VARIETIES OF THE IMPHEE. Zt 
sweeter, instead of forming seed at the expense of its sac- 
charine matter. 
This, no doubt, is to a certain extent perfectly reason- 
able, and would be very successful, ¢f the plant could be 
prevented from expending its saccharine strength in its 
natural efforts to reproduce itself, but so imperative is the 
great law of nature that immediately the seed is removed, 
the eye or bud belonging to every joint along the stem 
begins forthwith to swell, and in a few short days will 
have shot out a foot or more in length, crowned with 
small seed heads, having three or four, some three to six, 
side-shoots with seed heads along the stalk, to replace the 
one main head removed. 
My own experience therefore led me to doubt very 
much the expediency of thus running counter to nature’s 
laws; and eventually I abstained altogether from remov- 
ing the seed heads, fancying that I gained rather than 
lost in saccharine quantity by my noninterference. I 
then removed, in many instances, these eyes with my 
penknife, but the plant forthwith sent up a number of 
fresh sprouts from the roots to balk me, so I gave it up. 
A knowledge of this fact is very important in studying 
the subject of rattooning. 
~The description I have given will suffice to show the 
comparative value of the different kinds of imphee, and 
it will be apparent to the meanest capacity that the suc- 
cessful cultivation of this plant for sugar making in the 
greater portion of Europe, depends almost entirely upon 
the selection of the proper variety. 
The capricious character of the summer in Europe is 
well known. Very hot and even tropical weather may 
