353 
CHINESE AND AFRICAN SUGAR CANE. 
their sprouts above ground. Early planting, at least ten or 
fifteen days earlier than corn, unless the seeds have been sprout¬ 
ed before hand, should in all cases be practiced. Next to this, 
the land should be naturally warm and rich. Without these, 
\ 
the cultivator need not expect to make sugar, or eyen good mo¬ 
lasses, and he had better plant some other crop. Plant before 
the first of May. 
From its strong tendency to tiller, or produce offsets from the 
roots near the parent stem, it will yield most if planted in 
drills, four or five feet apart, and about eighteen inches from 
plant to plant. This would allow the original reed and four 
suckers to each plant, all of which would reach full size. If 
planted in hills, there should not be more than sixteen hills to 
a square rod, and three plants of nine reeds would be an abund¬ 
ance. More reeds in either case would not succeed. This 
cane is but a gigantic grass, and tillers in the same manner, 
and not like corn. I should prefer the drill culture to the hill 
if I desired to produce the greatest amount on the acre. Each 
plant would then occupy its own space. So too, rich warm 
soil cannot be dispensed with. Where such soil can be had, 
with early planting and good culture, ripe plants may be safely 
calculated upon in this State. 
Every plant reared from a seed is, so to speak, a new vege¬ 
table being—possessed, it is true, of many, aye, most, of the 
qualities of the parent plant, but it has also some new ones de¬ 
rived from local causes. One of these new qualities is a strong 
tendency to adpat itself to the climate of its nativity. Hence 
some plants which form trees in tropical climes, have produced 
a progeny of annuals in the temperate zones. Others have 
merely hastened the period of their maturity. The Sorghum 
is of this latter class. The only cause of fear is, that it may 
decrease in the amount of saccharine juice. Time and expe¬ 
rience must solve this problem. Unitl it is solved, it will un¬ 
doubtedly be best to plant home-raised seeds, even lighter in 
weight, than those imported from further south. 
Each planter may readily supply himself with sufficient plants 
45 
