234 CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE NATIONAL HERBARIUM. 
percentage of sugar from imperfect extraction, and the inferior product com- 
mands a lower price in the market. 
Present tendencies are all in the direction of larger sugar mills and it is not 
considered good business policy to erect plants capable of caring for less than 500 
tons of cane a day, Such ills cost between $300,000 and $500,000, and will handle 
the cane from 3,000 or 4,000 acres of land, depending, of course, upon the fertility. 
Where transportation facilities are not unreasonably expensive it is considered 
more profitable to ship cane by rail 20 or 30 miles, or even farther, than to establish 
smaller factories for manufacture near the fields. Much of the labor of shipment 
is now accomplished by machinery, and when the cane is once on wheels increased 
distance affects but slightly the cost of transportation. 
Sugar varieties,—Niumerous varieties of sugar cane are grown in Porto Rico, 
many plantations having a very miscellaneous assortment. Bourbon cane has 
been generally most popular, but the Salangora variety has been preferred of late 
as more resistant to disease, The purple or Guadaloupe cane is found in larger 
or smaller quantity in most plantations, but some of the more intelligent and 
progressive nanagers have taken the trouble to eradicate it for the reason that 
they consider it inferior both in quantity and quality, since the juice is said to 
contain a large amount of gum which renders the sugar of low grade. 
The Porto Rican planters should have the advantage as soon as possible of 
whatever can be learned concerning the numerous experiments in sugar culture 
and the selection of superior varieties of cane in the British West Indies. Exten- 
sive experiments of this kind have been carried on in British Guiana. Barbados, 
and elsewhere, and the adaptation of varieties of soils has also received attention. 
At a meeting of the West Indian agricultural conference in Barbados the results 
of experiments in sugar culture in British Guiana and Barbados were discussed. 
The necessity of nitrogenous fertilizers being agreed upon, the desirability of 
extended trials of leguminous crops was urged as the most practical and economic 
manner of maintaining the fertility of the soil. 
Sagraea fascicularis. CAamacey pr PALOMA, 
Salcilla. See Morongiu leptoclada, 
Salicornia. Saurworr. 
A genus of chenopodiaceous herbs: an unidentified species reported from Cabo 
Rojo along the seashore; rare. 
Salix humboldtiana. 
Family Salicaceae; the only member of this willow family mentioned hy 
Grisebach; reported from near Maricao. 
The curious spire-like trees in the cemetery at Utuado are referred to this species, 
Salmea eupatoria. Brsuco pre MIEN. 
An annual or biennial composite shrub 2 meters high, growing in waste places. 
Flowers have a pronounced odor of honey, (Stahl, 5: 139.) 
Salmea grandiceps. See Salmea enpatoria, 
Salmea scandens. 
A trailing shrub from Manati. According to Grisebach, found in the mountains 
of Cuba, Haiti, and Porto Rico. 
Salvia. See Pluchea odorata. 
Salvia coccinea. MorAbILLA ENCARNADA. 
An erect, woody herb of the mint family, both wild and cultivated in gardens. 
(Stahl, 6: 201.) 
Salvia occidentalis. Morapitua azun. 
An herbaceous annual, 50 centimeters high, distributed over the island. Sweet- 
scented and sometimes used on account of its balmy odor, (Stahl, 6: 200.) 
Saman. See Pithecolobinm saman, 
