482 Select Plants for Industrial Culture and 



are known. The sugar-cane is one of the best of all plants of economic 

 value, to keep cleared ground in. tropical forests free from weeds or 

 the invasion of other plants. Excessive rains produce a rank luxu- 

 riance of the canes at the expense of the saccharine principle. Rich 

 manuring is necessary to obtain good crops, unless in the best of vir- 

 gin soil. The lower leaves of the stem must succesively be removed, 

 also superabundant suckers, to promote the growth upwards, and to 

 provide ventilation and light. Out of the remnants of sugar-cane 

 either molasses or rum or taffia can be prepared. The average yield 

 of sugar varies from 1 ton 6 cwt. to 3 tons for the acre ; but excep- 

 tionally as much as 6 tons per acre have even been obtained in the 

 hardly tropical Hawaian Islands. The world's production of cane- 

 sugar in 1875 amounted to 2,140,000 tons [Boucheraux], in 1886 to 

 2,583,000 tons [F. O. Licht]. Among some other works for fuller 

 information the valuable volume of Mr. A. Mackay, " The Sugar- 

 Cane in Australia," should be consulted, particularly in the far 

 southern colonies. For the conditions and prospects of the cane-sugar 

 industry in the Southern United States see the special report of the 

 Hon. General Le Due, Washington, 1877 ; also the " Sugar Indus- 

 tries of the United States," by H. W. Wiley, 1885. The stately S. 

 spontaneum (Linne), which extends from India to Egypt and New 

 Guinea, is available for scenic culture. It attains a height of 15 feet, 

 and ascends in Java, according to Dr. Junghuhn's observations, to a 

 height of 17,000 feet. Other tall kinds of Saccharum occur in 

 South- Asia. 



Sageretia Brandrethiana, Aitchison. 



North- Western Himalayas, Persia, and Arabia. A deciduous shrub, 

 bearing small sweet fruits, not unlike Bilberries in flavor, which are 

 regularly collected and sold in the bazaars of Peshawur. S. opposi- 

 tifolia and S. theezans (Brongniart) have also edible fruits and the 

 leaves of the latter species are used like tea [Dr. G. Watt]. 



Saglttaria lancifolia, Linn. 



From Virginia to the Antilles. This very handsome aquatic plant 

 can doubtless be utilised like the following species. It attains a 

 height of 5 feet. 



Saglttaria Obtusa, Muehlenberg. (S. latifolia, Willdenow.) 



North- America, where it replaces the closely allied S. sagittifolia. 

 A few other conspicuous species are worthy of introduction. The 

 Tule- or Wapatoo-root^of California is derived from S. variabilis 

 (Engelmann). 



Sagittaria sagittifolia, Linne. 



Europe, Northern and Middle Asia, east to Japan. One of the 

 most showy of all hardy water-plants ; still not alone on that 

 account deserving naturalisation, but also because its root is edible. 



