ratoon

American  

[ra-toon] / ræˈtun /

Or rattoon

noun

1. a sprout or shoot from the root of a plant, especially a sugarcane, after it has been cropped.

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verb (used with or without object)

1. to put forth or cause to put forth ratoons.

ratoon British  

/ ræˈtuːn /

noun

1. a new shoot that grows from near the root or crown of crop plants, esp the sugar cane, after the old growth has been cut back

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verb

1. to propagate or cause to propagate by such a growth

Other Word Forms

• ratooner noun

Etymology

Origin of ratoon

1625–35; < Spanish retoño sprout, derivative of retoñar to sprout again in the fall, equivalent to re- re- + - ( o ) toñar, derivative of otoño autumn

Example Sentences

The first is called plant cane; the second is known as first-year stubble, or ratoon.

From Agriculture for Beginners Revised Edition by Burkett, Charles William

There is also a great injury done to the remaining stumps and top roots by this burning which is very detrimental when the field is to be used for a ratoon crop.

From The Philippine Agricultural Review Vol. VIII, First Quarter, 1915 No. 1 by Various

He considers they would ratoon better than any other cane, and the return from it is on the average 3,600 lbs. of dry sugar to the acre.

From The Commercial Products of the Vegetable Kingdom Considered in Their Various Uses to Man and in Their Relation to the Arts and Manufactures; Forming a Practical Treatise & Handbook of Reference for the Colonist, Manufacturer, Merchant, and Consumer, on the Cultivation, Preparation for Shipment, and Commercial Value, &c. of the Various Substances Obtained From Trees and Plants, Entering into the Husbandry of Tropical and Sub-tropical Regions, &c. by Simmonds, P. L.

The first crop is called the "plant" crop, and those that follow are known as "ratoon" crops, the latter continuing several years.

From Under the Southern Cross or Travels in Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand, Samoa, and Other Pacific Islands by Ballou, Maturin Murray

They are called here, though I do not know why, ratoon oysters.

From Letters of a Traveller Notes of Things Seen in Europe and America by Bryant, William Cullen