Fergus County argus. [volume] (Lewistown, Mont.) 1886-1946, 1897-02-11
IN T CANEBRAKES.
Picturesque Life In the South
Atlantic States.
where the Negroes Revel In the
Sweetness of the Can1Thes Sugar
Industry of Georgia and
Florida

The ~canebrakes 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 rur-
suit in Georgia and is fast becoming a
prominent feature in Florida. The
transient visitor to these states, how
ever, rarely sees the can 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 tito
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, and il
was not ~infrequent hat 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
produced order from chaos. The fact
that the tilling of the cane as well as
the grinding 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 a picturesque phase of our
national life is this pursuit as followed
in the south Atlantic states.
The mode of raising sugar cane i'm
Georgia differs in man., respects from
the practice of the Louisiana planters.
In the latter stale 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 hrst
planting of the cane, and much vdlma-
BILE ground is wasted, for between the
rows a deep furrow or ditch mus be
made for drainage. In planting,
pieces of sugar cane containing two or
more ''eyes" or joints are placed in the
ground. When fall comes and the
grain is cut the roots throw out new
branches of suckers, which are known
as r%atoons and these form the begin
ming of h next crop, and so on year by
year until the vitality of the stock is
exhausted. In Louisiana cane must he
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 il does so regularly along the At
lantic coast. The yield in the creole
state is about 1000 pounds per acre, but
near Savannah the planters get 800
to 1900 pounds per acre, equal to %
barrels of strip. A good cant will yield
over a gallon of juice and its height
varies from 6 TO IL feet. 1t is usual to
plant corn between the rows of zane.
and as the former is taken in long he
fore November, when the cane is ready
to cut, the two make good compa,io ion
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
illness, 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-
n%otonous tramp around the circle worn
deep by many earlier generations of
mules at the same task.
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 effect is
very similar to the ancient saw con
corning the mills OF the gods. How
ever, the juice quickly makes its aP
pearance in the funnel beneath the
rolls, and it is led to a barrel, the mout
of which is covered with coarse cloth.
acting as a 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
a 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 a thick, sticky.
scmi-fuid 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
l'the natives. A general holiday and Gel
ebration usually follows the close of
sugar-making, and in the degree that
the turnout has been satisfactory. the
fun swells or GIBBS.
The chewing or sucking of green
cane is a universal habit i'm the sugar
belt, INT the juicy stalks take the place
of sweetmeats in many a humble cab
in. while forming a dainty by no mean
despised in higher circles.-N. Y. Re
| corder.