"The number of weedings during this period must not be less than two or more than five, depending on the fecundity of the ground, the character of the climate, the previous condition of the land, the preparatory labors, and even the kind of fertilizer used. "Thus the rules for weeding are reduced to the following: "1. To extirpate the roots of weeds with a hoe or by hand, taking care not to injure the roots of the cane. "2. To deposit the weeds uprooted on the edges, hills, or banks, where they are not in the way and where they can serve as a bed for the cane. "3. To repeat the operation whenever there is an abundance of weeds covering the soil, or which injure the plantings." HILLING. "This is the operation of covering the foot of the plants with earth. "The sugar cane, the same as corn, tobacco, and many other plants of active vegetation, has the faculty of throwing out visible roots at the level of the ground. They appear to rise from the ground, and if they were not protected by cultivation their economical rendition would suffer to a high degree. "According to the class and form of planting adopted, the hilling is done before or after the same. In plantings with buds in the air the hilling must be done within thirty days after the shoots have sprung up; in deeper plantings it is done at a later period. "This operation is done from one to three times, according to circumstances, because if the lack of earth at the foot of the cane is great, an excess thereof is injurious. Its object is to give a greater basis to the plant from which to derive nutrition; it favors the development of the shoots and prepares the bunch for the subsequent crops. "This explains the necessity of hilling, which should not be very great, as several coats of earth would prevent the germs of the shoots at a certain depth from germinating on account of a lack of air or of energy to surmount the obstacle, thus endangering the subsequent crops. "Therefore a little hilling is necessary and sufficient; too much is expensive and injurious for the future life of the cane field." BREAKING OFF SUCKERS OR SHOOTS. "Cane planted under normal conditions is all the time producing shoots, and if this were permitted it is understood that when the cutting period arrives there would be cane of all kinds in the plantation, some ripe and others half ripe, and it would require a considerable expense to separate it. If not separated they would go together to the mill, and while the ripe cane would give a sirup heavily charged with sugar, the green cane would give it charged with glucose, thus giving together a sirup having a reduced amount of sugar, requiring more combustion to secure evaporation, and rendering less sugar. "Therefore, when the third or fourth weeding takes place, the shoots which have not reached the proper stage are torn out, especially those which it is known will not reach a mature state at the time for cutting, and which if left would deprive the principal plants of nutritious elements. This operation is done by hand, and a slight effort upward is sufficient to remove them." STRIPPING OFF LEAVES. "As the sugar cane grows and approaches maturity, its internodes develop in proportion, reaching such a stage that they shed the protecting leaves that envelop them. "The spontaneous shedding of leaves begins on the lowest internode, and continues ascending, in proportion as the plant reaches maturity, until the foliage is reduced to the cane top, which is also shed after blooming, when the plant dies, first in the economical order and then in the physiological. "In stripping the leaves it may easily be ascertained when the operation is to take place. A leaf which is still green does not detach itself easily and must not be touched until it is dry. "The first stripping takes place after four months, and from this time until the cutting the operation must be repeated two or three times. "The stripping must not be made during very warm weather and intense sun, because it somewhat dries the tender portions of the plants. "The stripping, besides avoiding the injuries which we have mentioned and increasing the degree of sweetness of the juice of the cane, has also the object of retarding the blooming. 66 CUTTING THE CANE. The sugar cane has a critical moment of maturity which it is necessary to take advantage of for cutting. Maturity is reached when the cane blooms, or ceases to grow and develop. At this period the cane contains the largest amount possible of sugar. "The cane, before reaching maturity, in its green condition, has not had time fully to elaborate its juices-that is to say, to transform the glucose into sucrose-and the cutting, therefore, at this stage would be disastrous, because as much sugar would be lost as there is glucose in the cane, and furthermore rendering the operation of elaborating much more difficult. "On the other hand, if maturity is reached-a long period of time should be allowed to elapse-other evils would originate. Rains on ripe cane make it green again, as is the case with indigo and other industrial plants. The juice of the cane is reduced; the saccharine matter turns into glucose. In addition, the ripe cane has fulfilled its mission, and from this moment it begins to die. It leans over until it touches the ground, roots sprouting from the internodes which touch the ground, and the respective germs develop shoots, all of them developing at the expense of the juice of the cane-that is, from the saccharine, which diminishes and becomes transformed into glucose until it is exhausted. On the other hand, old cane becomes hard, increasing the cost of the cutting and rendering the operation of grinding much more difficult. From all this it may be seen that green cane, as well as overripe cane, can not well be used for industrial purposes. "The age of the cane and the condition of the weather determine the time for cutting; when these two factors do not concur with each other, the right moment has not arrived. "Cane ready for cutting changes color and becomes lighter; the leaves, excepting those of the cane top, are dry, the stalk becomes brilliant or shiny. The characteristic signs of the cane ready for cutting when once seen can never be mistaken. "I state below, according to the analysis made by M. Deitell at the agricultural station on Reunion Island, the composition of cane at the different stages of maturity: The following statement of cost of planting and caring for 1 cuerda of sugar cane from date of planting to time of cutting was prepared by Señor Badrena, supervisor of the department of Mayaguez: "When the soil is sandy and loose it will need— Cleaning the ground from weeds four times during the growth 8.00 2.00 |