80 THE CHINESE SUGAR-CANE. 



for sugar, as the juice contains nearly ten per 

 cent, of saccharine matter as clear as crystal, 

 and, on a very small scale, beautiful clarified 

 sugar was produced by my friend Dr. Eay." 



D. Minis, of Beaver county, Pennsylvania, 

 writes thus : ' ' Last spring I received from the 

 Patent Office a small parcel of the seeds of the 

 Chinese Sugar-cane. I planted it about the 20th 

 of May, although it might have been sown ten 

 or fifteen days earlier ; but, fearing that it might 

 be injured by a late frost, I preferred to plant it 

 thus late. I planted it in the centre of a twenty- 

 acre field in two rows, with the hills about three 

 and a half feet apart, with from two to six seeds 

 in each hill. Where the plants were three or 

 four to a hill they grew the most vigorously, and 

 seemed to produce the most perfect seed. I gave 

 them no extra culture, either in labor or manure : 

 the plants had no protection from sunshine or 

 storm before I secured the seed. The given 

 weight of the crop on a given space, growing as 

 it did with me the past season, I think would be 

 nearly or quite equal to that of Indian corn.'* 



D. J. Browne, Esq., of the Patent Office, 

 Washington, D. C, in his late report, thus 

 speaks of the Chinese Sugar-cane : " Since its 

 introduction into this country it has proved 



