Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1894-06-12
SWEETS OF THE SOIL
Raising Sugar Cane Is Profitable Il you
Know How.
THE LOUISIANA PLANTATION.
v.ur sur.r Planter IL Baron OF MOIST"
Times Master Of Acres
and Employer Of Hundreds
washington Post.)

u,,,,r., nursuit that Is Tar an"
the most profitable known IN ''e .,,,n.
So 7, ia the very romance OIL u'ins
80 .o,, II is called sugar-pianting' ana
exists chiefly In Louisiana. Inc -
sugar raising in this state III '"e
,a., wears has caused won"e'i"'
IN the area devoted to sugar In
,Sss tho crop was 1888 hogsheans oI
,hout 1 200 pounds each In 1885 !" was
as. ,ss hogsbeads. and In 1880 42o,42o hogs
-. we're made, while last year the
state OF Louisiana made 4So'ozz hossheaue
., sugar. The largest crop ever Hiaoe III
tho state was In the year the war oe
s,an dsso- CD, 45s.19 hogsheads. SO II WIZ
-. soor that Louisiana has attained the
zoos, Weld of sugar under the best CON-
,,,,ors of slavery. Besides the great crop
Of sugar OF last year, there were Hao'
II 40 SO gallons Of molasses'
The Louisiana planter on a big estate,
one saw. like the Belle Alliance, Is great
ha ron. He owns the store twnich soihe>
times does a business OF SO,@o per year,
the post-ofiice, the schoolhouse' ana the
church. He has a good physician haiu oy'
frequently on n Ntdilg So
Justice of the peace on the place ana al
oo1snders OF a minor sort are dealt with
then and there, which means where the
oSsence was committed. The church is tor
ali the hands on the place. The Metho-
dsta NAV have Il one Sunday ana the
Raptists the next. only the service must
he conducted in an orderly way ana au-
iourn al a proper hour at night. The ave-
rage negro on the plantation is prone 10
What he calls "gittin' 'ligion.' the pro-
cess usually begins about inc utne
OF the Christmas holidays. He wouId
shout and sing until morning " there
was no check put upon MN pu, ."e
nIanter who owns the church and fitted
n IN decently regulates these matters
Ar 10 o'clock the lights must go out In
the church. and out they go. no matter
how fervid the services may be. the
sreat sugar estates are too large to per-
nit the small children 70 go so FAR TO
school so the planter builds schoolhousc
near 10 the quarters for the children OF
his hands, and pays in many cases the
teachers. -.
His own children have a governess I'M
IN they are big enough to go away.
SO much for the menage or sugar
estate. 1t would be difficult TO ind any
thing In America of such picturesque
nne sugar plantation. such place as
Won will see along the Mississippi river
from Baton Rouge down, or on la
Fourche or the Teche If the residence
IL hack from the river-for our sugar
plantations are on stream Of some
sort-there will be fine drive quarter
or a half mile hong from the public high-
way to the big house" shaded on each
side with splendid live-oaks. The resi-
dence will be surrounded with orange.
lemon, lime, shaddock, sSeander, ana
magnolia trees, and roses OF every KIND
run riot, blooming each month Of the
year in the open air.
THE TINE TO PLANT CANE.
Sugar-cane Is planted either in the
autumn or In the spring II the planter
has the time. he prefers TO plant in the
autumn. IL the cane is not planted until
spring II is either piled In great mats,
and is covered over lightly. or three or
four rows are laid together and covered
up with cane-blades and light layer
of earth on top until time to plant ii in
the spring. There is no seed on sugar
cane, such as sorghum has. The stalk
itself is laid down In the furrow and
covered up. From each joint there will
come up single slender shoot, and
around this shoot after awhile will APP
pear thirty or forty stalks OF cane.
Sugar-cane in Louisiana lasts three
years for one planting. The first year
IL is called the plant-cane, then II comes
up from the old roots two more years.
and IL called first and second years
ten years after II is planted.
one cause for the great increase In
the area OF sugar culture rs the growth
of cane by small planters. Before the
war this was not common. But all this
has been changed. Now a negro may
rent thirty or forty acres OF land and
will put ten Of II in sugar cane. This
cane he sells In the fall to the nearest
planter. Last year 1t brought 1875 per
ton. An acre will yield from twenty TO
twenty-eght tons OF cane. and ton will
make from 80 to $50 pounds of sugar IN
ordinary times. Last year the crop was
wondrously large. in some instances as
much as 1900 pounds TO the acre in
favored localities
The culture of sugar cane by the negro
or white small farmer is a great thing
for him and for the State. 1t gives him
from $1,000 TO 5000 in cash at the end OF
the year. He has grown already his corn
and potatoes and has two or three fat
hogs ready to be made up into pork and
bacon at Christmas Every month some
vegetable in his garden ripens. The eli
mate Is very mild and the firewood Is I'm
the forest for the getting
Each negro hand on a plantation has
not only a house furnished him free, but
an acre and a half OF ground besides for
his garden. In a soil that will grow $50
10 300 bushels OF Irish potatoes 10 the
acre, and almost as many sweet potatoes,
there Is no trouble In getting an ample
supply OF these vegetables. The negro
likes best potatoes, sweet and Irish, cab
bage, turnips, and of course. some water
melons and pumpkins. He is allowed
Saturday afternoons to cultivate his own
little patch, and a mute will be loaned
him TO do such ploughing as may be
needfui.
FAMOUS SUGAR PLANTATIONS.
There are in Louisiana twenty sugar
producing parishes proper. although
nearly all the country south of Red river
will grow fairly good cane. The parish Of
Rapids marks the furthest distance north
In the Stale In which sugar Is the stand
ard crop. Ii Is equally good for cotton In
that parish, too and one place up there
last year made 1000 hogsheads of sugar
OF go pounds each, 30 bales of cotton,
and 2f.000 barrels OF corn.
The largest sugar crop made on Red
river was that of McCracken Brothers,
in the parish of Avoyelles II was 1850
hogsheads, or 2000,O0o pounds. Some Of the
big crops of Western Louisiana were:
Alfred Monnot, in the parish of Iberia, on
the Teche mot far from Joseph Jeffer-
sons, the actors plantaton). made on the
Vaufray plantation. $4,000 pounds In
the parish OF ST. Mary, Nine. Aglae Bur-
gieres. an energetic widow, who Is among
the best planters in the parish, grew in
1881, 2.lSS0O0 pounds, and last year $780,
900 pounds OF fine white sugar The
bounty alone on her crop last year was
$4,000.
There Is a big colony OF Chicago mil
lionaires In Louisiana who always spend
a part OF the winter over on the Teche.
They live in section of country that,
for picturesque beauty, Is unexcelled by
anything on this side OF the big water.
They went there primarily because the
climate was very mAd and the country
charming TO look at and full OF life and
health The same reasons took Joe JEFF
ferson little higher up on the Teche.
where he own $500 acres OF land lying
inside Of the lake. that is shaped Ike a
horseshoe.