186 



ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



their long succulent petioles. The root requires at least six hours' 

 slow and careful boiling. There are several varieties or "sorts." 

 In the Canaries and Cape Verdes this plant is very partially and 

 rarely cultivated, probably owing to the scarcity of water; for 

 even in dry situations in Madeira it requires frequent irrigation. 



Gramihace^e. 



161. Zea Mays L. The cultivation of "Milho" (Maize or 

 Indian Corn) is now, alike in all the islands, of primary considera- 

 tion. In Madeira formerly it was very subordinate or partial ; 

 but since the general destruction of the vines, Milho has in 

 the north of the island as completely taken their place as the 

 sugar-cane has in the south ; and the better supply of water 

 renders the crop far less precarious than it is in the Cape 

 Verdes. The mode of cultivation is mosfc simple. Two or three 

 seeds are planted near together in the middle of a slight hollow, 

 or a row is sown along a shallow trench. They require no further 

 care than weeding, watering, and thinning. The heads are 

 gathered in Madeira in August or September. 



162. Panicum maximum Jacq. (P. jumentorum Pers.). Guinea- 

 Grass is sometimes cultivated here and there in all the islands for 

 fodder. 



163. Arundo Dokax L. was formerly grown largely (or, rather, 

 suffered to grow) in Madeira for making vine-trellises, mats, or 

 partitions in houses, &c. It is perfectly wild or naturalized in all 

 the islands. 



164. Bambusa arundinacea L. The Bamboo flourishes par- 

 ticularly well in Madeira, becoming sometimes as thick as a man's 

 thigh. It is less frequently seen in the Canaries or Cape Verdes. 



165. Saccharum oeficlnarum L. The Sugar-cane is a gene- 

 ral object of cultivation almost equally in all the islands, though 

 more for the sake of distilling spirits from its juice than for making 

 sugar. When employed, however, in Madeira for this latter pur- 

 pose, the produce is most excellent. In the south of this island 

 it has for the present almost wholly taken the place of the vine. 

 The sort most commonly cultivated and esteemed is the short- 

 jointed. The culture is very simple. On the cutting of the canes 

 in February or March, from 6 to 12 inches of their tops, lopped 

 of all leaves, are planted obliquely in rows in shallow trenches 

 when it is wished to form new plantations. The old stocks send 

 up annually fresh shoots, after the cutting of the old, for a new 



