THE CULTIVATION OF PLANTS ON ENLIGHTENED PRINCIPLES. 555 
The rind of the cane consists of three dis- 
tinct parts: the rind, (properly so called,) 
the skin, and the epidermis. 
The rind is formed of sap vessels, ranged 
in a parallel direction, on a compact circular 
surface. 
The skin, which is very thin, is at first 
white and tender; it then becomes green, then 
yellow, as the joint approaches to maturity, 
the period of which is shown by streaks of 
deep red. 
'J'he epidermis is a fine and transparent pel- 
licle, which covers the skin. It is almost 
always white. 
At the upper part of the inner joint the rind 
divides itself into two parts. The inner part 
forms the rind of the following joint. The 
sap vessels of the outer part are joined by seve- 
ral other sap vessels from the interior, with 
which they rise, supported by a reticulated 
tissue, and form the leaf, upon which the skin 
and epidermis of the rind are continued. 
All the leaves, except the three first radi- 
cals, are divided into two parts by a nodosity. 
The lower part of the leaf is sometimes 
more than a foot long; it envelopes the upper 
joints, folding itself very closely round them. 
Its inner surface is white, polished, smooth, 
and shining. Its outer surface is slightly 
indented, and bears a great number of very 
minute white thorns. 
The upper part is four feet, and sometimes 
even more in length. After rising out of the 
ground it gradually recedes from the cane as it 
grows, and forms with it a proportionate 
greater angle in approaching to maturity. Its 
greatest width is two inches, thence tapering 
to a narrow point. 
The nodosity is about half an inch broad ; 
the texture of its skin is softer, thicker, and of 
a darker colour than the other parts of the 
leaf. It has, on the inside, a very thin mem- 
branous fold, very tightly applied round the 
body of the cane. A channel for the rain is 
formed by the upper part of the leaf, and this 
fold, which is, at the same tine, a barrier 
against extraneous bodies, and protects the 
young joints, at the time of their development, 
from the attack of insects, which might 
otherwise destroy them. The leaves are 
placed alternately on the joints, and expand 
at top in a kind of fan.” 
The author, from whose able work we 
have just quoted, adds, that the natural 
history of plants shows the phenomena of 
the fructification and fecundation of the 
germ, the laws which this germ follows in 
its development, the different revolutions 
which the plant undergoes from its birth 
to its total decay, and the various accidents 
of the different periods betweeen these two 
terms. 
“ To conduct the cultivation of a plant on 
enlightened and rational principles, it is in- 
dispensable that the cultivator should have 
a thorough knowledge of its natural history. 
This will teach him what soil and what 
climate agree best with the plant. In under- 
standing the most favourable circumstances 
of its vegetation, he discovers the causes of 
all the accidents to which it is liable, and is 
best able to guard against their recurrence, 
at the same time that he is necessarily con- 
ducted to the better knowledge of the nature 
and the quality of its products. 
All the parts of the cane form, develope, 
grow, and rise, successively, one upon the 
other, in such a manner, that each particular 
part is a whole, which appears to pursue its 
own course, independent of the other.” 
We quote the foregoing, because there 
are among our readers some who may deem 
the description we have given above as not 
necessary to the cultivation. Mr. Porter 
thus traces the development of the plant. 
“ The bud consists of the germ, tightly en- 
closed within little leaves. The develop- 
ment of this germ is necessarily governed by 
the same laws, in every part of the cane in 
which there is a bud. The radical knots can 
easily be perceived and examined in their first 
development, especially upon buds developed 
on the upper part of a cane. If the head of 
one be cut off, its buds, then receiving the 
juices which would have continued to nourish 
the head, are sometimes sufficiently developed 
to throiv out twenty joints. After having 
removed the radical leaves, the first cane 
joint is generally discovered under that of the 
fifth knot — it is known by the appearance of 
the bud ; if it be without this, it must be reck- 
oned a radical knot, then the following joint 
will have the bud ; but if that, too, be with- 
out, which very rarely happens, the bud will 
certainly be found on the next or seventh 
knot. It is from the centre of the last radical 
knot that the germ of the first cane joint 
springs. This germ encloses the vital prin- 
ciple of the cane, and of the generation of the 
joints. The first, in forming itself, becomes 
the matrix of the second, — the second of the 
third,— and soon, in succession. '1 here is 
always a degree of difference in the various 
revolutions of each joint, marked by the time 
of its generation ; so that the joints of the cane 
may be considered as concentric circles, the 
centre of which is always occupied by a point, 
which, expanding into a circle itself, js re- 
placed by a new point ; circles which, rising 
successively one upon the other, enlarge, and 
arrive, in a’ given time, at their greatest 
diameter. 
When circumstances are very favourable 
for vegetation, it often happens that, im- 
mediately after the first development of the 
cane joints, which form the secondary stole, 
the bud of the first of these joints throws out 
its radical roots, and forms a second filiation 
on the first , the bud of the first cane joint of 
this second filiation also sometimes developes, 
and forms a third ; these two last soon be- 
come very nearly as forward as the first, and, 
like it, form canes. 
