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This will be my first attempt at a Saison. The recipe calls for 1 pound of cane sugar, but doesn't say when to add it. After reading some, I think I should be adding it to the fermenter after fermentation has been going for a few days so the yeast don't eat the simple sugars first and then get tired. Does anyone have any suggestions on when to add the cane sugar?

First, I have never brewed a Saison. So whatever I say may be useless.

In general, I like to add sugar in the middle to a bit later in the fermentation for the reason you stated. The yeast eats the simple sugars and decides not to eat the more complex sugars. Perhaps the timing should be very late in the fermentation so that all the complex sugars have been consumed also.

I have heard of horror stories getting the Saison yeast to finish. I have heard that you need to keep warming up the fermentation possibly into the 90F range to get the yeast to keep the yeast from stalling. I think that may be Saison yeast strain dependent.

I brewed a Saison a few years ago and added the sugar four minutes before the end of the boil.

The yeast that I used, Wyeast 3724 (Belgian Saison) required some patience. It liked to ferment around 80 degrees, so I left the carboy sitting at room temperature. I made the mistake of brewing it in the Fall when the outside temperature fluctuates. Since I didn't have temperature control at that time, the yeast would stop during cool periods, then start up again when the weather warmed up. I brewed on Labor Day weekend and didn't bottle until Thanksgiving. Next time I make Saison I'm going to start it at the beginning of Summer.

The fresh beer was very phenolic, but improved with time as it sat in my pantry at room temperature. I tried one bottle a month - it was March before I decided it was drinkable.

So far so good. Started at 1.057 on the 18th, it's down to 1.015 today, sitting at 90 degrees. I'm wondering if I should just let it go slowly, or throw in Wyeast 3711. I still have not added the 1 pound of cane sugar. Any suggestions?

Yeah, toss in the sugar. You want the yeast going really well so it wipes all the sugars out since you want it really, really dry.