, 1892-07-06

~
hope / won't tire your readers by recording 1t
here. was then managing an estate under a
very choleric attorney-an old gentleman VINO
imagined himself q great authority on any
subject, and when it came to the sugar cane
his opinion was, of course, indisputable, 80 l
thought / would prove to my worthy chief
that there was something he was still IN bliss
full ignorance of, and that was, that a crop OF
canes could be grown from pieces of cane. |
accordingly planted mysurprise spot (for SO |
had named it,, and, from q want of knowledge
in dealing with pieces of cane, about 5O per
cent of the plants persisted. | knew too well
that, sooner or later, | would hear more about
this, and that ever memorable day arrived the
next time my attorney visited the estate. Ills
attention was attracted by the irrel ularity OF
the spring of canes in this particular spot,
and ! was called upon to explain it. With
bated breath l told him of the experiment l
had made. What sir! experiment with Mr..
- money That Old gentleman was very
irascible on the occasion, he did not treat me
at all courteously, but that is not all the
worst is vet to be told. / was rot summariIy
discharged from Encouragement, rs you pro-
baby imagine, but my attorney, after reach
ing home that day, was seized with the symp-
toms of a fit. Need ! say | felt horribly guilty.
however, to my great relief, that did not come,
and although paralysis did eventually overtake
the old gentleman, | am happy to say 1t was
not until years after, when | was living on my
own estate, and the piece of canes | was then
planting could not have accelerated my chiefs
seizure.
/ persisted in planting pieces Of cane. and
when | was quite au fuitat it, ! asked a planter
friend what his experience was IN this line.
With an air of thorough Dissatisfaction he re-
piled, "Al these things l have tried years
ago, and they are no use ] felt that he had
summarily dismissed the subject ! wanted to
discuss with him, and still v%entured to ask
him what justified him in coming TO such a
conclusion. | elected that he had. on one
occasion only, planted 'cans, that the season
was a dry one. and that his pieces of cAns had
been planted very late. l further discovered
that he had kept no record of his experiment,
and could not tell Inc what quantity he had
planted, nor what the percentage was Of those
that died. could not help thinking that if
the development of electricity had been
entrusted to my friend it would not have
made much Roadway under his auspices.
The Louisiana experiment in this direction,
alluded TO by Your correspondent, was tol-
lowed by me with great mtcle est arc it is wor-
thy Of remark that, there, Investigations were
conducted by w. G.. Stubs Fsqr, Md, the
Government Of this State evidently recogniz-
ing the Importance of matters scientific beng
dealt with by scientists, and not by dabbiers
and amateurs in science.
by planting pieces of cane experience no
difficulty in obtaining g~oodseed at home, and,
therefore, have no occasion to scout the ccun-
try for miles around, all day long, with jaded
mules escorted by a hungry oyerSeer. My
planter friends d~rnoupce this sy TEN III very
strong terms; Inysreturn per acre IS quite as
good if not better, than theirs, and so long as
this continues I shall not be deferred from
planting NY pieces Of cane.
RAPPoE.
While your correspondent Theorist is en-
desvouring to bring about q discussion on the
planting Of pieces of Dame the superintendent
of our botanical station tells us in his report
for ls9l, that unfortunately so many OF the
pieces of cane failed to terminate that II was
decided to destroy the few that did grow, etc.
We are also Informed that this experiment was
ito ascertain if it were possible to increase the
saccharine richness of the canes by planting
pieces Of cane instead of the tops Of the canes
usually planted" A similar experiment was
undertaken previously, AMI with respect to
that we find it stated in the report for 1880
that on q plot containing l76 holes planted
with pieces of plant cane, AZ died.
/ take it that the day is not far distant when
our planters will have to bestow more atten-
ton on their seed cane than is done at present.