101 



complaints, I need only mention, that though planted in 

 rich newly opened land, it has never been observed to 

 improve — the foliage having the same grass-like appearance, 

 marked with ferruginous spots, and the stalk coming up 

 stunted and spindling. 



II. The Ribbon Cane is a variety which has of late been 

 deservedly rejected by all good planters. Its introduction is 

 recent. The foliage it bears is profuse, the stem strong, and 

 the joints, which are distant, are marked with longitudinal 

 stripes of purple and yellow. It is from this last peculiarity 

 that it derives its distinctive appellation. Altogether, it bears 

 the appearance of a plant possessed of strong vegetative 

 powers, holding a middle rank, in regard to size of stem and 

 its general appearance, to the two stocks which still remain 

 to be noticed. 



III. The Bourbon Cane was introduced into the French 

 colonies by Bougainville from the Isle of France. It was 

 afterwards brought into the British Islands by Captain Bligh. 

 It surpasses all others in the thickness of its stem, which 

 bulges out between the joints. The joints themselves are 

 longer than in the Country Cane, but shorter dian the Rib- 

 bon and the Violet. Its foliage also is less luxuriant, the 

 leaves being of a light green, somewhat stiff and erecto-pa- 

 tent. The hairs around the base of the calyx are few, and 

 shorter than in the other varieties ; the glumes have a reddish 

 tinge, the outermost very obscurely 2 nerved, the middle ob- 

 soletely 1 nerved, and the innermost almost nerveless. This 

 variety is the richest in the sweet principle, and, where cir- 

 cumstances admit, is always cultivated in preference. It 

 demands indeed a fertile soil. On a poor soil, on the con- 

 trary, it soon dies away, failing to reach even the 2d or 3d 

 ratoons. Hence, whilst it is the favourite stock in tlie Parish 

 of Vere, its cultivation has been found to injure, in many 

 cases irreparably, the light, gravelly, and sandy loams of the 

 Parish of St. Thomas in the East. 



IV. The Violet, or, as it is called in the French Islands, 

 the Batavian Cane, is more grown in the West than m 

 the East Indies ; the soil of tiic latter being so fertile as to 



