, 1890-01-15

tween the designation "Seed' and seeding
used in their legitimate and only proper
sense, rs he. e and throughout this series
of p;HDerS they are employed. and the words
"cuttingS,' tops and "StnlnpS;7 used also
in their only legiti mate sense. The physl-
illogical distinction between the two sets OF
prOpagatiye elements known by these terms
must be obvious and constantly occur when
mentioned to every sOundly trained cult
vatOr, and only pause to make the caution
because only too often a very absurd mis-
conception and confusion of mind is Great
ed by the miSapplicatiOn andivarying use OF
terms and that in some sugar producing
countries cuttings or tops are commonly
designated in estates phraSeOlOgy as "seed;'
a term which thus employed is quite %
miSnOmer, from the standpoint of scientific
fact and correct speaking.
With regard to the prospect of %cOntinu-
ing the experiment year after year and OF
raising each season new cane stock from
seed, Mr.. BOvell writes me that at the
Dodd's Station he has repeated and con-
fYmed the discovery. The canes in Bar.
badOS last year, as apparently they usually
do, lowered generally rather later than
they did here. The arrows as they dropped
when ripe were gathered and sOwn, and
when writing to me the mail before last,
many hundreds Of seedlings, which were
then from one to three weeks old had come
ND. Mr.. Harrison, who saw these seedlings
before he left B lrbadOS, has given me
the same report. The seed, as observed,
takes in Barbados about seven days to
terminate, aud must be sown as soon as
ripe, quite fresh from the arrow, for il
allowed to dry much it loses its vitality.
The seed which | mentioned that Mr..
Bowel had kindly sent me by Mr..
Harrison. terminated as early as the
fourth or fit Ii day. On the latter day
they were detected, and possibly might
have been see. on the day preceding had
thev been looked for. The DOdd's seed
tbs year was gathered from an area of
numerous varieties planted in rows togeth-
er, the same area or which the natural
seedlings were procured two years ago,
and from which seed was subsequently
gathered sOwn and grown at that time.
From the considerable variety which the
seedlings present, and the certain variation
from the types, though these are unknown,
which produced them, Mr., Harrison is of
opinion that considerable CT disqualification
takes place, which operation is facilitated
by the many varieties growing on the
plot together. But rs | pointed out in a
former paper, experiments require to be
carried ont to determine whether the
Variation III zane SteIlIluSS ARISES SpOuGb'
~ne0uSly from All hereditary tendency there
20, or by direct cross tertilisation, or
whether both are agencies in the result.
This very important aspect OF the question
my own experiments in seminal prOpaga.
ton may, | hope, throw some light on. l
can however say nothing on the subject
yet, and it Will be a year or two at least
before / shall be in a position to speak
definitely thereof. All / need say here is
that some of the Demerara seed 1 have
sown has terminated freely, thus, as above
described, verifying the Barbados dis
cOvery, and, as the paTentage, on the ma.
ternal side at least, has been carefully
recorded, affOrding the foundation required
for the precise investigation of which [
speak. l merely mention here the fact
that some OF the Dtmerara cane seed has
grown, as in my last communication of the
18th October last | promised to report at
the close of the season on the results of
my seed sowing experiments. This /
shall do when the experiments are COM
pleted /; meanwhile any one interested in
the subject, who cares to come to the
Botanic Gardens for the purpose, can see
both the Barbados and Demerara seed.
lings growing. Further, I shall b e9glad
to hear from any planters who have OK.
perimented in seed sowing whether they
have succeeded, and, if so, with what
varieties, as | desire to record what has
hooY ottomNtod ond what Qocnmn1iShnd