212 THE AFRICAN SUGAR CANE. 
at times be suddenly varied by a few days of cold, raw, 
wet, and windy weather, throwing back and greatly re- 
tarding the growth of these plants, thereby changing the 
three, and three and a half, or four months required 
under altogether favorable circumstances into a much 
longer time, and thus perhaps obtaining really no 
thorough ripening of the plant after all. 
But, on the other hand, if we plant only of those vari- 
eties requiring from two and a half to three months of 
continuous warm weather, we render the success of the 
cultivation as nearly certain as we well can. 
The introduction of unsuitable varieties into Europe 
has been, in my estimation, the one great reason of their 
failure hitherto ; and in this belief, I hold the Nee-a-za-na, 
Boom-vwa-na, and Oom-se-a-na to be peculiarly valuable 
for our Kuropean cultivation. 
The imphee is a tall, slender, and very elegant plant, 
its foliage being light and graceful, and its tints bright 
and varied in the different stages of its growth. It ex- 
hales a perfume at once strong and agreeable, with some- 
thing approaching that of rich new honey. 
CULTIVATION, INCLUDING SOILS, CLIMATE AND SEASONS. 
CLIMATE.—It may be safely stated as an indisputable 
fact, that wherever maize or Indian corn will grow and 
ripen its seed, imphee will lkewise grow and elaborate 
its juice so as to be suitable for sugar making, bearing in 
mind always that in as much as the maize comprises va- 
rieties which require five months, and others which 
require only three months, so in like manner does the 
