sugar HORTUS JAMAICENSIS 205 



feet in length, according to the vigour of the plant ; there is a deep whitish furrow or 

 hollowed mi Irib, which is broad and prominent on the under side ; the edges are thin 

 and armed with small sharp teeth, which are scarcely to be discerned bv the naked eye, 

 but will cut the skin of a tender hand, if it be drawn along it. The Mowers are pro- 

 duced in panicles at the top of the stalks ; they are from two to three feet long, and are 

 composed of many spikes nine or ten inches in length, which are again subdivided into 

 smaller spikes; these have long down inclosing the flowers, so as to hide them from th 

 sight. The seed is oblong, pointed, and ripens in the valves of the flower. 



It has been asserted that the sugar-cane is not indigenous to America, but that it 

 migrated through Europe, which may be doubted, as Father Hennepin, in 1680, found 

 it growing near the mouth of the Mississipi for thirty leagues; and Francis Ximenes, 

 Hernandes, and Piso, all affirm that the sugar-cane grows spontaneously near the Rio 

 de la Plata. Jean de Lery, who went to Rio Janeiro in 1556, also asserts that he found 

 every where near that river a great quantity of sugar canes. It is thought by some that 

 Columbus introduced the plant into Hispaniola in his first voyage; but the opinion, 

 that it may be a native of America and the West-Indies is much strengthened by the 

 sugar-cane having been found in such plenty in the South Sea islands: certain it is, 

 however, that none of them have ever been found in a wild ot indigenous state in Ja- 

 maica, where, without cultivation, it is probable, they would in time he totally lost. 

 Sugar is thought to have been first introduced into Europe during the crusades, from 

 the east. Its use (which was confined to medical purposes) in Sicily is mentioned in 

 the year 11G6. Thence it was conveyed to Spain, Madeira, the Canary and Cape de 

 Verde islands, soon after they were discoveied in the fifteenth century ; and from one 

 of these islands it is supposed to have found its way to the West-Indies. 



The sugar-cane was first planted in Jamaica by the English, by Sir Thomas Modvford, 

 in 16oO, and sugar first made there in 1664 ; but some plantations were made while in 

 possession of the Spaniards, by Esquimel, a Spanish governor under Diego Columbus; 

 and there were, on the arrival of the English, three small plantations on the island, the 

 chief of which was at the Angels. In other islands the English made sugar as early as 

 1643! 



There are several varieties of this valuable plant ; but the cultivation of all has ber.i 

 for some years past greatly neglected, to make room for the introduction of the Bour- 

 bon or Otaheite cane, which was brought here in the year 1796, and has since been ge- 

 nerally cultivated. This cane is of a much larger size than any other, the joints fre- 

 quently measuring eight or nine inches, and of a proportionate thickness, the common 

 cane seldom exceeded two or three inches; they have consequently been found very 

 productive, and their sugar also of a superior quality. An acre of them, in good land, 

 has been found to produce from four to five hogsheads, of which the same quantity in 

 common canes would only produce one. The juice of the Bourbon cane is of a pa!er 

 colour, and they are ripe enough to grind in ten months ; if allowed to remain a longer 

 time uncut, they lose part of their juices. From their size they resist dry weather much 

 better than any other cane, and are not near so subject to suffer from that destruc tiva 

 insect the borer. With all these seeming advantages, it is no wonder if they entirely 

 superceded the use of all other varieties of the sugar-cane in Jamaica! They, 

 however, more speedily exhaust the soil, and it may be questioned, whether, in the 

 course of time, they will not themselves dwindle, from repeated transplantation in a fo- 

 reign soil, which all exotics do ; and which, indeed, has already been found the case, 

 in a considerable degree, c-n many plantations. The old cane, it is acknowledged, pos- 

 sessed > 



