It is extremely difficult hand labor, under the hot tropical sun, that remains in many people's minds when they think of the sugar harvest. Men literally swing long bladed knives, such as machetes, severing the thick stalks, which are then gathered, crushed and boiled down into syrup such as molasses, or further refined into cane sugar.

Sugar is a coarse growing member of the grass family, deeply sensitive to cold, and thus ideally suited to growth in tropical and semi-tropical environments. Growing from 4 to 12 feet tall, sugar can be planted and harvested year round.

Farm Security Administration photographs, Library of Congress

Ponce, Puerto Rico, Sugar Worker. 1936, Edwin Rosscam. FSA/OWI, Library of Congress
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