The core zone of sugar production ran along the Mississippi River, between New Orleans and Baton Rouge. In the 1830s and 1840s, other areas around Bayou Lafourche, Bayou Teche, Pointe Coupee, and Bayou Sara, and the northern parishes also emerged as sugar districts despite risks of frost damage. The farmers circumvented this ecological obstacle by windrowing their canes, which meant laying the harvested canes in furrows, and covering them with leaves until the next grinding or planting season. Windrowed canes were called “cannes en matelas” by the predominantly French-speaking population of the German Coast. In 1817, the introduction from Java (Indonesia) of ribbon cane, a frost-resistant variety, partially resolved the geographical limits to cane cultivation in Louisiana. The introduction of steam-powered mills in 1822 was most welcome since the tougher bark of ribbon cane was difficult to crush with animal-powered mills.