42 BRITISH GRASSES. 



and cheap article of diet to the poor in Europe,, and a 

 welcome addition to the tables of the rich. Alone, 

 or with curry or milk, it forms good food ; ground into 

 flour, it is available for puddings, cakes, etc., and starch 

 is formed of it as well as of wheat. 



The family of the Sugar-cane [Saccharum) includes 

 a great number of stately plants attaining a considerable 

 height, some being twenty feet in stature. 



The Common Sugar-cane [Saccharum officinarum) is 

 a native both of the East and West Indies, or was very 

 early introduced there from Africa. The inhabitants of 

 the West India Islands assert that the sugar-cane never 

 blossoms, because they are accustomed to plants culti- 

 vated to the highest pitch of luxuriance for the sake of 

 the sap, and cut before the blossoming time. The in- 

 florescence of the sugar-cane is an object of remarkable 

 beauty ; the rachis diverges into innumerable branch- 

 lets, bearing a crowd of delicate florets, the weight of 

 which bends the slender branch. The leaves are flat and 

 smooth, and soon fade. There are a good number of 

 species known to botanists, but the only one in exten- 

 sive cultivation is the Common Sugar-cane. This is 

 propagated by cuttings. When the ground is prepared, 

 holes are made in rows three feet apart, leaving two feet 

 between each pair of holes ; two or three cuttings are 

 then placed in each hole, and covered two inches deep 

 with earth. In about a fortnight green sprouts begin 

 to arise from the ground, and according to the season 

 and climate, the canes are fit for cutting from August 

 to November. The cuttings are planted in March in 

 the West Indies, and several crops may be raised from 

 the same set of roots, so that new cuttings only need be 

 planted once in several years. As the canes are cut 





