Show continued from page 79 tb how cane sugar is grown and made eade no iso ivo 11 TILLAGE OF THE cane CAKE FIELDS the planting season extends from the first of dece december aber to the first of march according to the latitude and clr cum stances of the planter in sut sothern hern bern texas it begins several weeks earlier than in louisiana lul Mul slana stana it follows immediately upon the close of the grid gria grinding ding season and it Is 13 only in case of overflow or hindrances beyond the control ot of the farmer fanner that it is ls delayed later than the first J of march the first labor aft att after atter erthe the planting Is to bring up the cane as uniformly as possible though a large vigorous plant atias at its maturity uis HIS it Is very feeble at atthe the start starts looking manch ranch like the first shoots of broom corn As soon as occasional blades are seen in the rows indicating that the shoots boots are ready to break through the soil soll light harrows barrows are drawn over the surface this Is more necessary from the fact that the soil sell throughout the whole sugar districts Is largely mixed with clay and bakes hakes soon after it Is stirred the rains are frequent and without this light harro harrowing the crop starts without and many of the shoots show themselves quite too late to be of any service after the blades are up a few inches tillage commences they first run run around the cropp crop as ills itis called by turning a furrow from the cane on each sidey side bide with a light mule male plow the hands immediately follow with hoess hoes brushing out the young shoots and destroying all weeds these hoes are very stout weighing hing bing about three times as much as the northern hoe and with the tho handle generally a home made article make a pretty good load for a man to carry all day whether he hoeg hoes much roach or little though improved plows harrows and cultivators are multiplying upon the sugar plantations the reign of the old hoe Is undisturbed the philosophy of this dynasty Is summarily expressed in the reply wi we received to one of our inquiries soch such hoes as you have at t the north would not last a a day this too in a soil soli where there are no stones and upon plantations entirely clear or roots we could but think that we should feel better satisfied as to the soundness roundness of this philosophy after seeing it tried the steel and horse hoes so common at the north nonh are not generally known b here bere ere they rhey are certain ly well adapted to these alluvial lands and could not fall fail to save at least oue one fourth of the labor of tillage this Is a very large tax to pay for the want of agricultural societies fairs and journals of which the sugar region Is very generally destitute about ten days after the first hoeing the plow Is again used taming turning the furrow toward the cane the whole surface of the ground between the rows is stirred this time either with the plow or cultivator on the best managed plantation plantations sp the tillage is repeated at intervals of ten days to two weeks until the cane covers the ground which la Is about the first of july at each time the soil Is thrown up toward the he cane and when the cultivation Is completed comple compie tedy the cane stands upon broad ridges with dep desp furrows between betwee to carry olt off the water into the ditches which run back into the swamp cane requires a higher cultivation u Iti than either corn or cotton and those planters who till most frequently and make the best crops when the cane shades the ground cultivation stops and the leisure season of the sugar planter begins it fortunately happens that this is at the hottest part of fat the summer when labor is most oppressive these three months correspond to the winter upon the northern northe rn farm in the opportunity they offer to take breath and lay plans for another year yeat the hands bands are occupied in making improvements prove ments where the planter has skill enough to devise theland the them mand and in cutting and carting wood for the sugar house and in other preparations for THE grin OHI DINd ding OF THE CASE CANE this is the harvest barvest of the year yeartie ye arthe ithe most intensely laborious and yet the most joyous time upon the plantation it usually commences in october and last lasts until christmas masor or later indeed we found that gome some bad not finished as late as the tenth of february last where the cane cano Is well ripened it keeps for some weeks without any in jury As soon as heavy frosts are threatened the cane Is cuty cutt cut and laid in windrow wind rows oj the tops lapping over the butts so that the cold does not affect the part that Is used for sugar it Is only the lower lover part ot of the stalk about six feet in length that natures matures sufficiently in tb this is clima climate tea tep t to am make ke suar bugara this Is stripped of its leaves topped and carried to the sugar house as it Is wanted the whole force of the plantation now centers about the sugar houe hone hou hon e and on most of the estates the fires once lighted are kept up tip until the grinding is finished they work in to re layke layfe everyman every man being occupied occupies eighteen hours in the twenty tour four and on nine tenths of the plantations without any observance of the sabbath notwithstanding in this severe labor the season Is generally omd as one of general social enjoyment and more generous fare there Is a liberal supply of sweets and sometimes of stimulant stimulants os and not of other rewards to draw out the largest amount of labor possible until the work Is completed on many of the plantations the machinery for the man ur of sugar Is very complete costing from fifty nitty to a hundred thousand dollars there are now in the country about twenty six hundred sugar plantations on three fourths of them then at least steam isred toe larger part cf of the sugar Is made on about three hundred plantations that are furnished with expensive apparatus the cane Is dropped under i a large open hed shed bed or near it about half a dozen hands are sto constantly employed in feeding the rollers the canes canei are carried tarried up on an endless endio ss apron aprong and pass pats twice between very large iron roller rollers which whir h press them nearly dry the as the pressed canes ae called tilled Is taken on another apron apton as it falls from rona rora the tha rollf rollers tirs and end Is carried to the top of the chimney and emptied in into to the fum fur tiace ace this Is a recell improvement and lares saves more than one halt half b ait alt of the fuel on one of the tho plantations that we the burning of the ba gaspa raabe saved nino nine cords cordi of wood daily they only used three fourths of a cord to a hogshead hogs bogs head bead of sugar sagar in place of two and a halt balf formerly As wood Is already getting to be ft a earce carce article on all the large plantations this improvement Is too important a matter to tobe be long overlooked oyer looked with the bt best mills yet invented it Is said mild that nearly t y f IC concluded dri clouded oa on pare page 1141 one third of the moisture rao rno liture I 1 still left la in the cane after crushing crashing with a large share of the saccharine matter where ft here this refuse Is not burneda burned it usually lies ties around the sugar house bouse as a nuisance sometimes it la is carted to the th levee aad and used to strengthen it lu in place places where it la Is inclined to wash su SUGAR GA it MAKING the j juice nice of the cane I 1 is s carried by pouts spouts from the mill 10 lo the boiler into which it passes through a mainer wainer Hr alner ainer hure here it is I 1 heated to about 1409 P F when it N 1 clarified by the introduction of lime this causes a precipitate of impurities and colors the juice in many of the establishments it Is still tarther farther purified pu rifled by filtration the next process Is to evaporate the waters water aud avd make a thick fyr up this Is done by the application of heat in a varie varle variety IT of methods there are at least seven different forms of doing this la in louisiana in the best it Is boiled in on the principle that liquids boll at a lower temperature as the pressure of the atmosphere Is removed this process not only fuels tuel fuel but avoids the danger of burning and makes a much better article of sum suz gusar nar zar and molasses when the syrup Is sufficiently thickened which Is a point in the process of great importance it Is to drawn off into vats where it granulates A portion of the syrup syrupy however does not cryst crystallize alize and to separate this liquid from the crys crystals talog it Is to put in hogsheads hog in the bottoms of which are arn ar holes in which are inserted C cines ines knes that reach above the contents the canes contract is as the gos sos on and the syrup runs off into vats below this liquid Is the mol moi molasses mo laskes asbed of commerce it is commonly sold by the planters in the vat at so much a gallon gallons the purchaser furnishing his own casks and re moving it what remains in the hogshead Is the cornmon new Now orleans sugar sugary in which the shrunk cane Is sill still I 1 founds sound found when it comes to market most bloat of the sugar manufactured in this region we were informed Is either consumed anthe on the river or goes down east the process of refining ire ite fining sugar has been sj a greatly improved improve and cheapened that the refined article Is la in much larger demand than formerly especially in new yorks york and in hii pie region immediately dependent upon it for supplies the refineries of new york tork are generally supplied from the cheaper sugars of the west india islands where brown sugars are bied nothing stands before the louisiana louisana loui Loul sana article it Is very light color colored eds lively ani and not nat bad to taked tyke tike either on the cakes or in the coffee the average yield of sugar Is something under a hogshead of one thousand pounds to the acre acres and the mia melas nes nis when the soli soil Is to very rich and the season Is to anu unu anly favorable two hogsheads hog and upwards are sometimes made the crop Is considered much more lucrative than cotton when it does well in favorable sea bea seasons and under the best management the profits are very larsie larrie but it has many draw bucke bucks the plant tsan isan Is an exotic and very liable to be injured by untimely futa fota booso both early sadists and iala lala nearly neatly all the sugar lands are and subject to overflow when these embankments give way nay the planters live in constant apprehension of these calamities which are liable to come at any ivy moment and sweep weep away their crops and animals the crop of the last season was unusually large and had it not been for the bell crevasse which swept over a territory forty runes miles thre in the heart of the sugar districts it would have aen lea oe an largest ever ea in the th country |