The problems involved in cutting cane by machinery seem insurmountable, and, while many devices have been tried, not one has proved successful.
After the cane is cut the first time, ploughs are sent through the fields and a furrow is ploughed along each side of the stubs of the cane which are left in place. This ploughing opens up the ground, aerates the soil, and affords the irrigating or rain water a means of easy access to the cane roots. The water tenders follow up the ploughs and the furrows are filled with water, which is gradually absorbed by the old cane roots left in the ground. In time new sprouts spring up from buds on the old stalks of the cane and another growth begins. The second crop is called “first ratoons” and, when cultivated for a single year only, it is designated “short ratoons.” As a rule it does not yield as much sugar as plant cane, but the saving in seed, in the preparation of the fields and in other labor frequently makes up for the reduced amount of sugar. If allowed to grow for two years, as is generally the case, it is called “long ratoons” and produces proportionately more sugar. In the past a very large percentage of the Hawaiian crop was planted with fresh seed every year and but a small percentage ratooned. Nowadays, however, the tendency is to ratoon the crop as long as the yield justifies, which in many cases is from three to four times. In Cuba the cane when once planted is ratooned for many years.
There have been specific instances in Hawaii where ratoons that have been allowed to grow for two years (long ratoons) have shown a better yield than the first planting. According to the best information, this is due to the presence of poisonous matter in the ground, turned up for the first time at the first planting.
CUTTING CANE
LOADING CANE
The object of all the ploughing, weeding, cultivating, fertilizing and irrigating, is to produce a large number of strong, sturdy stalks of cane, yielding a maximum amount of sugar. The sugar is contained in solution in the sap or juice and the amount can be materially increased by due care and attention.
As some of the elements which form the plant are absorbed from the air through the leaves, favorable climatic conditions are essential to its full growth and development. Proper fertilizers must be added to the soil, and water applied regularly and in sufficient quantity.
Commercial fertilizers are used in Hawaii probably to a greater extent than in any other country in the world. It is quite common for plantations to use half a ton of fertilizer per acre per crop, and at times as much as two thousand pounds per acre. The yearly fertilizer cost per acre will probably average twenty-five dollars.