Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1867-04-05
cannot hear Of the rsssage through here.
however, Of bodies II men such az are known
to have debarked at St Nbsns and at other
points near the border.
I Editorial Correspondence Of the Pre- Press.
From the West Indies.
TIE cane eaIture. Continued.

, straight, but heavy and strong from the solidit
Its cutter covering ard the hrmness Of it
juicy pith. The color is somstimes dull vel
low, sometimss apple green, and IN some local.
ties it is dark brown. This last color is ua
favorable TO the good color Of the sugar. Tn
richness Of the Juice varies considerably accord
ing to the soil. the exposure and the relstiv,
quantities Of moisture and sun shine which tht
plant has been favored With at the diferen
stages Of It's growth. When ''crop time that il
the time for cutting the cane and making The
sugar has come for Geld, gang Of labOrers
each armed with the bill. peculiar broad blad-
ed knife about hfteen inches in length and four
or iye inches in breadth, with a cutting edge on
one side and fat hook turned p towards the
back at the end, the handle being also Of iron
/ proceeds to the work The dry leaves Of the
cane IS called "trash - much OF this hiss fallen
of and lies tangled about the cane stalks nesr
the ground With the hook Of the bill the trash
Is cleared away and with a smart downward
snd oblique blow the cane stalk is cut of very
close to the ground The remaining dry leaves
are stripped away and the heavy tuft Of green
leaves at the top is cut of whole These tufts
are called 'long tops" and are tied up IN tun-
cles Of the size Of a small sheaf OF straw. the
tops being from elk to nine or ten feet long.
These ''long tops are used for food for the
neat cattle. mules anl horses. They make
rather coarse food. not so good Sc the guinea
grass, but are freely eaten. Not unfreQuently
when the ops are rather wilied. they are
chopped up with the bill into bits of SIX or eight
inches long and sprinkled with molassss go
prepared they are more eagerly eaten and are
more nutritious. Loads Of these "long tops"
are frequently seen on carts and wagons for
sale, and bundles Of them IN the hinder part Of
the laborers' little carts to feed the ponies with
While the owners are at market on Saturday or
at church ca Sunday. Under the Old slavery
syse1. :, Tas of.en required Of the slaves. after
the day's w1-k Was done, that they should cut
up ana br'u- home 70 the managers yard bun
lie Of wood CT grass. After the emancipation
.lis requirement Of the laborers was strictly for
bidl.. she Labor Act''-"but" continues
the during crop the laborers are expected
70 bring hone bundle Of long tops from tie
i..i shere they are at work.
The cane stalks are loaded upon carts or wsg-
gl-s Gr transportation TO the sugar works.
Where the ua,ure Of the ground makes the use
,s the cart incoavcaient, resort is hsd to the
mules. Fer this purpose an arrangement Of
IRON loas is a.t-ehed to the thick pad or pack
saddle o.. the mule-there being two bows on
each side and at such q distance from each
other So 90 ioIu a steady support for what is
plicci on them. These bows are called
crooks and the Lborers employed in this
service are called ''c4o,k boys." When sui
isieH; Load Of clues Is piled in the crooks on
both .-,s and aioDs the hack Of the mule.
light chain or rope is fastened acrcss to make
the Load secure, ard tie animal Is led or driven
to h.s destination.
Ihe cane stalks ana the long tops beng re-
novel from tie field. the whole surface Of it is
len th.okly covered with the "trash''-the
quantity Of iJ being surprisingly great. This
bed Of 'tTasL" Is LEFT to shade the surface Of
the ground from tie direct rays Of the snn till
new sheets spring up from the Old roots, to form
a second crop of canes. This process Of the cane
Is called "rait3ouing,' and the new canes are
called "rattoous When the blades Of the
raitoons are tall enough, the process Of dressing
and wedding has 10 he renewed The rsttoOn
crop Is expected to be mature for cutting in
somewhat shorter time than was necessary fer
the FIRST Planting but not To produce so much
sugar TO the acre. This process CT rattOoning
takes place again the next yeAr-sO that three
crops Of csnes, IL three successive years, are
obtained from oue original planting The sec
ond crop of raticcus is inferior in quantity to
the one before H. Il j. not found profitable to
raise a third crop OF rsttoous, except it be to
raise ssei-that is cuttings for planting, as
previously described. In the process of hoeing
AMI wedding tie Tattaous. the trash having
servel the purpose o.; shading the root, sufi-
cienily. is dug INTO the ground for manure.
When the as; crop Of rattoons Is taken off the
trash is usually cartel to the manure pens. IN
lees new planting Is intended to he made
there forthwith
After the standing cane stalks have been
topped for seed, IS above spoken Of. they must
be cut soon and ground. or they will be spoiled;
and when the cane is cut, the sooner it il ground
the better. 4 few days delay Will cause the
juice to sour. fcr which there IS no remedy.
Il is unfortunate for the plsnier, il the cut
ting is not followed soon by the grinding. In
fact the plan always j. to have the cutting,
grindiag and boiling al going on together. aud
the whole work pushed with Sll the vigor pos
sible
Formerly. when the grinding vas sll done by
viadmills, it would often happen that the wind
would fail, leaving a quantity Of cane un-
yet in use, on estates Of small size; but steam
engines are now quite extensively brought into
use, and the managers can grind when they
please. Windmills, usually Of smaller sire than
those needed to grind cane with, are in very
common use to raise water from wells. to water
the cattle with, and for the use Of the sugar
works.
The application Of the power, be it Of wind
or steam, to DO the work Of grinding. needs DO
special description. Two large smooth iron
rollers from eighteen to twentY-four inches in
diameter and from three to four feet in length are
mounted so as to turn very closely to each other.
The canes are fed in between the rollers in mo
ton, from broad trough o. hopper, the crush
ed and thoroughly squeezed ma. goes out on
the other side into an inclined shute. from
which Ii falls into cart placed below to receive
it. and the expressed juice runs out below into
q proper trough By which Ii is carried to the
CHARTERS. The dry mass Of crushed cane is
called necG,s pronounced megswse), and is
piled up in huge long piles Eve to eight or more
4