from cuttings, though for the last few years a good deal ol ex- 
periment has been made in raising sugar from seed with some- 
what varied results. Here we have till lately not even attempted 
to raise cane from seed. Experiments however are now 
being made in this direction, an account of which will be pub- 
It is true hat some other plants have been in cultivation foi 
many centimes which are propagated asexually only, and do not 
appear to have deteriorated in any wa.y ; as for instance the com- 
mon red Hibiscus and Jerusalem artichokes. Still I cannot re- 
call any other plant which has been so long and extensively 
planted on the same ground without any cross-breeding as t fie 
sugar-cane, and this practical inbreeding must weaken the strains. 
In these respects sugar certainly stands alone, and it remains to 
be seen whether plan ters can modify these peculiarities of culti- 
vation without undergoing any even temporary diminution in 
jut-turn. 
Pests. 
' inong the enemies of the sugar-cane here the worst are the 
ir-borer caterpillar, some beetles, rats and one or more kinds 
o. mgus, and of these probably the most injurious in all the 
fieLcu are the borer and the fungi. 
The sugar-cane borer . — The borer is the caterpillar of a small 
notn known as Chilo saccharalis. It is small grab about an inch 
lon°- when full grown, and white with black spots. The head is 
hard and red, the body rather slender, with scattered bristles. 
It attacks the cane by boring into it, and often destroys it by 
tunnelling through the terminal bud. Sometimes it burrows up 
the cane for a short way, comes out to the surface and tunnels 
in again. In this way it does less harm, but injures the cane not 
only by the actual boring but also by forming suitable entrances 
for the red smut fungus, which when once introduced seriously 
injures the whole cane. The caterpillar turns into a chrysalis in 
the cane and develops eventually into a small buff moth. This 
moth is about one inch across the wings, of a pale buff colour, the 
underwings a little paler, in the centre of the upper wings there 
is a distinct black spot. The body is fairly slender and fluffy, 
he legs long, the palpi prolonged into a beak. At rest the moth 
sits with the wings together forming a triangle in the usual me- 
thod of the group commonly called snout moths. I found cater- 
pillars in the sugar-canes in January and February, and took the 
' noth at the same time at light and flying over grass at night. It 
>robablv has no particular season, "but may be found in either 
tate all through the. year, as constantly happens with many of 
mr insects. I could not find the moth at rest during the day, 
chough I sought for it in piles of leaves, in the grass and among 
the sugar-cane. However, I have seen it flying before sundown 
in Singapore. 
From careful examination, I am led to believe that the moth 
(ays its eggs, which arc deposited with a quantity of fluff round 
