deal of moisture?

Yes, it is usually planted in moist soils, and near rivers, where the
ground can be overflowed after it is come up. The Chinese water their
rice-fields by means of movable mills, placed as occasion requires,
upon any part of the banks of a river; the water is raised in buckets
to a proper height, and afterwards conveyed in channels to the
destined places.

What is Sugar?

A sweet, agreeable substance, manufactured chiefly from the Sugar
Cane,[1] a native of the East and West Indies, South America and the
South Sea Islands; it is much cultivated in all tropical countries.
The earliest authentic accounts of sugar, are about the time of the
Crusades,[2] when it appears to have been purchased from the Saracens,
and imported into Europe.

[Footnote 1: Most of the sugar in Europe is made from beets.]
[Footnote 2: See Chapter XVII., article Navigation.]

_Authentic_, true, certain.

_Crusades_, holy wars.

_Saracens_, Turks or Arabs.

How is it prepared?

The canes are crushed between large rollers in a mill, and the juice
collected into a large vessel placed to receive it; it is then boiled,
and placed in pans to cool, when it becomes imperfectly crystallized,
in which state we use it. This is called raw or soft sugar: loaf
sugar, or the hard white sugar, is the raw brown sugar, prepared by
refining it till all foreign matter is removed.

Is the Sugar Cane the only vegetable that produces Sugar?

All vegetables contain more or less sugar, but the plant in which it
most abounds is the sugar-cane. In the United States, a large quantity
of sugar is prepared from the sap of the Sugar Maple Tree. The trees
are tapped at the proper season by a cut being made in the bark, and
the juice runs into a vessel placed to receive it; it is then prepared
in the same manner as the juice of the sugar cane.

What is Sugar Candy?

Sugar purified and crystallized.

What is Barley Sugar?

Sugar boiled till it is brittle, and cast on a stone anointed with oil
of sweet almonds, and then formed into twisted sticks.

What is Sago?

A substance prepared from the pith of the Sago Palm, which grows
naturally in various parts of Africa and the Indies. The pith, which
is even eatable in its natural state, is taken from the trunk of the
tree, and thrown into a vessel placed over a horse-hair sieve; water
is then thrown over the mass, and the finer parts of the pith pass
through the sieve