A SUGAR-CANE FIELD
The immense sugar-cane fields of the South look very much like the cornfields of the more northern states. Negroes cut the cane close to the ground, as the lower part of the stalk has the most sugar. After the leaves and tops have been trimmed off, the stalks are shipped to the presses, cut into small pieces, and crushed between heavy rollers. The juice is strained, boiled, and worked over to remove the impurities, and then, in a brownish mass called raw sugar, is sent to great refineries to be made by more boiling and other processes into the white sugar we use daily. This sugar industry is very important, as figures show that each American, both grown-ups and children, consumes an average of more than seventy pounds of sugar a year.
A SUGAR REFINERY
Away down South is the land of cotton as well as the land of sugar, and there is no more beautiful sight than a field white with the opening bolls of the cotton plant. Between the long white rows pass the picturesque negroes with their big baskets into which they put the soft fleecy cotton as they pick it from the bolls. The raw cotton is then sent to the cotton gin, where the seeds are taken out to be made into cottonseed oil. The cotton itself is shipped to factories where it is made into thread and cotton cloth of all kinds. In addition to the immense quantities sent to the mills in various parts of the United States, New Orleans ships to Europe each year over $100,000,000 worth. When the cotton reaches the city it is in the form of bales covered with coarse cloth and bound with iron bands. The great steamers waiting at the dock must fill their holds to the best advantage in order that they may carry as large an amount as possible on each voyage. The cotton as it comes from the plantation presses occupies too much space. It is interesting to stand near the steamship landings and see the workmen cast off the iron bands and place the bales between the powerful jaws of huge presses which seem, almost without effort, to close down upon the mass of fleecy whiteness and cause it to shrink from four feet to about one foot in thickness. While the cotton is still under pressure, iron bands are once more placed upon it, and the bale is then taken from the press. After this process four bales can be loaded on the steamer in the space which one plantation bale would have occupied.
A BANANA CONVEYOR
The location of New Orleans near the mouth of the Mississippi and close enough to the Gulf of Mexico to be called a Gulf port makes it naturally the great port of exchange of all the products of the Mississippi Valley, the islands of the Gulf, and the countries on the north coast of South America. It is the second largest export port in America and is the world's greatest export market for cotton. Oysters and fish in abundance are brought to the city from the Gulf, making New Orleans one of the largest fish-and-oyster markets in the United States. More bananas arrive at New Orleans than at any other port in the world. The great bunches of fruit are unloaded by machinery, placed upon specially designed cars, and sent by the fastest trains to the various parts of the United States. With the sugar-producing districts so near, New Orleans is, of course, one of our country's chief sugar markets. The largest sugar refinery in the world is located here.
We have already mentioned the water front, but this important and interesting part of the city deserves more attention. For fifteen miles along the river, the port of this great city stretches in an almost unbroken line of wharves and steel sheds. The steamboat landings are near the foot of Canal Street, and here may be seen the river packets from Northern cities and the little stern-wheelers which run up Red River. Above is the flatboat landing, and further on still are the tropical-fruit wharves and miles of wharves for foreign shipping.