IMPROVEMENT OF THE SUGAR CANE. 103 
the plant, “sports”? may arise of canes richer in sugar 
contents than the average of canes of the same variety, 
but I believe this phenomenon to be probably as rare as is 
that of bud variation. 
But these views are not held by all sugar cane experts, 
and among those holding different views Mr. HUBERT 
EDSON of Louisiana has the foremost place. He 
claims to have conclusively proved that by sele€tion of 
canes for planting of saccharine strength higher than 
the average, a distinét increase in the saccharine con- 
tents of canes planted over wide arezs can be obtained. 
From his report issued in 1893 it appears that in 1891 
he planted two fields of canes, one with “rich ” canes 
with juice containing 14°7 % of sucrose, the other with 
‘‘poor”’ canes with juice containing 11°g % of sucrose. 
From these he got as follows :— 
Rich Canes. Poor Canes. 
189q1 1t°2 o/o sucrose 10°9 
1892 16 I5‘I 
and in another experiment where the rich canes yielded 
juice containing 19°5 % of total solids and that of the 
poor canes contained 17°2 % his results were :— 
Rich Canes. Poor Canes. 
13°9 o/o sucrose 13°1 o/o sucrose. 
Mr. EDSON comments upon these results, after labo- 
riously elaborating out theoretical yields from his figures 
that ‘“ It is undoubtedly a remarkable showing” while 
Mr. THISELTON-DYER alluded in terms of high approval 
to these experiments in his somewhat recent condem- 
nation of the planters of this colony. 
I do not think that pra€tical planters, at any rate in 
this colony, share in the enthusiasm of Mr. EDSON and 
Mr. THISELTON-DYER. To me, the experiments, far from 
