, 
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past the tedious period of infancy, which occupies from four to six 
months. Only, however, the very e aaa varieties mature the first 
year; all the rest, though they may be only a month or so later in 
their period of flowering, miss the first season of arrowing, and 
consequently have to go on to the following autumn before the chance 
of performing that — occurs again ; so that for the great majority 
of varieties it may be said that two years are required from the time 
the seed was sown 4f» the seedlings to mature, or from 15 to 18 mana 
from the time they were strong enough to be planted out in the o 
ground. This is a suficient proof, if any were needed, that the idea of 
resorting to seed for propagation in field agriculture is impracticable, 
and that the present methods of propagation by cuttings or stumps will 
E to be cone ges to in the future as in the past, if only for economy 
ntime. But, of course, the insuperable obstacle to using seed in field 
Bistagstion, even if time could be regarded, as the Indian regards it, as 
of no consequence whatever, is the delicacy aaa slow growth of the 
sugar-cane in infancy. In the climate of Guiana, field hs iens of 
the cane by seed would probably not yield an average of o r 
cre. As we have emphasised before in these columns, men only useful 
possess of the su e's 
new varieties. Of this method of propagation and its results we have 
now had two seasons' саты ar short as the period is over which 
s have nded 
occurs in эшш generation in the sugar-cane ; usd the second the 
marked tendency to improvement shown in this variation. 
as 
re are numerous instances of m Spo 
but the general tendency is clearly on the lines of improvement in each 
particular variety that has been so far successfully tested. The | progress 
in improvement is pitan of course, and the degree naturally in direct 
proportion and relation to the character and quality of the parent canes, 
The inferior varieties, for instance, do not produce large varieties in a 
single generation, but as with better kinds, few or many of the progeny 
show a decided improvement on the parent stock. In the majority of 
instances the improvement, though evident, 2 not pe but occasionally 
an instance occurs that is a striking advan This is the ground of 
encouragement in pursuing this method of Io aic, If among the 
seedlings of a variety is found in the first generation a plant twice or 
thrice the size of the parent plant, we are justified in expecting that by 
selecting this larger plant and discs d from it again we shall get still 
further improvement, to repeated again and again in succeeding 
generations. This, we may note, is one of the points already achieved. 
By recording the name of the variety sir which each lot of seed was 
thered, when it was sown last year at the Botanic Gardens, this 
possibility of improvement has been Votnblished with certainty, so far as 
the Minero altorded by a few varieties in a single generation can be 
taken as a guide, and we know of no reason against its acceptance, 
We have mentioned the occasional im ment observed in size in the 
seedlings of these — recorded dd varieties; but the variation 
in colour and form and other extern € aracters is = eneral and 
conspicuous than that in size. In the ority of in s there is an 
evident approximation in physical ж ice Кенд to the 
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