WRAY’S ACCOUNT OF THE IMPHEES. 217 
ties,—some have deteriorated, while others have certainly 
improved. It is also evident that the planter is, to a high 
degree, responsible for these changes. Within certain well- 
defined limits, he holds the destiny of this plant under his 
control. The care and enthusiasm of the stock-raiser is 
needed in this pursuit. Certain qualities may be made 
transmissible, and permanent varieties, like new breeds of 
cattle, may thus be originated and perpetuated. Without 
sedulous attention, and enlightened skill bestowed both in 
the culture of the plant and in selecting for it those condi- 
tions of growth and of improvement which its proper nature 
demands, gradual deterioration will be the result; but if 
the aim is to improve to the utmost every good quality, 
under the guidance of a just judgment of its wants and its 
capacity for improvement, we shall have varieties much 
superior to any at present known. 
For the purpose of comparison, Mr. Leonard Wray’s 
account of the different varieties of imphee cane, at the 
time of their introduction into this country (the year 1857), 
is here appended. 
“Tam acquainted with fifteen varieties of the Holcus 
Saccharatus, although I doubt not there are yet others in 
different parts of the world that have not come under my 
notice. I shall therefore confine my remarks to the fifteen 
varieties; and to prevent the constant repetition of their 
botanical name I shall use their Zulu-Kaffir name of imphee 
alone. 
“Among Europeans, residing in South Africa, no dis- 
tinction is known in regard to the varieties, and there they 
will be much surprised at learning that there are really 
fifteen different kinds of imphee growing before their eyes, 
and being constantly eaten by them. ‘There is certainly 
that degree of similarity between them, when seen growing 
19 
