The farmer who owns his land is paid about six per cent[51] of the weight of the cane he furnishes in centrifugal sugar of 96 degrees, sacked and ready for shipment, and occasionally delivered at the nearest shipping port. Sometimes settlement is made in cash, based upon the value of the agreed percentage of sugar at the Habana quotation on the day the cane is delivered. In other words, for every one hundred pounds of clean cane in bundles, delivered on board the cars, the plantation pays the grower about six per cent of 96-degree centrifugal sugar, or its equivalent in money.[52] Where the land is furnished by the plantation, the farmer is paid from four to five per cent of the weight of the cane in sugar. He is given a house free of rent and an acre or two of garden land as well. All material, labor or stores supplied to him are debited to him to be accounted for when final settlement is effected. Planting cane in Cuba is a simple matter. In preparing virgin forest land for seed, no ploughing whatever is done; the trees and shrubs are cut down and allowed to dry, the valuable timber is carried away, and the remainder is burned. When this is done the land is found to be smooth and level, as a rule. Planting consists in making holes in the ground with a heavy pole shod with iron that is driven obliquely into the earth at regular intervals, the seed is then dropped in these holes and covered with earth, completing the operation. Grassy ground, however, must be ploughed, in which case furrows are made six feet apart. The seed cane is planted in them at intervals of from six inches to twelve inches, covered with earth and left to grow. There are the spring plantings and the autumn plantings, the first from April to June and the second in October and November, that is to say, one at the beginning and one at the end of the rainy season. In the case of the former, if the rains come soon after planting, the cane can be cut in the following March or April, _i. e._, after a growing period from nine to twelve months. If, however, the rains are late the cane cannot mature before the advent of the new rains and therefore cannot be ground until the following December. Cane planted in the fall ripens in December of the next year or sometimes a month later.[53]