New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1879-07-19
SOUTHERN AGRICULTURE.
BY soLON ROBINSON.

n or latitude 32l2o, but that's one OF TWO oe-
-. zoo far north to make planting ior sus",
- cnite certain and profitable. Another Ainu u
s,gar cana sorghum sdcchGrotam' Reneia"S -" 49,,
40 "Chinese sugar cane." has oeen coi'S,''o.
Crown az far north as Chicago ou. - - -.
make gar readily, though 1t does yio'u -
"a. ,roIitv If syrup. The true sugar cane "nen
.Ai, 49,, a4,od contains an abundance OF sweet
So which. when sufficiently eyaporaVeu "
80, ~ hoilinc IN open kettles, readily graduates
- Lo,5,onno light sraw-oolOred, coarse-grain0u
- Tho appearance of u cane-heid Is noV un
$40 90 sowed or drilled corn as IL is grown
:. .,o North for fodder, although 1t attalhs
- b.i,bt-sometmes eight or ten teeti pu'
-, 70 ever bears seed in this country as IL
pI,n+ing sugar cane is really planting the canes
4. .La bo+tom of furrow opened in the bed pre-
- .ornoyvbat as have described for cotton. The
zones which grow from every joint OF tine seeu
oa,e being cut the roots are LETT undsturoeu' anu
- second CROP. which Is usually better THAN
. srst This is technically known as hrst rat-
,oo,sg The second rattOon crop Is sometimes equal
a. the first and in some localities third rattoons also
,,ote a paving crop. In Louisiana the usual prac-
tice is to break up and rcPlant the Held after 'he
third harvest
a,d Mississippi and ali of Florida, there are scarcely
sugar plantations of considerable size this side
o. I.,pisiana and Texas. There were some during
10 English occupancy of Florida. hundred years
400 and again after the territory was acquired by
.be United States but these were all destroyed III
tse Seminole war aud never rebuilt.
COST OF SUGAR PLANTATIONS
One reason why cottOn-culture takes precedence
=, supar Is the great expense Of the establishment Of
A large sugar plantation. Many Of those in Louisi-
aua cost $4,000 each. When one ls once started
Upon suitable soIl like some of the very rch
hammock lands OF Florida of which there arc vast
ouantIues rnoecuped. OF upon the banks OF the
Mississippi aud other favorable locations IN
Louisiana and Texas the profits per acre ana per
hand employed are probably larger than rom any
other farming in this country. In 1o4J visited
many of the Louisiana sugar plantations and took
careful statistics. l find now By examining my
notebooks that the yield Of twenty plantations OIL
tie river above New-OIleans and upon Btvou
La Fourche averaged, upon G,s35 arpeuts Of cane
cut and ground. one and fonr-tenths hogsheads Of
sugar and seventy gallons OF olasses, and that tGs
rave an average upon the field hands employed Of
AK and three-fOurths hOgsheads OF sugar and 4IZ-2
gallons of mOlasses.
The arpent of land, the universal measurement Of
old plan tatOns. is usually estimated as ve-sxths of
an acre, though believe that among the several
French land measures, that in use In Louisiana is
us arpents TO 100 acres. A commercial hOgShead
OF sugar is 900 pounds, which is the base of my
estimates. The average value that year of sugar On
the plantation was cents pound, and Of molasses
il cents gallon, which gives the result Of Sa@2 90
per hand.
STATISTICS OF PROFIT.
The yield upon the capital invested in a sugar
NAV he saeu from OF
one of the best of twenty places enumerated in the
above estimates. II contained LOCO arpents of land
capable Of being cultivated without uaehine drain
ago, 1000 of which were already In cultivation,
and the whole tract was valued at $50 per crpent.
There were attached l, 400 arpents Of swamp land.
which would require steaIn-DOwer drainage when
ever brought into use. There were then upon the
place POI slaves. valued at 800 each-SsO 400. The
value Of the place, independent Of Slaves, bat In
GLIDING all tools, teams, machinery and ample build
ings, was S125s6 The annual expenses were
S9419 and the actual sales Of the year was there
we're $40. 5G0 A good many persons have tried
within the past twelve years, to produce similar re-
suits with hired labor, and have signay failed. If
there had been more experience and less eXpecta-
tions more money and less credit there would have
been greater success upon the part of Of these
new adventures IN sugsr-plsnting Even money IN
abundance is not alone sufficient TO insure success
since have known some very severe disappoint-
1nents where money was layishlY expended. Yet I
have no doubt that sugar cultivation may be ten
fold increased In the States named, and very large
profits made upon the capital employed. That il is not
ahus increased is not for want of suitable land but
the wautof capital. Hafth StateO Florida, atle&t
g. good cane land. capable of producing two hogs
heads of sugar per with one-half the manuring
that Connecticut farmer would consider indispcns-
able for corn crop. And the land suitable for cane
in Florida be cultivated at half the expense re
CURED upon the majority of cane lands In Louisiana
particularly on "tne coast" the Mississippi
shores are called, where expensive levees have to
be maintained and OF the land requires steam
power drainage, and all Of 1t strong teams and
heavy plougbs. Besides, II is often 30 muddy at
cutting time that mule can scarcely move an
empty cart a-feis, and so it is common TO harness
three abreast.
Upon the light lands of Florida the cane does not
grow large or tall as in Louisiana, but as it is in
less danger Of frost il usually rpens quite TO the
Top. and makes much sugar as the Louisiana cane
and generally Of a better quality-the moasses de-
cldedly So THIS is tue fact, notwithstanding the
crude appliances for its manufacture among the
common fsrmers, nearly all Of whom raise a little
cane for family use, aud many of whom living near
towns, make quite a business Of selling canes to he
eaten out Of hand, mostly by the negroes, who have
ioI It remarkable fondness / have often seen ten
OF dozen sitting along the street each with a cane
q which he was at work harder than he would like
- be IN the field. OF course it will be unders GOD
that II Is the pith only that is eatable, ana in the
absence Of knife the hard rind must be peeled off
with the tech. Fortunately, a negrO's teeth are
generally sufficient for the work.
The cultivation of cane is about the same as that
OF corn; the cutting, hauling and grinding are
heavy work. and occupy all the hands and teams
Oh plantation. About one-fourth of the crop must
be saved for seed and this is put up in mattresses