68 



JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



much more grown and used in the island than is the bamboo. The 

 slender, strong canes grow from 12 to 15 feet high, and are 1 to 1^ 

 inch in diameter. They are invaluable for the lighter trellis-work, 

 the cross-work on the vine latadas, and on the garden corredors which 

 are covered with climbing plants. The leaves are useful for litter, but 

 are probably too siliceous for fodder; for the latter purpose banana 

 and sugar-cane foliage are used. 



Bananas (Musa sapientum), " Bananas," flourish amazingly in the 

 ravines, growing to a lordly height, and sugar cane is planted there 

 too, while near the bottom of the ravine, on any sufficiently flat piece 

 of ground, the Colocasia adds its fine giant leaf to the varied foliage 

 effect, scarlet nasturtiums (Tropaeohmi majus) ramping over all. 



Wheat Culture. 



In mid-February the wheat plant, " Trigo," was conspicuous on 

 the terraces, sometimes planted by itself in thick rows, or, again, sown 

 broadcast among cabbages of various ages. It is often pulled up for 

 forage when a foot or more high, and thus cleared out of the way of 

 the new crop — a novel kind of catch-crop. The yield of grain on that 

 which is allowed to grow up and ripen is poor, but the straw, which is 

 pulled up by the roots, is used, just in that state, for thatching the huts. 



Sugar Cane. 



Sugar cane (Saccharum officinarum), " Ganna d'Assucar," is 

 largely cultivated in the island, and can be grown from sea-level to 

 2,000 feet. The largest patches and terraces are devoted to this crop, 

 and also the tiniest level spots hard won from the steepest hill-slopes will 

 be planted with it. The bright yellow-green of the sugar cane 

 foliage forms the most conspicuous colouring of the hillsides around 

 Funchal Bay and along the coast south-westwards. Sugar cane patches 

 are very commonly bordered by a Yine-latada, under which the cane 

 can be grown, as the crop is cut from the beginning of March, and 

 therefore cleared off before the vine foliage is put forth. Sugar cane 

 grows from 7 to S feet high ; the lower leaves are first trimmed off with 

 curved knives (puddos) (fig. 46), and neatly tied up into bundles to carry 

 into the town, where they are used as fodder for the oxen and milch 

 cows in the stables. Then the serious cutting down of the cane follows ; 

 the remaining leaves are trimmed off and the canes loaded up on ox- 

 sleds, to be taken to the sugar factory. The narrow streets get quite 

 congested with cane traffic, and the men and boys shout ceaselessly to 

 their strong, patient beasts, " Ca, Ca, mim hoi! " (Come here, my 

 oxen !). In making a new cane plantation, other crops can be grown 

 in between the rows, while the cuttings are young and slender, and the 

 patch will remain in good bearing for several years. 



Fruits. 



Besides bananas, already mentioned, several other fruits are grown 

 in Madeira. Oranges (Laraiijas), mandarins {Laranjas niandarinas), 



