SELECTION A2sD PREPAEATIOX OF SEED. 115 



Mammoth could be substituted. All the above are among the best of 

 our varieties. 



Other things being equal, it is desirable that those varieties be se- 

 lected which shall give the heaviest crop, since, if worked at their 

 best, the amount of sugar or syrup produced is proportioned to the 

 weight of the cane; and, by reference to the tables on pages 74 and 

 75, it will be seen that, generally, the weight of the crop is nearly pro- 

 portioned to the time necessary for it to mature. For example, we 

 find the average weight of the stalks, of the above varieties, as cut 

 in the field, and after stripping, to be as follows : 



Average weight of Average weight of 



stalks as ciiL stripped stalks. 



Earlv Amber 1.39 pounds. .96 pounds. 



Links Hvbrid 1.90 " L38 



Earlv Orange 2.12 " 1.47 



Liberian 2.26 " 1.81 



Honduras 2.54 " 2.14 " 



A field, then, which would produce a crop of ten tons of Early Am- 

 ber stripped stalks, would produce over twenty tons of Honduras 

 stripped stalks. But the advantage of a prolonged season for working 

 up the crop would prove so great that the difference in yield of crop 

 would be more than compensated. 



The Choice of Seed. 



Having selected the proper variety for cultivation, the selection and 

 testing of the seed is of first importance. 



It is by many urged that, for cultivation in any northern locality, 

 seed should be obtained further south ; not that earlier maturity is thus 

 secured, but a heavier crop. It being asserted, as the result of experi- 

 ence, that, after two years' planting, there was a marked falling off in 

 the weight of the crop. The general opinion prevailing among those 

 who hold to this view, is seen in the following from the proceedings of 

 the ^linnesota Cane Grower's Association : 



The weight of opinion was decidedly in favor of seed brought from the lati- 

 tude of St. Louis. Some cane growers had sent their seed to Missouri and 

 Kansas, to have a crop grrown and its seed returned. Among the decisive facts 

 reported. Mr. Miller stated that his seed, imported from Southern Indiana 11 

 years before, had produced, on its first sowing, stalks from 12 to 15 feet high ; but, 

 by planting the seeds of each crop, its successors showed a declining height of 

 cane, until it grew but 7 or ?? feet high. Mr. Wylie had averaged, with seed 

 brought from the South. 273 gallons per acre; the following year, using his own 

 seed, he obtained but 223 gallons, a falling off of 50 gallons. The president of 

 the convention had found, as a general thing, that the deterioration of seed was 



