[Illustration: FIG. 212. SUGAR-BEETS ON THE WAY TO A FACTORY]
The beets are harvested by sugar-beet pullers or by hand. If the roots are to be gathered by hand they are usually loosened by plowing on each side of them. If the roots are stored they should be put in long, narrow piles and covered with straw and earth to protect them from frost. A ventilator placed at the top of the pile will enable the heat and moisture to escape. If the beets get too warm they will ferment and some of their sugar will be lost.
=Sugar-Cane.= Sugar-cane is grown along the Gulf of Mexico and the South Atlantic coast. In Mississippi, in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, northern Louisiana, and in northern Texas it is generally made into sirup. In southern Louisiana and southern Texas the cane is usually crushed for sugar or for molasses.
[Illustration: FIG. 213. STALK OF SUGAR-CANE _A-B_, joints of cane showing roots; _B-C_, stem; _C-D_, leaves]
The sugar-cane is a huge grass. The stalk, which is round, is from one to two inches in thickness.
The stalks vary in color. Some are white, some yellow, some green, some red, some purple, and some black, while others are a mixture of two or three of these colors. As shown in Fig. 214 the stalk has joints at distances of from two to six inches. These joints are called nodes, and the sections between the nodes are known as internodes. The internodes ripen from the roots upward, and as each ripens it casts its leaves. The stalk, when ready for harvesting, has only a few leaves on the top.
[Illustration: Fig. 214. STICK OF SUGAR-CANE _A_, buds, or eyes; _C_, nodes; _D_, internodes; _X_, semi-transparent dots in rows]
Under each leaf and on alternate sides of the cane a bud, or "eye," forms. From this eye the cane is usually propagated; for, while in tropical countries the cane forms seeds, yet these seeds are rarely fertile. When the cane is ripe it is stripped of leaves, topped, and cut at the ground with a knife. The sugar is contained in solution in the pith of the cane.
Cane requires an enormous amount of water for its best growth, and where the rainfall is not great enough, the plants are irrigated. It requires from seventy-five to one hundred gallons of water to make a pound of sugar. Cane does best where there is a rainfall of two inches a week. At the same time a well-drained soil is necessary to make vigorous canes.