172 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 



were cultivated on a sufficiently dry soil. Its softer cortex and 

 pith would facilitate the grinding. We should not forget, also, 

 the superior facility with which its waste matter could be con- 

 verted into manure, and returned to the soil. 



The use of Indian corn as an annual seedling would avoid all 

 the troublesome facts connected with the present deterioration 

 of cane. The process of planting and culture would also be 

 cheaper. 



What the drawbacks on this plan might be, I can not say. I 

 suppose, however, that the percentage of sugar might be much 

 less. So, also, the chemical state of its sap, as related to fermen- 

 tability and granulation, may make it inferior; though of this I 

 know nothing. 



On the subject of the relative amount of sugar in diiferent 

 parts of the plant, and at different periods in its progressive growth, 

 the reader may consult the "Prize Essay" of Prof Salisbury, in 

 the Transactions of the New- York State Agricultural Society, for 

 1848, p. 677 to 845. 



In this search for a substitute for sugar cane, we should not 

 forget the newly imported Chinese Sugar Cane^ — a plant well 

 reported of in regard to hardiness, timely maturity, and rich 

 juices. 



It is very important to notice that the substitution of this 

 plant, or of Indian corn, would greatly extend the latitudinal area 

 of sugar growing, carrying it as far north, doubtless, as the line 

 of 40^, instead of its present limits of 32 J°. 



When the foregoing was first written, I was not aware of the 

 wise action of the United States government, in sending abroad 

 for such seed cane as I have described. I do most fervently hope 

 that the suggestion which I have made, relative to the true seed 

 of the sugar cane, will be carried out also. Nor should such 

 renewal of seed cane be sought for from highly tropical regions, 

 however healthfully the cane may grow there. That were but to 

 perpetuate existing difficulties, by introducing varieties which 

 must decline, in a few years, under the infelicities of our climate, 

 unless renewed from the true seed. 



JOHN LUNAN ON THE SUGAR CANE IN JAMAICA. 



Since the preceding article was written a friend has put into my 

 hands — Hortus Jamaicensis : or a Botanical description of the 



