Raising Cane with Cammie

by Elizabeth A. McMahan


Formats

Softcover
$8.95
Softcover
$8.95

Book Details

Language : English
Publication Date : 6/6/2001

Format : Softcover
Dimensions : 5x8
Page Count : 172
ISBN : 9780759611658

About the Book

It is 1934, a Depression year, and ten-year-old Cammie Kirkland is glad that her family owns a cane mill. As long as she can remember, her family has raised acres of sorghum cane on their small North Carolina farm and from it, made molasses to sell in small grocery stores in Winston Salem. This year she and her cousin Ben are (proudly) old enough to be of real help in the family business.

The stories cover the entire cane growing and molasses-making season--from spring planting of the tiny seeds and thinning of the young cane sprouts, to the concentrated fall jobs of stripping off the leaves, boiling the juice to make molasses, canning the syrup, and selling the finished product.

Accounts of other farm activities, such as the fun of making valentines, burying a treasure trove, helping with the wheat-threshing dinners, and attending 4-H camp are included.


About the Author

Elizabeth McMahan grew up on a small farm in the piedmont section of North Carolina, a seventh generation descendant of forebears who first settled there in the 1760’s. Like Cammie, she lived within a mile of both sets of grandparents, all staunch pillars of a closely-knit farming community with strong ties to school, church, and Grange. The middle of three sisters, she from her earliest years loved the out-of-doors, roaming the woods, spying out bird nests, and making insect collections to enter into competition at the county fair. These childhood interests were doubtless involved in determining her decision to become a zoologist, with a special interest in entomology. Her research specialty is termite biology, and her academic career at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has included field research in Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, Panama, Venezuela, Ecuador, Australia, and India. She also served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Jamaica and greatly enjoys travel by cargo ship.