The Abbeville banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1847-1869, 1857-04-30

employed man named NORM, who bat
attained practical experience in st. Domin
so. IN cultivating cane and making suror
but owing to want of means, or fenr O
failure, Mendez could only succeed in ma
King Il lew barrels of sugar in 1891: II,
even tried TO refine it, for he presented /,
i'o2' to Don Rrndon then Spansl, Intrn
dant OF Louisiana, Il few small loayes al
"i''le sugar. one OF wllici, WAS about enough
10 sweeten two cups of coffee.
At grand dinner which he gave to IN,
New Orleans authorities tha, wear the In
tcndant. ut the dessert, called attention T.,
these loavcs, rs production VI Louisiana
manufactured by MrnLe2. Thus NY I, ,h,,
time sugar was made only in small QUAINT;
Ties, and eNh!Mtcd aS y curiosity.
l" 1882. E,ienne Bore, Planter. few
Mics above The CITY finding his Indigo crops
ia'i, conceived the idea ot mcn,lius his bro,
Ken fortunes Ivy making sugar Ills rrr
l"et was looked up,n rs ch;mc,ical. ami
every endeavNr was made Wv friends and
relatives {" deter HIM nut bore was :,
man "t great enterprise anl perseverance,
IL" bought canes M Mcm.'rz. ani ma,', a
plantation i"r ,ha, tim" M ,ru>i,lc,al,'. c>-
tent. lie rmrloyel Mr,in. M whom We
have already spoken. tr hm''I sugar works
similar to those in 81. Domingo. and 4, ,,ut
them IN operation. al salary M Sl..,00
rrr annnm. Tw" v"a,S were consumed in
planting and building. \, length, in tho
third year. N1?3.l their expectation began
+" hr realized, aud 1896 proved triumph
IL Bore: his difficulties were overcome.
and his crop brought $l3O0O-a most
gratifying result. This powerful incentive
ro'lSrd him to further efforts. anL this
branch Of industry WAS ti,cncr:u,,h firmly
established in Louisiana
Many planters. clat,d hv his success, fol-
lowed Lis example and immediately began
To erect the Necessary apparatus. Among
the first were the lscrs, the Cabarets, the
Rrggios, and Macartys; the numbers con-
tinued swelling, and i'll proved eminen,ly
successful.
At that time, viz, 1907, there were but
two varieties of sugar cane in Louisiana the
Malabar, or Bengal, and the Otahcile; these
have disappeared, or nearly SO, having given
place to the purpi or red ribbon cane of
Java OF Batavia. The latter produces two
varieties, the one good, the other worthless,
which we shall Gcscrbe elsewhere.
1t is not known ut what time the Otalie.
ltan variety was first brought to Louisiana:
hut 1t was doubtless brought from the West
Indies, probably from St. Domingo, towards
l79G, or 1907.
The rcd or purple ribbon cane, rs we
have said, is native Of Java, and probably
Of some other parts of India. The Dutch
iiad already met with it in Bat;,via. i'm n
state OF cultivation. They introduced it
about the middle Of the last century TO st.
Enstatius, Curacoa, Guiana, and Surinaln.
il thence was sprea,! over al! the West In
dia Islands and part of the American con-
tinci.t.
In 1914, or thcreabouts, an American
schooner from St. Euslatius, Dutch colo
ny, imported Il few bundles of tins cane in.
to Savannah, Ga. They were planted bv
Mr. King, not far from the mouth OF St-
vannall river, Oh ST. Simon's Island. They
grew well, and Mr.. King began to manu-
hclurc sugar.
In lSl7, Il dozen or SO Of the plauts were
brought to New Orleans by John JOS. Col
ron, who planted them in his garden mt
Tcrrc aux Bnufs. Having succeeded ad-
mrably i'll these, Mr.. Coiron in 1925 i'm
ported a sloop load from Savannah, which
he planted on his estate, known as the St.
Sophie Plantation, about tlirtv-six miles
below New Orleans. This property has
since belonged succcssivcly to Laurent Mil.
Iaudon and Alexander Lesscps. Thence
originated the ribbon cane or Javanese.
which is the one most generally grown in
Louisiana.
The red or purple ribbon cane and violet
which is degenerate specics) are the two
best varieties ever cultivated in Louisiana.
They arc hardy. and are not injured 10y
cold OF two or three degrees of the Cent?
grade Thermometer. They are, however,
not worth the Otalleitan or the Salanror in
tropical regions. They are less juicy than
the Malabar. Bengal, Tana or Otahcitan; !;
and although their juice is a little impure.
it possesses excellent manufacturing quail
ties when mature. These varieties have
made the fortunes Of the planters of Louisi-
ana. They only have stood the severity Of
the seasons; the other kinds are not suita-
bic to the climate Of Louisiana. The plan
tcrs Of this State owe to John Jos. Coiron,
Il debt which should bc recognized and pail
by statue or some public monument
equally lasting and conspicuous. lie died
about twenty-five years ago, without hav-
ing lived to realize or anticipate the extent
Of the benefits and wealth lie had conferred
on Louisiana. j. B. AVEQU!N.
--~s..
"M Faror Of Me Hog."-John Smith
was tried in Alabama for stealing hog
worth one dollar and half. The thcil
was proved beyond the shadow of n doubt.
The jury retired, to make up their verdict,
to an adjacent grove of trees, and were
not out long before they returned with a
verdict of "guilty of hog stealin' in fust de-
gree" The Judge told them that the ver-
dict was proper, except that they had
omitted to assess the value Of the property
stolen, and that thcre was no degree to hog
stealing, and to retire again and bring in