THE CANADIAN HOUTICULTUKIST. 11 



certainly am at a loss to know why the temperature of Barrie should 

 be hiifher than that of Toronto. I have however taken the figures as 

 I found them, and if they are correct the individual above referred to 

 will not be the only one wlio is " surprised to learn." 



SUGAR CANE. 



BY P. E. BUCKE, OTTAWA, 



Perhaps it is right that some apology should be offered for writing 

 on the above subject in a periodical devoted to fruit and flowers, but 

 it must be admitted the article of sugar, like those mentioned, is one 

 of the sweets of life, and therefore admissable. The importance of 

 Canada being able to produce its o\An sugar, for which so many 

 thousands of dollars are annually sent out of the country, may well 

 lead both the government and private individuals • to turn their 

 attention to the subject of a home industry in this direction if such can 

 336 established. Everyone is aware who has given much attention to the 

 manufacture of sugar from the beet root that it requires very expensive 

 machinery and an exceedingly scientific treatment to produce an 

 article suitable for commerce. These difficulties are overcome by the 

 production of sugar from the new canes now cultivated on a large 

 scale in the Western and other States. 



Some time during the Eighteen Hundred and Fifties there was 

 sent to the neighboring Republic by some of its foreign Consuls the 

 seed of the Sargo, or Chinese sugar cane, and some of the Imphees, or 

 African sugar cane. These seeds were distributed by the Department 

 of Agriculture, at AVashington, all over the United States, and have 

 apparently found a congenial home in the States of Minnesota, 

 Illinois, Texas, Pennsylvania, Missouri, and Michigan. It will be 

 noticed that it is not only adapted to the hotter Southern States, but 

 comes to maturity in those whose climatic influences are similar to 

 our own Province of Ontario. In point of fact, wherever Indian corn 

 can be grown or grapes ripened these plants flourish, as it will arrive 

 at maturity in a shorter season than the maize plant. The plant is a 

 gi-eat deal similar to that of the Indian corn, with the exception that 

 the corn bears its seed on the ear, whereas these canes have their seed 

 on the tassel on the top of the plant. 



