CANE SUGAR.
Historical.— Although sugarcane (Saccha rum oflicinarum) is now cultivated in all tropi cal and semi-tropical countries, its origin and that of its manufacture into sugar date back,to the remotest antiquity and both remain some what in obscurity. However the majority of evidence traces sugarcane to India as the home of its origin, though George Richardson Porter in his work entitled 'The Nature and Proper ties of Sugar Cane,' says, °The strongest proofs, carefully collected horn the authorities of ancient and modern times, lead to the con clusion that China was the first country in which sugarcane was cultivated and its produce mann f actured.* Another author ( Prinsen Geerligs) states, °No real preparation is re corded before about 600 A.D., at which time a Chinese emperor sent a man to learn the art of sugar-making in India, for in the year 500 A.D., white sugar is mentioned as being shipped from India to Europe.* The views of Dr. H. W. Wiley and Prof. W. C. Stubbs agree with Prinsen Geerligs. In the 8th century sugarcane was extensively cultivated in the Nile delta and in this century the Arabs introduced it into Sicily and from there it was transported to Spain. It appears that the sugarcane was car ried into Siam, Ceylon and Japan from China. A sugar trade existed between Syria and France in the 12th century. From France it was trans ported to Holland, from Holland to Italy and thence to Germany. Sugarcane was introduced into Santo Domingo soon after the discovery of America and from there it spread to Cuba and adjacent islands. It was introduced into Mexico in 1520, Brazil in 1532, Martinique in 1650 and Guadeloupe in 1644. It continued to spread through South America.
The manufacture of sugar up to this time was very crude. Inefficient mills operated by wind, water or oxen, were used for extraction; lime, clay and ashes as purifying agents; the evaporation was effected in open copper or iron pans placed directly over the fire and the re fining consisted in melting, boiling and recrystal izing. These crude methods exist yet in some countries, especially in districts where cane is grown for making syrup and very crude sugar. Sugarcane was introduced into Louisiana from Santo Domingo by the Jesuits in 1751. Dubeuil built the first cane-mill and his efforts at manu facturing failed. The first refined sugar was made by Antonio Mendez in 1792, but the first refined sugar on a commercial scale was made in 1794 by Etienne De Bore. The plantations of these two planters now form a part of the city of New Orleans.
The variety of cane grown by them was called °Creole.* The principal present varieties, °stripped° and °purple,* were intro duced in 1820 by Mr. Coiron the first to use the steam-engine for extraction. He secured them from a planter in Savannah, Ga. These varieties are natives of Java and their intro duction into this State gave agreat impetus to the new industry. Dr. W. C. Stubbs, while director of the sugar experiment station of Louisiana, introduced two seedling canes known as D-74 and D-95, which have proved very superior to any varieties grown previously; the former is a green cane and better than the latter, which is purple. Since the success of Bore the industry has continued and reached its maximum yield, 710,827,438 pounds, in 1894 95, while other Southern States (chiefly Texas and Florida) the same year produced 18,565, 123 pounds, making a total of about 325,621 long tons. Alabama, Mississippi and Georgia grow cane extensively, on a small scale, for the manufacture of syrup which is also produced in Louisiana, Florida and Texas. • Cane grows from 5 to 15 feet in height and from one to two inches in diameter. It is made up of short sections con nected by nodes or knots, the spaces between the nodes being termed inter-nodes or joints. The nodes have on them a bud or eye and are made up largely of non-saccharine content, while the inter-nodes contain most of the sugar. With proper conditions of temperature, moist ure and soil the eye swells, bursts and puts forth a young cane which emerges from the soil with one leaf (being endogenous) which is rolled and tapers to a sharp point. In a few days a leaf is observed, which givesplace to a bud. As the plant grows leaves are formed on alternate sides of the nodes and below the eyes. The leaves grow to a length of about three feet, two inches wide at the base and taper grace fully to a point. When only a few weeks old, the plant will begin to exhibit nodes and inter nodes, which are at first green. As the plant matures some continue green, while others be come purple, striped, yellowish-green, etc., the color depending on the variety, of which there are a great many. As the cane matures the first leaves (those at the bottom) turn yellow, lose vitality, dry up and fall off, leaving the lower portion of the stalk bare while the upper portion continues green, succulent and grow ing until killed by frost or arrested by maturity, when it flowers and seeds. It is only is tropi cal countries that cane flowers and the time required for this is from 12 to 15 months.