DESCRIPTION OF THE PLANT. 45 
seeds. The canes have suffered nothing from this un- 
propitious position. It was only those which were com- 
pletely flat upon the ground and in contact with the 
soil, which were unfit for the extraction of sugar. They 
had been almost completely converted into feculent 
matter. We should observe that we had taken the 
precaution to hill these sugar canes, which were thus 
thrown upon the soil by storm. It is to be remarked 
that the plants which were sown alone by themselves, 
which were not hilled, had not been thrown down by 
the wind, which corroborates the opinion previously 
advanced by us of the uselessness of hilling. It now 
seems tous proved that in letting the plant take care 
of itself, without coming to its aid by artificial appliances, 
the cultivation would be easier, and the harvest more 
sure. Too much care given to certain products of the 
soil are oftentimes more hurtful than useful.” Unlike 
Dr. Sicard’s plants, my own were not in hills, but were 
sown in drills at two, and two and a half feet apart. 
I find that some rows of canes which were planted at 
a distance of about a foot apart, in the row, in a more 
exposed position than the field which was prostrated, 
not only were not thrown down by the wind, but ripened 
their sced-heads; and from our own experience we 
learned the useful lesson that the Chinese Sugar Cane, 
like our common corn, should not be planted so near 
together, as, when they acquire their development, 
to partially exclude the free access of air and sunlight 
to every portion of the stalk. In fact the planting and 
cultivation should, in all their details, be similar to 
that given in the most approved practice to the corn crop. 
