THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 25 



of drainage molasses. But this is quite a low average. Under good 

 cultivation, with a fine, rich, friable soil, and every attention to the 

 destruction of weeds, etc., it is quite possible to. add a quarter more 

 to the above figures, or 2,400 lbs. sugar and 55 gallons molasses. 



It appears from experiments made, an average of five pounds of 

 stem have been raised to the hill, which will give 270 gallons of dense 

 syrup, or 3,000 pounds of sugar and 66 gallons of molasses. This 

 experiment was made on ground that would yield 100 bushels of corn 

 per acre ; or if beets were grown and well cared for, they would yield 

 about the same amount of sugar. 



Every cultivator will readily understand that preparation of soil 

 and attention to the crop makes a vast difference in the yield. In 

 Europe, where the sugar beet is grown, the highest attainable amount 

 of sugar raised per acre is 5000 pounds, but the average in France is 

 only 1,071 pounds; Avhereas the average from sorgum ought to be 

 1,800 pounds, or very little below that amount. 



In my hastily \YTitten article in the January number, it was recom- 

 mended that the cane should be left to ripen in the field for some day a 

 after being cut. I find also this is a mistake, as deterioration begins 

 within a few hours after the crop is cut, and the sooner the stalks can 

 be worked up after the cane is removed from the ground the more 

 readily will the juice crystalize. 



One reason why sorgum is superior to the beet is, that it has a 

 far wider climatic range of growth. It has often been noticed by 

 strawberry growers that a drought takes place towards the end of June. 

 This dry season is almost fatal to the beet crop — hot, dry weather 

 rendering its juices thin and insipid, and almost entirely devoid of 

 saccharine matter. On the contrary, hardly any amount of drought 

 affects the sorgum plant, and it readily stands the summer heat as 

 far south as Texas. Neither heat nor drought appear to weaken its 

 juices in sugar-making material. 



WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN DONE MORE TO MY VINEYARD? 



BY A. HOOD, BARRIE, ONT, 



In the December number is an article from the pen of Mr. J, 

 Croil, of Aultsville, complaining that he gets worse results from his, 

 orchard, with the best of ca^-e ?ind cultiv9,tion, than does his neighbor 



