See quotations.
1835. The baggasse or cane-trash (called in the West Indies migass,) is received into carts and conveyed to a distance from the sugar-house to be burnt as soon as may be.—Ingraham, ‘The South-West,’ i. 239. (Italics in the original.)
1854. Ure, ‘Dict. of Arts.’ (N.E.D.)
1875. When they have finished grinding the cane, they form the refuse of the stalks (which they call bagasse) into great piles and set fire to them, though in other sugar countries the bagasse is used for fuel in the furnaces of the sugar mills. Now the piles of damp bagasse burn slowly, and smoke like Satan’s own kitchen.—Mark Twain, ‘Old Times on the Mississippi,’ Atlantic Monthly, xxxv. p. 450/2 (April).
