The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1896-11-19
DOWN IN SUGAR LAND.
Life in the Canebrakes of Georgia and
Florida.

l flOrIua.
The canebralIes of Georgia and Flor
| ida are but little known, as compared
with the sugar plantations of Louisiana
and Cuba, but the making of sugar and
| molasSes has long been a favored iur-
| suit in Georgia and is fast becoming a
! prominent feature in Florida. The
| transient visitor to these states how
| ever, rarely sees the cane growing or
| witnesses the crude processes or sugar
| manufacture here in vogue, for the rea-
| son hat the canebrakes are usually far
away from the beaten paths of travel
and accessible by devious and not plto-
gether attractive byways.
Before the war almost every planter
in southern Georgia had his cane patch
and mill whereby he made his supply
| OF low grade sugar and molasses for
home use or for sale and barter ard it
was not infrequent that an excellent
| article of rum was produced from the
| same source.
From the wreck of these great plan
| tations after the war the former
owners and the erstwhile slaves slowly
!
that the tilling of the cane as well as
BE hiding and boiling of the juice
! had been left entirely to the slaves was
! the cause which led to the now general
condition of the Georgia sugar indus
try being largely in the hands OF ne
! grOes. And picturesque phase of our
national life is this pursuit as followed
In the south Atlantic states.
The mode of raising sugar cane in
| Georgia differs in many respects from
the practice of the Louisiana planters.
| In the latter state the heavy and wet
soil often makes necessary the employ
ment of three and four mules to each
| pillow in breaking the soil for the first
! planting of the cane, and much valua-
Bile ground is wasted, for between the
rows a deep furrow or ditch must be
made for drainage. In planting,
| pieces of sugar cane containing two or
more eyes" or joints are placed III the
ground. When fall comes and the
| grain is cut the roots throw out new
branches of suckers, which are known
as ratoons, and these form the begin
ming of the next crop, and so on year by
wear until the vitality of the stock is
exhausted. In Louisiana cane must be
renewed every three or four years,
while in Georgia and Florida one plant
ing will last for seven or nine years.
In Louisiana the cane rarely tassels,
while it does so regularly along the At
lantic coast. The yield in the creole
| - 81, I i,
near Savannah the planters get 800
to 1000 pounds per acre, equal to 20
barrels of sirup. \ good cane will yield
over gallon of juice and its height
varies from to ~ feet. 1t is usual to
| plant corn between the rows of cane,
and as the former is taken in Ions be-
fore November, when the cane is ready
to cut, the two make good cOmpan ion
J crops.
! When the cane is ready to cut begins
the happy season of the negroes. The
ancient cane mill is tinkered up and
cleaned for yet another period of use
fitness, barrels are coppered, furnaces
/ looked after and the boiling kettles
secured and polished. The single mule
on the place is attached to the long
sweep of the mill and begins the mo-
notonous tramp around the circle worn
deep by many earlier generations of
mules at the same taslS.
The cane is fed to the vertical rollers
at a speed equal to the pace of the mo-
tive power and as the mule is usually Of
venerable age and the negro is rather
languid in his movements, the effert is
very similar to the ancient saw con
corning the mills of the gods. How
ever, the juice quickly makes its up
pearance in the funnel beneath the
! rolls, and it is led to a barrel, the mouth
of which is covered with coarse cloth,
acting as sieve. The color of the sap
is gray, foamy ash, and by no means in
viting, but it is eagerly drank by the
plantation hands, and in consequence
close watch is kept upon the precious
liquid by the owner.
From the mill the juice is taken to
the boiling kettles or pans and after
many hoilings and skimmings over
fires fed by the refuse cane or trash"
the sap is reduced to thick, sticky,
semi fluid mass, which is ladled into
hogsheads and set away to cool. The
liquid portions of the sap drip into re-
ceivers and form the molasses so dear
to negroes hearts. The solid residue is
sugar, none too clean and none too at
tractive for others, but all sufficient for
the natives. A general holiday and Gel
ebration usually follows the close of
sugar-making, and in the degree that
the turn out has been satisfactory, the
fun swells or GIBBS.
! The chewing or sucking of green
cane is a universal habit in the sugar
belt and the juicy stalks take the place
of sweetmeats in many humble cab
in, while forming a dainty by no means
despised in higher circles.-N. Y. Re
corder.