42, THE CHINESE SUGAR CANE. 
at an effect contrary to what is desired. He says, that 
he had some canes of which the stalk was broken, at 
different periods of its development, and that he had re- 
marked, that according to the color of the seed, that is 
to say, according to the more or less continued progress 
of the process of ripening, the internodes the nearest to 
the upper portion of the plant, were more or less sweet. 
Thus, he says, the colors most removed from that of the 
ripe seed coincided with the greater quantity of sugar 
in the internodes nearest the panicle; but the more the 
plants approached the term of maturity, the more did the 
saccharine matter travel downwards in the stalk. In 
ripening, the Chinese sugar-cane takes on a yellowish 
tint, striped in places with red. Some of them continue 
to preserve an apple-green color, marked likewise with 
red. ‘These colors generally indicate the term of matur- 
ity; if the red passes into carmine the cane is too ripe, 
and cultivators should notice this thing, In connection 
with the color of the seeds. At the commencement of 
our experience with this new plant, it is well to mention 
the fact, that it is subject to different maladies, some of 
which attack the root, and some the pith of the stalk. 
Dr. Sicard has made, upon this point, extensive in- 
vestigations, and at page 65 of his book says, ‘The 
roots, especially the upper ones, those which we have 
called secondary, take on sometimes a deep violet color. 
Tf you cut these roots thus degenerated, they present in 
the interior the appearance of a purplish red color, 
which continues even as far as the radicles. The plants 
which have these roots, languish, take on a chlorotic tint, 
and end by their dying, or producing insignificant 
