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


and great burrows are run at distance
of seven feet apart from one side OF
the field to the other. Then stalks OF
fresh sugar cane with their tops cut
off are laid horizontally three side by
side in the furrows, the pieces over
tapping each other until each furrow
has, as it were, three long pipes OF
cane running from one end Of it to the
other. Then the soil is thrown over
these pipes with the plow. This is
done in the fall. In the spring all
but enc inch of the earth is scrapsd
off, and under the warm sun the little
gseen sprouts shoot out ofthe 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 to them. BY
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 spr0ut-
ing from the knots Of the old. 1t
takes an army Of laborers to raise su-
gar cane, and the harvesting it entails
SO much work that all the negroes
from miles about are called into the
service Of the planters.
During my stay here hundreds Of
men have been cutting cane. They
work in gangs under overseers. From
thirty to forty negro men and women
are in each gang. Each hand carries
great fat knife, about as long as a
butchers cleaver. It 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 off at the
top and must be chopped off close to
the ground, as the best Of the sugar
water is found in the lower part of the
stalk. It's wonderful how quick the
cutters do their work. As they stand
in the fields they face what looks to
be a solid wall Of cane, and they chop
their way, as it were, right through
this wall. You see their knives fash
ing. Every blow counts, and they
throw the stalks into piles or rather
windows of cane clubs. As they work
the oyerseer watches them, and a
timekeeper goes along beside them
and sees that every man and every
woman is at work. The wages are
very low. They get from 60c. to 81 a
day, according to their skill, and are
boarded on the plantation. They
sleep in cabins, number of them ly-
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 laborers throw the
cane into them and it is carted off to
the railroad track, which runs through
all parts of the plantation. Here the
cane is hoisted into the cars by means
Of pulley, whole cart load being
nut into the cars at one time. When
a train lead is ready the engine carries
it to the refinery and it is turned into
sugar.
I spent some time in watching the
processes of making sugar from cane.
Nearly all the sugar made in the
United States comes from cane, and
about half the sugar used in the world
is Of this nature. Within the past
few years a vast amount of sugar has
been manufactured out of beets in diff
ferent 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
3,OoO,0 GOO tons a year, and of this full
ly 250,O00 tons are produced in the
United States. In 1894 the product
of OUT cane sugar amounted to more
than 600, 900, 600 pounds, and we i'm
ported that year almost 1000, 600, 600
pounds of cane sugar additional. We
paid in 1894 Sill, 10000 for the su-
gar we 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
merly the United States paid bounty
to the sugar producers. Since these
have been cut off the business has