^00 



tHE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [January i, 1886. 



•ight thousand or niae thousand feet, in a dry atmo- 

 sphere. It is not surprising that our potato does 

 best in a dry, hot season. Dr. Lindlej', who himself 

 recorded so many improvements in fruits, flowers, and 

 Tegetables as the result of hybridizing, used to s.iy, 

 *' Hybridizing is a game of chance jilayed between 

 man and plants." He added that a good player can 

 judge of the issue with tolerable confidence, and that 

 skill and judgment have all their customary value. It 

 is too early, perhaps, to estimate the probable results 

 of this new experiment in hybridizing the potato; 

 but it is something, that hybridzied potato-seed has 

 been raised in England for the first time, after many 

 futile attempts. An English journal explains in detail 

 how this was accomp'ished, and we condense the 

 account for the benefit of our readers. 



At the re4|uest of Lord Oathcart, Mr. A. W. Sut- 

 ton of Reading undertook to experiment with some 

 tubers of Sofanum MagUa and iSohmj'/n Jamesii sent 

 him by the former. Of the tubers so received, only 

 three of Svhntitm Jamtsii and forty of Sofanujn Mayfia 

 were raised, although they were carefully treated in 

 pots under glass. The plants were put out in the 

 first week of Juno in a carefully selected plot of 

 ground, and were accompanied by two specimens of 

 t^olanuin Connut ysonn. The three species made rapid 

 growth, but .Vt>/(Oi"m JamcsilixnA Solanum Commtrsorili 

 showed signs of ripening off about the middle of 

 August. tSotainttii Jfaglia, which continued growing, 

 resembled, in its habit and general character, an 

 ordinary variety of So/anum tvberosutn ; and, when a 

 portion of the crop was lifted, it was found that the 

 majority of the tubers were of a dee])-red color, with 

 here and there a few pale, almost white, specimens. 

 The sets had been carefully divided into two sections; 

 the pale and those distinctly red; but the produce 

 as well as the growth was practically identical. 

 Solaiiinn Jtnnrsii was totallj' ditforent in every resjiect. 

 and to an ordinary observer would not have been 

 considered a potato at all. The height was only about 

 eight to ten inches, and the loaves excessively small. 

 The Solani'.Hi CoDninrsonii somewhat resembled the 

 Solanion Jamesii, although it was more robust, and 

 in every way more nearly approaching the type of 

 an ordinary potato-plant. Each of the three species 

 produced an abundance of flov/ers, the corolla in each 

 case being white. As the flowers appeared, every 

 possible care was taken to fertilize them with pollen 

 from some of our best disease-resisting potatoes ; and 

 Mr. Sutton, in the case oi Solmiiim .ifagliii.oht&mei\ 

 three fully developed berries well filled with seed. 

 These he hopes to sow next year, watching with great 

 interest the development of the seedlings, :uul noting 

 what practical result has been obtained by thus hy- 

 bridizing the two species. Both Sofayvm Jumfsii aiid 

 Solanum Coiitiiiersonii resisted every eflrort at fertiliz- 

 ation. 



It was found that the tubers of these species hail 

 not been materially a Itered by cultivation, either in 

 form or size. In th^ SolunVM Mai/lia, however, the 

 effect of cultivation was most marked. The tubers, 

 as received from Lord Oathcart, were about the size 

 of a pigeon's egg ; but the produce consisted of tubers 

 quite as large as an ordinary potato, and as many as 

 eight to twelve.tubers to each plant. A few specimens 

 were cooked, and proved to be of fair quality for 

 table. As the Sohinmit Maijlia has not hitherto been 

 known to hear a seed-berry, there is reason to be- 

 lieve that the three berries which Mr. Sutton has ob- 

 tained are the result of the impregnation with pollen 

 of Soliiniini tiil'ii-o^iiiii ; and there is. consequently, 

 every ground to hope that the new seed may be 

 the origin of a race of potatoes more suitable to the 

 climate of the British Isles than the varieties we 

 have at present. — Popu/ar 'Vcitnce ^''errs. 



SUGAR 



ROUGNON RATS. 

 Clerra out rats, mice, roaches, flics, ants, bed-bugs, 

 betles, insects, skuikks, chipmungs, gophers. Druggists. 

 W, E. Smith & Co., Madras, Sole Agents. 



IN GERMANY AND THE UNITED 

 ' STATES. 



The German statistical returns for December furnish 

 the result of the past Beet season between August 

 1st, 18S3, and July 31st, 1884. The Prat/er Zveker- 

 miirk:t publishes from this volume the following 

 intersting particulars, in which the comparison is, of 

 course, made with the previous season, namely that 

 ending on July 31st, 1SS3: — 



There were 376 Beet Sugar factories at work, with 

 , 3,715 steam engines, of 46,158 horse power, against 

 358 factories (against 15) extracted the juice by 

 other means than diffusion. The quantity of beet- 

 root worked up was 4.459,065 tons (against 4,373,576 

 tons), and i'-^l per cent was grown by the Fabricauts 

 themselves on 352,100 acres. The average crop 

 obtained was tons to the acre, against tons 18 

 cwt. The Betroot crops of 1882 and 1883 were, 

 each m its own way, unprecedented, the former 

 m respect of its immense quantity, and the latter 

 owing to the extraordinary saccharine richness of the 

 Beet. A total of 608,440 tons of saccharine matter 

 was obtamed, against .546,778 tons, from which were 

 made 470,055 tons of raw Sugar, and 103,98U tons 

 of Jlolasses, against 415,098 tons and »8,652 tons 

 respectively. This result includes the Sugar extracted 

 from Molasses, so far as that process was conducted 

 in conjunction with the working up of the Beet; 

 and 37,100 tons of Molasses, against 34,902 tons, were 

 carried over from the previous season, or were drawn 

 from other factories. The quantity of Beetroot 

 required to produce 1 cwt. of raw Sugar, if the 

 Sugar obtained from Molasses be reckoned, was 479 

 cwt., against 525 cwt. The duty on the home-grown 

 Beet amounted to £7.270,000, against .£7,00(1,000, and 

 the import duty on foreign Sugar to X70,00ti, against 

 .€85,0flU. The repayments for drawback reached 

 £4,815,000, against £3,720,000. The consumption of 

 Sugar per head of the population is estimated at 16B4 

 lb. raw Sugar, ag.iiust 17f2 lb., and against an aver- 

 age of 14i»6 lb, in the thirteen seasons, 1871-2 to 

 1SH3-4. The quantity of Beetroot to be worked 

 up during the present season of 1884-5 by the 408 

 factories which have commenced operations, is estimated 

 at nearly 5,000,000 tons, against 4,450,065 tons worked 

 up in l,S.S3-4 by 376 factories. 



We abridge from the Berlin Deutschr Zuckci- Iii- 

 i/«s(ny a communication from a Louisiana Sugar-planter, 

 who is stated to be well acquainted with the conditions 

 of the German Sugar industry. His remarks are 

 worth the careful attention of those who imagine 

 hat a reciprocity treaty and the admission of West 

 Indian Sugar duty-free would restore the prosperity 

 of our islands. Doubtless freight from the West 

 Indies to New York would be less than from New 

 Orleans to New York, but there is a great western 

 and local market where freights would be immensolv 

 in favour of Louisiana. If, therefore, with no duty 

 and with freights in their favour the Louisiana planters 

 cannot hold their own, how could the miserably 

 made Sugar of the West Indies do so ? I'remising 

 that in his opinion the time is approaching when 

 either Cane or Beet Sugar must assert its supremacy 

 in the world's market, and force its rival from our 

 field, the Louisiana Sugar-planter, whose letter suggests 

 these reflections, proceeds to examine the influence 

 which the United States is likely to exert on this 

 contest ; — 



The question of Beet Sugar production in the 

 United .States and in Canada may be regarded as 

 settled. The solitary Californian Sugar factory in 

 Alvarado must cease work directly Claus SpreckeLs 

 loses the monopoly of the I'acific coast, and prices 

 in that district fall from their artificial height to 

 the normal level of the New York Sugar market, 

 jdus the usual freight. Sorghum or Amber f'.iiie has 

 not fulfilled the hopes of the late Commissioner of 

 the Department of |Agriculture; and although some 

 Sugar is i>roduced under the stimulus of heavy State 

 bounties on the cultivation of and manufacture of 

 Sorghum, the aljsence of any practical result has 



