The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1898-01-26

|
and e'rcpt fnrrow are run ut distance
Of seven feet apart from one side Of
the field to the ntlcr Then stalks Of
fresh sugar cane with their top, cut
oif are laid horizontally three SID
I side in the furrow>, the pieces over
! tapping each other until each furrow
has, a> it were, three long pipes of
cane running from one end Of it to the
/ other. Then the soil is thrown over
I these pipes with the pow. This is
( done in the fall. in the spring oil
but enc inch of the earth is scraped
! off, and under the warm sun the little
s7ccn sprouts shoot out Of the ground
making long ribbons Of green, as it
were, against the black field. They
grow rapidly and from time to time
the dirt is thrown UP 20 them. b.
August the plants are six feet in
height. They grow on until the mid
( die Of October, when they are ready to
be cut and taken to the refinery for
the making Of sugar. Sometimes the
cane is planted in the spring, but the
method of growing it is much the
same, the new cane in all cases spront-
ing from the knots Of the old. It
takes an army Of laborcrs to raise su-
gar cane, and the harvesting it entails
SO much work that all the negroes
from miles about arc called into the
service Of the planters
During my stay here hundreds Of
men have been cutting cane They
work in gangs under ovcrsecrs. From
thirty to forty negro men and women
arc in each gang. Each hand carries
Il great flat knife, about as long as
butchers clcavcr. 1t has hook on
the end and saw on the back. The
cane as it stands in the field is from
eight to fifteen feet high. The pieces
which are carried to the sugar mill are
not more than five feet in length.
The stalks must be trimmed Of their
leaves. They must be cut oil at the
top ami must be chopped of close to
the ground, as the best Of the sugar
water is found in the lower part Of the
stalk. 1t ~ wonderful how quick the
cutters do their work. AS they stand
in the fields they face what looks to
be solid wall Of cane, and they chop
their way, rs it were, right through
this wall. You sec their knives flash
ing. Every blow counts, and they
throw the stalks into piles or rather
windrows Of cane clubs. AS they work
the oversccr watches them, and q
timekcepcr goes along beside them
and sees that every man and every
woman is at work. The wages arc
very low. They get from G0c to 81 n
day, according to their skill, and arc
boarded OF the plantation. They
sleep in cabins, $. number of them ly
l, ing on the floor and getting their rest
as best they can. The hours are from
daylight until dark, and there are few
stops. At the same time that the
cane is cut great carts drawn by three
mules are driven into the field.
Another gang Of laborcrs throw the
cane into them and it is cartcd off to
the railroad track, which runs through
all parts Of the plantation. Here the
cane is hoistcd into the cars by means
of pulley. whole cart load being
put into the cars at one time. When
train lead is ready the engine carries
it to the refinery and it is turned into
sugar.
spent some time in watching the
processes Of making sugar from cane.
Nearly all the sugar made in the
ntcd States comes from cane, and
about half the sugar used in the world
is of this nature. Within the past
few years vast amount of sugar has
been manufactured out Of bccts in diff
fcrent parts Of Europe and the United
States. The most Of our sugar, how
ever, until lately came from cane.
The product now amounts to almost
1900, ,O00 tons year, and Of this full
ly 23O 900 tons are produced in the
United States. In 1894 the product
OF ouf cane sugar amounted to more
than 600, 900 900 pounds, aud we i'm
ported that year almost 1000, 600 900
pounds of cane sugar additional We
paid in 1891 Sill 900 900 fer the su-
gar VIC imported, and there is no doubt
that with the improved methods of
making sugar here all of this could be
raised in Louisiana and Texas. For
mcrly the United States paid bounty
to tho sugar producers. Since these
have been cut off the business has
dropped, and at present. am told,
fhnrn M ,nono,, r.,-..