The Florida agriculturist. [volume] (DeLand, Fla.) 1878-1911, 1880-08-11
Varieties of the Sugar-Cane.
NUMBER VI.

Sugar is one OF the great articles
of export from Brazil, forming about
one.sixth of the total value OF the
shipments. 1t has not made the
same progress that coffee has done;
its culture has indeed in some prov
inces been stationary, owing to the
preference given to the growth OF
coffee and cotton, which are for many
reasons supposed to be more advan-
tageous to the planter, as requiring
less capital and labor. The culture
of the sugar cane is in general car
ried on IN the most primitive manner,
and owing to the rudeness OF the
machinery and the want OF knowl.
edge of the latest and most improved
processes of manufacture, the quality
OF Brazilian sugar is. with some few
exceptions OF note, greatly inferior
to HAT Of other Amerlcah countries.
However, in this as in most other
matters the Brazilians are seeking TO
put themselves on an equality with
other nations, and many enterprlslng
planters are availing themselves OF
the latest improvements that ma
chinists and scientific men have
placed at their disposal. The sugar
cane can be grown in almost every
part of Brazil, but is raised chiefly In
the provinces of Rio Janeiro, San
Paulo, Bahia, Pernambuco, Parahyba,
Ceara, Alagoas, and Rio Grande do
Norte.
The average annual value Of the
sugar exported is about 2,5OO,OOOI
The larger planters manufacture
their molasses into rum, but many OF
the small growers produce a superior
quality OF spirit, which is much
priced.
The variety OF cane grown by pref
erence now in this country is the Sa-
langore, or the Cayenne cane, so
long in use, from the negligence ex-
hibited in its culture, became victim
to the epidemic that attacked it,
whereby it lost all its saccharine
qualities. 1t is said that the Salan-
gore cane gives an amount OF sacch-
arlne almost fabulous; its vegetation
is most luxuriant, requiring little
care. But all recent introductlons
in Brazil present the same phenomena
'. Al ne onset. as was the case VIII
the Cayenne cane; and such new
substitutes will be of little avail IT
the method and care in It's cultlva-
ton be carried out in the old fashion.
About seventeen varieties OF this
plant have been acclimatized and Gull
tivated in Brazil, and considerable
quantities of plants are annually dis
tributed to planters by the Imperial
Institute of Agriculture here.
The Salangore cane is now more
attacked by the disease than its pre-
decessor, and to such a degree that
very few districts are exempted from
that plague.
The whole belt of soil from the
Amazon to San Paulo is suitable to
the cultivation of the sugar-cane al
though it is more fully developed IN
the northern provinces of Pernam-
buco, Alagoas, Sergipe, Bahia and
Rio Janeiro.
It's cultivation is remunerauve, eS-
pecially the species called Salangore,
which yields IL to IA per cent. OF
Juice. In new lands a single hectare
Yields 100000 kilogrammes during
fifteen months. An active, intelll-
gent laborer is supposed TO take care
of two hectares, which would pro-
duce 1000 'kilogrammes Of sugar,
worth 1902. The cost Of production
in Rio, where wages are high, is
about 14l. per hectares, leaving net
profit on two hectares OF 6O[ But
the profit is greater when the condl-
ton Of the land admits OF the use OF
the plow and other improvements.
IN the manufacture OF sugar great
advantage has attended the use OF
steam as the boiling medium OF
liquids at low temperature, and that
OF turbines tor the forced clearing OF
the crystallized materials.
The exports OF sugar from the port
of Bahia in 1866 were about $4,000
tons, and the average of the proceed
ing twenty-five years was only 4l,0OO
tons. The cultivation OF sugar IN
Bahia, incontestably at one time the
most fom4shing III the province, has
of late years, from the invasion of a
malady in the caue, giving unsatls'
factory results, probably through the
exhaustion OF the soil, upon which
crop after crop was cultivated, with
out system OF science.
M III ,,,stn,n Of ,,lantinC a.