The harvesting then begins and continues until the end of July or August. Usually the field is set on fire before cutting. On account of the great amount of moisture or juice in the cane, the stalks do not burn, but the leaves are thoroughly consumed. This operation eliminates a good deal of leaf material that is not only useless, but which, if sent to the mill, would increase the cost of crushing, besides absorbing a certain quantity of the juice expressed from the cane. Formerly men stripped the leaves from the cane in the fields, but it was a difficult matter to accomplish such work, and the cost was heavy. An accident changed the method of doing this work. A field took fire and it was found that while all the leaves were consumed, little or no damage was done to the stalks provided they were cut promptly and sent to the mill to be crushed. The practice of burning has since become general, although the advisability of continuing it is now being given very careful study. Burning eliminates the arduous labor of stripping, and no doubt does away with many harmful insects and fungi, but at the same time it destroys the enemies and parasites of these insects and this loss is severely felt. Another disadvantage of burning is that the nitrogen contained in the cane leaves is liberated and not returned to the soil as would be the case if the leaves were stripped and ploughed under. In the latter case the leaves rot rapidly, add humus to the soil, help aeration, and improve the sanitary condition, all of which tends to increase the yield of cane per acre. From recent experience it is not improbable that burning will be discontinued in the near future. As soon as the field is ready, whether burned or not, the laborers go in to cut the cane. A long, heavy knife is used. The cutter grasps the stalk and drives the knife into it, severing it just at the ground. He then tops it, that is, he cuts off the upper part that contains no sugar, and, to aid in subsequent handling, the long stalks are cut into convenient lengths. As the burning destroys the eyes or buds, certain fields are cut and topped for seed before the burning takes place. There are two general methods of transporting the cane to the mills. One is by rail and the other by flumes. On the irrigated plantations where water is never overplentiful, railroad tracks and locomotives are invariably employed, while on the non-irrigated plantations, located in districts where there are copious annual rains, V-shaped flumes are extensively used. In some cases a combination of both systems is adopted to advantage. From the upper lands where it is difficult to construct railroads, the cane is flumed to a convenient point on the railroad system, at a lower elevation, and delivered into cars, while the water is conducted into ditches and used for irrigating the lower cane lands. [Illustration: YOUNG SUGAR CANE] [Illustration: RIPE SUGAR CANE—SHOWING TASSELS]