The method of discharging cane from the cars is very different from the old slow process, which was akin to that of unloading a hay wagon with pitchforks. Nowadays an electric overhead travelling crane lifts the cane from the car, weighs it automatically in suspension, and then drops it into the cane hopper and elevator. The tendency of late years has been towards the construction of large centrals, either by the consolidation of a number of the smaller and older ones, or by the erection of new sugar houses, thus effecting vast economies in field transportation and factory labor, and bringing the cost of maintenance and manufacture to a minimum. Large centrals necessarily employ a large number of laborers during the crop season, as well as in the dead season, and in order to make [Illustration: TRANSFERRING CANE AND AUTOMATICALLY WEIGHING IT.] them contented and break their former habit of moving from one locality to another at the prompting of a whim, it has been found advantageous to provide them with comfortable homes and sanitary surroundings. This latter-day development is well exemplified in the village of Preston, attached to the plantation under consideration. The streets are wide and regular, and each is lined with model dwelling-houses. The sanitary arrangements are in charge of a specially organized corps of experienced men. A large and well-equipped school is maintained; there are two churches of different denominations, besides a well-stocked store, where goods are sold at cost. The company operates a modern hotel in the village, where meals are dispensed at small cost to those who prefer not to cook in their houses. As each succeeding generation receives educational advantages, it follows that there is a constantly increasing desire to live on a better plane and under improved conditions. Therefore the provision of proper accommodations becomes an economic necessity upon large centrals, where the supply of labor must be dependable, and can be best made so by encouraging it to become permanently resident. This system will go a long way toward tending to solve the labor problem for large corporations, and deserves the serious attention of all employers of labor in considerable numbers.