SUGAR-CANE (Socellarum officinarum). A tropical and subtropical grass, originally a na tive of the East Indies. It was brought to Europe by the Crusaders, and in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries found its way into all the European colonies in the tropics. In Europe the cultivation of the sngar-cane has always been limited almost wholly to Sicily and Andalusia.
In China it extends to latitude 30° N., and in North .Xinerica to 32° ; in the Southern Hemi sphere only to latitude 22' S. The plant is a perennial with a creeping root, sending up a number of many-jointed diN ersely colored stems, generally S to 12 feet high, 1 to 2 inches thick, and filled for about two-thirds of their length with a loose, sweet, juicy pith. The leaves are ribbon-shaped, 4 to 5 feet long, with a strong midrib. The flowers are in great diffuse pyram idal panicles a yard long.
Sugar-cane requires a deep rich soil and abun dant moisture (hiring the growing season. Low alluvial soils near the sea are preferable. The and is prepared with very large plows. The plants are propagated by cuttings. For this purpose the top joints are planted in rows 5 to 7 feet apart. Usually two continuous lines of canes are planted in the row. The largest varieties, in rich, moist soils, attain a height of twenty feet ; but in dry, poor soils the height is sometimes scarcely more than six feet. The plant tillers like wheat, but not to the same degree. The cane ground is kept clean by shallow cultivation. The best varieties are ready for cutting in about eight or ten months from the time of planting, but other varieties require from twelve to twenty months.
When the canes are fully ripe they are cut a little above the ground, stripped of their leaves, and tied in bundles. Fresh canes, called rattoons, spring from the root, so that the plantation does not require to be renewed for several years: but the canes of the first crop are the largest, and a gradual decrease of size takes place. The ordinary practice on sugar estates is to renew a part of the plantation every year. The sugar content of the cane ordinarily grown has for some time averaged about 10 per cent. Sugar cane production is usually carried on by large plantations. It is a business of great risks, but large profits. It requires a large and sure source of labor, especially at harvest. The yield of sugar varies greatly. In regions with a fertile soil, irrigation, and improved methods of culture about live tons of sugar per acre is produced. Yields of over ten tons per acre are authenti cated. In Hawaii, where sugar-cane production has reached its highest perfection, yields of even fourteen tons of sugar per acre are known. This is obtained only by frequent plantings and scien tific fertilization and irrigation of the crop. The leaves are sometimes used for feeding cattle. Efforts made by the Louisiana Experiment Sta tion to make silage from sugar-cane refuse were unsuccessful, owing to the alcoholic and acetic fermentation induced by the residual sugar. The pressed residue from the mill, known as bagasse, is used for fuel. It is also employed as a fer tilizer. See SUGAR, :Al ANUFACTERE or.