and afterwards into the Canaries and Madeiras, eventually being 

 extended by the Portuguese to their settlements in Brazil, and by 

 the Spaniards to the islands of the West Indies. The first English 

 plantations were made in Barbadoes in 1643, and the year follow- 

 ing in Jamaica. These parts of the western hemisphere, aided to 

 some extent by corresponding importations from the east, now 

 furnish the principal supplies of this useful article to the European 

 markets ; having almost entirely superseded the former cultivation 

 of the reed in this quarter of the globe, although it is still planted 

 and manufactured on a limited scale in some of the southern 

 proviuces of Spain; while in France the use of Beet-sugar, at 

 first as the result of necessity during the long war and blockade 

 of her ports, and since under the protection of the laws, has nearly 

 supplanted the importation of that from the cane. 



There cannot be any question as to the fact, that the production 

 of Sugar from many other Grasses of large size and succulent 

 character might be economically pursued. But in this respect, as 

 in regard to the several kinds of Grain, habit and long experience 

 have induced a predilection in favour of the Saccharum ; while 

 successive improvements in agricultural management and manu- 

 facture have placed it, as a producing medium, far in advance of 

 those species which, under corresponding circumstances, might 

 have been its successful competitors. The quantity of Sugar con- 

 tained in the stems of the American Maize is so considerable, for 

 instance, that its cultivation has been recommended as a substi- 

 tute for that of the Sugar Cane, in climates unsuited to the growth 

 of the latter. The very simple process by which the article in 

 question is obtained from the sap of the Acer saccharinum or Sugar 

 Maple, growing in the forests of Canada and the United States, 

 added to the facility of importation and sufiBciently low price of 

 that of the "West Indies and other parts, has hitherto prevented 

 the experiment from being instituted on a scale of sufficient extent 

 to render success determinate. 



