cordiiif^ U) report, its size and luxuriance arc- inli-rior lo wlniL 

 it attains in Madagascar, the Isle lA' l'"rance, and the (hstrictH 

 ol" the East, )r)ore immediately beneath the Ivjuator. Like 

 all f^ramineous plants, it dc.lights in a rather moist climate. 

 Where the rains, however, are excessive, a rank luxiiriancfi 

 is the conse(|iience, uniavourahle to the niaturation ol the 

 plant; the jnices it allords heing watery and deficient in iIk- 

 saccharine j)rinci[)le, yielding on crystallization a daik 

 coloured sugar. Thus, in few |)arts of the ishuid (lo«;s more 

 rain fall than in the parish of l*(jrtland. To the eye, few 

 spots can aj)pear more l)eautif"ul than (iolden-Vale — an 

 almost perfectly level plain, cov(;red with a luxuriant vegeta- 

 tion, encotnpassed by lofty mountains, clothed to tii(;ir sum- 

 mits with forest trees, which ecHidefJse the va[)0(irs conveyed 

 over them by the prevalent easterly winds of the tropics. 

 'I'he sky, however, being almost constantly overcast, the sti- 

 mulating influence; ol the sun's niys is too S{)arifig it) awaken 

 the energies <jf the plant to a jjjoper exercise of tlie secretive 

 and assimilative functions, and the carbon and other ma- 

 terials taken up as nourishment suffer only a partial decom- 

 positifjn ; and, wliil ,1 I he greater part escapes unaltered by 

 exudation and respiration, a portion only undergoes the 

 chemical changes by wliich it is eonveited into the sweet or 

 saccharine princi[)le. 



The Cane demands a fertile soil. We have an examjjle 

 of a soil of this descrij)tion in tlie Parish oi' Vere, which, witli 

 all its disadvantages of climate, must ever rank, in proportion 

 to its size, as the most productive sugar district in the island. 

 On examination it will Ix: found to contain all the ingredients 

 set down by Sir II. Davy as necessary t.o constitute a fertile 

 soil, /t is composed of alluvial /natter, mixed with clay and 

 sand, together with calcareous matter waslied down from the 

 neighbouring liills. Plantain Garden Itiver, on tlir; «<ther 

 |j;ind, wliicli holds only a secfiudary rank as a sugar district, 

 is composed princifjally of alluvial matter, mixed with clay 

 and finely dividetl gravel; there being very little traces of 

 lime. It ought not to be forgotU^n, in valuing cane land, 

 that a fertile soil, sucli as that of Ven,-, possesses two advufi- 



