The Northern Pacific farmer. [volume] (Wadena, Minn.) 1878-1885, 1880-04-15
Amber Sugar Cane.

Amber Sugar Cane.
AS this is q subject which is inter-
esting many Of our Northern Minne-
sofa farmers, we extract the follow
ing from communication in the
Western Rural:
** X X 1: is of the utmost impor-
tances to procure good, pure seed
from cane which gave good results in
quality and quantity of syrup and
sugar. The best variety Of cane that
l have grown is the Minnesota Early
Amber, which yields from one to
three hundred gallons per acre.
Sandy land makes the best syrup.
New land makes good syrup and :.
large yield. Clay land gives good
syrup but light yield. Cane should
not be grown on freshly manfred
land, as it always makes a poor arti-
Gle Of syrup. 1t should be planted
at least one year to some other crop
before being planted to cane.
ming north and south. If possible
plant three and one halt feet apart
east and west, and fifteen to eighteen
inches north and south. Plenty OF
seed should he planted and then thin
out, SO us to leave from four to six
stalks in a hill. The ground should
he plowed ut least ten inches deep
and planted us soon us plowed. One.
halt inch is deep enough to cover the
seed.
AS soon as the cane is up it should
be hoed around the hill; great care
needs to be taken to keep the hills
free from weeds. When the cane is OF
sufficient height SO the rows can he
seen plainly, 1t Should be cultivated
and this is best done with five tooth
cultivator; the teeth should be small,
or at least the outside ones, which
allows one to get close to the cane
and not cover it up. Cane needs no
cultivation after it is three feet in
height; indeed, cultivating after that
INJURIES the cane.
There are a great many different
opinions in regard to the right time
to cut cane. Some say cut when the
seed is in the dough, while others
maintain that it should stand until
ripe. My experience is, that it will
make more syrup ifcut when the seed
is in the milk, and will granulate
much sooner than when allowed to
stand until ripe. Cane should be cut
when the seed is in the milk or dough-.
and put under cover, letting it remain
there ten days or two weeks before
being worked. Cane can be kept one,
two or three months, if kept from
freezing, without injury.
Good machinery and good dry wood
are two of the most essential things
needed in making good syrup and
sugar. Without these we may ex-
pect poor results. Cane juice in it's
crude state contains q variety OF i'm
purities, such as fragments of cane,
particles of earth and like matter that
can be removed by filtration. AS
cane Juice in it raw state contains a
certain per cent. OF acid which needs
to be removed, this can he done by
the use of lime. AS cane that is
grown on MANFRED land containes Il
larger per cent. of acid, it can best be
tested with litmus paper. A strip OF
blue litmus paper being dipped into
cane juice will be changed from blue
to red. Lime should DC added until
no tint of red appears. If too much
lime has been added, by dipping Il
strip OF red litmus paper into the
juice it will be changed from red to
blue. More juice should he added
i until no tint Ut blue appears on the
red litmus paper. No juice should
he allowed TO stand longer then six
hours: better to boil Immediately af-
ter being ground out. '..
The following are the cost and pro-
fits OF raising cane compared with
wheat: