

CULTIVATION OP PLANTS. 



201 



tion, sometimes a whole year, I am convinced it will be, in this country, far 

 more profitable to obtain the result in the shape of beef and mutton, than in 

 sugar. 



The VINE, Vitis vinifera, and other species of grape, yield 

 sugar. But they are rarely, if ever, cultivated for this pur- 

 pose; for, while they are inferior to other plants for the pro- 

 duction of sugar, they are superior to any for the special pur- 

 pose for which they are cultivated the production of wine. 



The BIRCH, Betula alba, when its stem is perforated, yields 

 a large quantity of juice, from which sugar may be obtained 

 by boiling. The inhabitants of some countries where the birch 

 abounds, supply themselves in this manner with a species of 

 domestic sugar. 





