and laid the foundation of the great industry which followed. ”

“ The people showed us, as we passed, six kinds of sugar-cane, and told us that they had many more, one soil agreeing best with one kind, another with another. The main fault in the cultivation of sugar-cane is here, as in every other part of India that I have seen, the want of room and the disregard of cleanliness. They crowd the cane too much, and never remove the decayed leaves, and sufficient air is never admitted. ”

“ They are not infrequently infested by a small insect, the sugar-mite, many thousands of which have been detected in a single pound of brown sugar." Cane-sugar and grape-sugar, otherwise known as sucrose and glucose, are obtained from various sources. Most of the cane-sugar consumed in England is actually produced from the sugar-cane, but of beet-root sugar there is much in the market, and in America sugar is produced from the maple, from maize, and from the "sugar grass." ”

“ It is not known here how and whence they come, it is maintained that during the dry season they conceal themselves in decayed trees; they now feed on sugar-cane, and I have a whole party in a glass in my room, where they sack pieces of sugar-cane. They seem to be very well off there, and think more about eating, apparently, than freedom; they sit quite still and suck the cane, and their light seems dimmed the while ”

“ By degrees, however, the culture of the cane fell, into decay, whether through disease of the plant or its cheaper production in the Brazils and West Indies is not known, so that in the year 1840, only two sugar factories were at work in the whole island; and even these only produce molasses and rum, of which the latter, in the year 1856, amounted to 1500 pipes. The cultivation of the sugar-cane, however, has increased since the vine disease has fallen so heavily on the landowner. ”

“ The material facts regarding the cultivation of sugar-cane, as appearing by the evidence returned with the master's report, are these: Sugar-cane is propagated by cutting standing cane and planting it as seed cane. The cane so cut from one acre will plant not more than three acres. The plants that spring up from the seed cane are called plant cane; the roots from which cane has been cut are called stubble ”

“ Sugar cane is now grown all over the earth in regions with a hot, moist climate, India and neighboring countries producing over half the world’s supply. Practically all the sugar produced in India is used there, however, so that the American tropics furnish to Europe and America about one-third of the world’s total consumption of cane sugar. ”

“ Sugar cane grows almost exclusively in the tropical belt, extending from twenty-two degrees north to twenty-two degrees south latitude, where the three essentials for its successful culture, viz., fertile soil, hot sunshine and plenty of moisture, are present. It flourishes in the islands of the Pacific ocean, particularly in the Hawaiian group, in Cuba, Mexico, Central America, the islands of the East and West Indies, Australia, China, India, along the shores of the China sea and the Indian ocean, and in certain parts of Africa and South America. ”

“ At Kandy as well as in the vicinity of Point de Galle, frequent attempts have been made to establish sugar plantations, but the soil or the climate, or both, proved to be unfavorable to the growth of the cane. Natives, here and elsewhere, raise a few hills of it about their cabins, which they chew for its sweetness, when the stalk becomes sufficiently ripe; it is especially the delight of children, under this condition. With the aid of proper fertilizers there would seem to be no good reason why sugar-cane could not be profitably grown in Ceylon. ”

“ The Chinese Sugar-Cane also may deserve attention as a fodder plant. Experiments thus far made would seem to show that when properly cultivated, and cut at the right time, it is a palatable and nutritious plant, while many of the failures have been the result of too early cutting. ”

“ A large proportion of the agricultural area is needed for crops of food to nourish the inhabitants. The land available for sugar cane is rented at an equitable figure and, as has been said, there is always an ample supply of cheap and readily obtainable labor. The aim of the Javan planter is to produce cane carrying a high sugar content and to get as great a yield as possible. To this end, unceasing attention is paid to cultivation, fertilizing and the general well-being of the crop; in other words, the soil is worked for all there is in it. ”

“ The sugar cane is an exhausting crop, and it is seldom cultivated by the ryot more frequently than once in three or four years on the same land. During the intermediate period, such plants are grown as are found to improve the soil, of which, says Dr. Tennant, the Indian farmer is a perfect judge. They find the leguminous tribe the best for the purpose. Such long intervals of repose from the cane would not be requisite if a better system of manuring were adopted. ”

“ They clamour for a piece of sugar cane to suck, just as the children here beg for candy sticks. Some of the poor little ones have nothing to eat all day long but a stick of sugar cane, and nowhere to sleep but on a door step. They run around in bare feet and with scarcely any clothes! ”

“ Nor will he resort for a second season to a spot which does not afford ample cover, whether of heavy grass or of underwood jungle, within a certain distance, for him to fly to in case of molestation, and especially to serve as a retreat during the hot season, as otherwise he would find no shelter. The sugar-cane is his great delight, both as being his favourite food, and as affording a high, impervious, and unfrequented situation. ”

“ In the low latitudes of the temperate zone it is grown with only fair success.
Owing to peculiar climatic conditions, sugar cane has been raised in southern Spain for generations, notwithstanding the fact that the provinces in which the sugar cane is grown lie, roughly speaking, between thirty-six degrees and thirty-eight degrees north latitude. ”

“ The New Orleans Times contains, in a late number, an account of the manufacture of sugar as conducted on the Poychas estate, from which we extract portions containing the essential particulars of cane sugar making as conducted in the southern portions of the United States.
"Reaching the Cane shed, the crop, dumped into piles, is received by a crowd of feeders, who place it (eight or ten stalks at a time) on the cane carrier. This is an elevator, on an endless band of wood and iron, which carries them to the second story, where the stalks drop between the rollers. ”

“ The sugar cane of Otaheite, the To of those islanders, is one of the most important acquisitions, for which colonial agriculture is indebted to the travels of naturalists. It yields not only one third more of juice than the Creolian cane on the same space of land; but from the thickness of its stem, and the tenacity of its ligneous fibres, it furnishes much more fuel. The last advantage is important to the West Indies, where the destruction of the forests has for a long time obliged the planters to use the canes deprived of their juice, to keep up the fire under their boilers. ”

“ The yield of sugar per acre since 1894 has been 1.688 tons and the amount of sugar extracted since 1904 averaged 10.95 per cent of the weight of the cane.
The federal government maintains an experiment station at Mackay and experiment farms have been laid out in the important sugar centers. The value of the work done at this station cannot be too highly estimated. The scientists in charge are constantly on the lookout for new varieties of cane and are on the alert to fight diseases and pests. The chief enemies of the cane in Queensland are cane grub, fungus pest, frosts and floods. ”