8&6 TIMEHRI. 
2. The improvement of the agricultural yield by means 
of manures. 
1. The search for improved varieties of sugar cane. 
By improved varieties are meant varieties yielding more 
sugar per acre than does the Bourbon, the White Trans- 
parent, the Purple Transparent or the Red Ribbon cane 
in the countries where either of them is the staple 
variety, and this may be attained in the following ways :— 
istly, by increase in the tons of canes produced per 
acre. 
2ndly, by increased contents of sucrose in the canes, 
3rdly, by both increased saccharine contents and in- 
creased weight of canes produced per acre. 
4thly, by freedom of the canes from the diseases 
attacking them in the different countries. 
M. J. KRAJENBRINK, in Java, in 1860, pointed out 
some of these desiderata in terms well worthy of repro- 
duétion, and which are as follows :— 
ist. Can we increase the richness of the cane juice 
represented by the proportion of crystallisable sugar con- 
tained in one gallon, without at the same time diminish- 
ing the proportionate quantity of juice yielded ? 
2nd, Can’ we obtain finer and stronger canes without 
diminishing the quantity of the juice or its saccharine 
richness ? } 
3rd. Can we obtain a larger number of canes to each 
stool without injury to their development, and without 
injuring their richness in juice or sugar ? 
Before entering into this branch of our subjeét it will 
be as well to consider what are the amounts of sucrose 
present in sugar canes of normal growth, as it is to 
the highly exaggerated ideas prevalent regarding the 
