ON CHEMICAL YIELDING PLANTS 



Several experimenters from different parts of 

 the world have written me concerning this matter 

 within the past fifteen years. 



And a number of my friends and acquaintances 

 are now raising sugar-cane from seed in Mexico, 

 the Hawaiian Islands, and Cuba, with an eye to the 

 production of improved varieties. Their efforts 

 should be successful. 



Crossbreeding the sugar-cane will give it new 

 vitality, and careful selection from among the new 

 varieties that will appear in the second generation 

 should enable the cultivators to develop new 

 strains of the sugar-bearing cane that will be far 

 richer in their sugar content than any of the old 

 varieties. The cane is at best handicapped in com- 

 petition with the beet by the fact that it can be 

 grown only in tropical and sub-tropical climates. 



If it is to hold its own, it must be developed to 

 its full possibilities of productivity. 



Doubtless it will be possible to develop races 

 of sugar-cane having greatly increased size of 

 stalk, and having also a higher percentage of sugar 

 in a given quantity of pulp. In attempting such 

 developments, the experimenters are merely bring- 

 ing the sugar-cane industry into line with the other 

 great plant industries, most of which were neg- 

 lected by the scientific plant developer until very 

 recent years. 



[143] 



