SUGAB CANE. 335 



used in Europe as an article of diet in soups, curries, puddings, 

 &c. Starch is made from Rice as well as from Wheat. The 

 straw of Rice as well as that of Wheat is used in the manufac- 

 ture of bonnets. 



The Sugar Canes (Saccharum), are very handsome plants ; 

 their height varies from eight to twenty feet, and the stem is 

 divided at short intervals by angular joints, from each of which 

 long narrow leaves sprout. The spikelets are composed of two 

 membranous glumes, and florets with two awnless transparent 

 paleee ; there are three stamens and two styles. All the florets 

 are feathery and fertile. 



The Indian Sugar Cane has been introduced into the South 

 of Europe, the Canary Islands, and the West Indies ; it pro- 

 duces a fine sweet Sugar. 



The Chinese Sugar Cane is a larger species, and valuable, 

 because the Canes are hard enough to resist the attacks of the 

 white ants ; this Cane abounds in sap. 



The natives of Bengal make pens of the small Brown Cane, 

 and they use its stems for making screens and such light 

 articles. 



In India Canes are employed for thatching. 



The Sugar Cane is propagated by cuttings. Holes are 

 made in rows three feet apart, and two feet between each pair 

 of holes ; two or more cuttings are laid at the bottom of each 

 hole, and covered with two inches depth of earth. In about a 

 fortnight the sprouts begin to appear. The cuttings are planted 

 about March in the West Indies, and the harvest time varies 

 from August to November. Several crops may be raised from 

 the same roots. Old planters used to renew the Canes once in 

 three years, but it need not be done so often. The Canes are 

 carried from the plantations as they are cut and thrown into a 

 mill ; there they are crushed, and the juice expressed, and 

 received into troughs. It runs next into a pan called a clarifier, 

 where it is kept at a certain heat by a fire placed underneath, 

 but not allowed to boil. During this process it is tempered 



