The plow was then taken along by the side of the
furrow, so as to fill it up again and cover the cuttings. In sugar
plantations the rows of canes are close together, but Mr. Hardy had
chosen this distance, as it enabled his horse-hoe to work between
them, and thus keep the ground turned up and free from weeds,
without the expense of hard labor. In a short time the shoots
appeared above the soil. In four months they had gained the height
of fourteen feet, and their glossy stems showed that they were
ready to cut.
"Now, Clara," Mr. Hardy said, "this is your manufacture, you know,
and we are only to work under your superintendence. The canes are
ready to cut: how do you intend to crush the juice out? because
that is really an important question."
The young Hardys looked aghast at each other, for in the pressure
of other matters the question of apparatus for the sugar
manufacture had been quite forgotten.
"Have you really no idea how to do it, Frank?"
"No, really I have not, my dear. We have certainly no wood on the
place which would make the rollers; besides, it would be rather a
difficult business."
Mrs. Hardy thought for a minute, and then said, "I should think
that the mangle would do it."
There was a general exclamation of "Capital, mamma!" and then a
burst of laughter at the idea of making sugar with a mangle.
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