Though not sure what the real thing actually looks like, from the photos I have seen this seems very realistic
To get an idea of the real thing, think of bamboo that has just gone through a very intense fire which has burned off all the leave and just left the stalks which is the look I going for with the weathering.
This will give you some idea of what happened prior to hand cutting,
australian sugar cane fires - Bing images
The thinking behind it was to kill the vermin and disease (weile's disease) so the cutters weren't affected this was a big concern in the early days.
Later on the cane was cut by mechanical harvester (harvester pictures on this page as well as some cane trains) but there were still people on the ground, nowadays the cane is cut "green" with no fire involved.
In fact the last cane fires were lit here this cutting seasons from now on there will be none, bit of a pity because tourists used to flock to see them.
There were impressive, burned fast with an intense heat. I lit a number back in the day and believe me once they got going they burned faster than any bush/wild fire I have ever seen.