Since 1795, when Louisiana's Etienne de Bore grew the first U.S. sugar cane for commercial use, cane crops have been harvested, like cotton, by hand. Negroes mow their way through the cane fields with knives like tropical machetes. Efforts have been made to mechanize the reaping of both cotton and sugar. Several cotton-pickers have been invented which have proved that they can pick cotton, but their practical efficiency and adaptability have been seriously disputed, and they have so far made no visible inroads on the South's labor economy.
In Louisiana last week a...
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