Geography of Sugar

Sugar has been in the world for a long time. The first country that found sugar was Polynesians and it was spread to India in 510 B.C. In this time Emperor Darius, who was the ruler of Persia, invaded India and found what they called "the reed that gives honey without bees." In some places sugar was more valuable than money. Sugar was a main part of the sugar planatation culture. A plantation is a large piece of land that is used for farming. Soon sugar came from sugar cane and sugar beets. Sugar cane is a bamboo like plant that keeps sweet juice in the stem. Sugar canes are grown best in tropical conditions. The highest source of sugar cane is in Hawaii. Sugar cane must be grown for 2 years before harvesting and crushing the stems for the juice. When harvesting sugar canes, you take a machine and cut the stems about half way from the ground. Then, they are bundles up and taken to a mill where it is cracked open and is squeezed for the juice. Sugar beet produces sugar during the first year of growth. A sugar beet contains 17% of sugar and 83% of beet. Beets have a white color and a heart shaped look.When the sugar cane and sugar beets came to America in the 1880's, the country was filled with plantations all around. The more they grew plantations, they had to find more workers. Then they bought slaves to come and make them work in labor.