own use and that of his friends; the rest he sold
at Buenos Ayres at a profitable rate. The venture, like that of the
cotton, had proved a success, but the trouble and care required had been
very great, and Mr. Hardy determined in future to plant only sufficient
for his own use and that of the men employed upon the estate.

The next experiment which was perfected was that with the sugar-cane. In
this, far more than in the others, Mrs. Hardy and the girls took a
lively interest. Sugar had been one of the few articles of consumption
which had cost money, and it had been used in considerable quantities
for converting the fruit into fine puddings and preserves. It was not
contemplated to make sugar for sale, but only for the supply of the
house: two acres, therefore, was the extent of the plantation. Mr. Hardy
procured the cuttings from a friend who had a small sugar plantation
near Buenos Ayres.

The cultivation of sugar is simple. The land having been got in perfect
order, deep furrows were ploughed at a distance of five feet apart. In
these the cuttings, which are pieces of the upper part of the cane,
containing two or three knots, were laid at a distance of three feet
apart. The plough 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 labour. 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 'Capit