A cane knife is a large hand-wielded cutting tool similar to a machete. Its use is prevalent in the harvesting of

sugarcane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with ...

in dominant cane-growing countries such as Peru, Brazil,

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

, Australia, South Africa, Ecuador, Cuba, Jamaica, the Philippines and parts of the United States, especially Louisiana and Florida, as well as Hawaii. It is the primary tool used in countries that do not employ mechanical means for harvesting cane. In the Philippines, particularly in Negros Island, itinerant sugarcane cutters called ''sacadas'' employ this blade, which they call an ''espading''. The term is borrowed from the Spanish word ''espada'', meaning "sword", while in Tagalog it is called ''palang''. In the South Pacific, the metal hook of the cane knife was melded with the indigenous serrated warclub, resulting in the hook-bladed weapon used in modern Samoan fire knife dancing.

Design

A typical cane knife is characterized by a

hardwood Hardwood is wood from dicot trees. These are usually found in broad-leaved temperate and tropical forests. In temperate and boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostly evergreen. Hardwood (which comes from ...

handle, a full

tang Tang or TANG most often refers to: * Tang dynasty * Tang (drink mix) Tang or TANG may also refer to: Chinese states and dynasties * Jin (Chinese state) (11th century – 376 BC), a state during the Spring and Autumn period, called Tang (唐) b ...

, a deep blade and a hook at its tip used for picking up the cut cane, although some types do not employ this feature. The blade is usually thick, thinner than a machete or

bolo Bolo may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional entities * Bolo, a fictional tribe in ''bolo'bolo'' by P.M. * Bolo, a character in the ''Shantae'' series * ''Bolo'' universe, a science fiction universe created by Keith Laumer * Prin ...

, and more than long. The thin blade facilitates cutting cane quickly as the harvester slashes the cane at an angle: a thin blade slices through better than a thick blade.

Gallery

File:Sugar cane knife, 1800s, Danish West Indies.jpg, Sugar cane knife, 1800s, used by enslaved Africans to cut sugar cane in the Danish West Indies File:Queen Mary Thomas.png, 1888 drawing of "Queen Mary" Thomas, one of the leaders of the 1878 Fireburn riot in St. Croix, holding a cane knife and torch File:Evstafiev-zafra.jpg, A sugar cane cutter in Cuba during

zafra Zafra () is a town situated in the Province of Badajoz (Extremadura, Spain), and the capital of the comarca of Zafra - Río Bodión. It has a population of 16,677, according to the 2011 census. Zafra is the hometown of Fray Ruy Lopez, author ...

File:StateLibQld 2 108660 Canecutters at Ayr, ca. 1907.jpg , Canecutters in Ayr,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

c.1907 File:Female workers at the sugar plantage,Barbados (6816658765).jpg, Female cane cutters in Barbados, 2011 File:Cane knife.jpg, A well-used cane knife File:Old cane knife - 1811 Kid Ory Historic House, LaPlace, Louisiana.jpg, Old cane knife in south Louisiana, of the type that was the most common weapon in the 1811 German Coast uprising.

References

Filipino swords Machetes History of sugar {{Knife-stub

Design

Gallery

See also

References