Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1907-04-26
THE PIONEERING OF CANE.

Correspondent Contributes Interesting
information on Unusual Happening.
To the Editor Of the News and Cour-
Ter: Having noted recently in the
News and Courier some extracts from
various South Carolina papers in ref
ence to the Towering Of cane,
write to you such information on
the subject as is furnished by botan-
lists:
There are two species Of cane com
mon in the south, arudinaria macro-
sperma, from ten to thirty feet in
height, and tecta, growing from two
to twelve feet high. AS to the flower
ing habit OF these two species the full
est information at my command is
found in ''The Plant Life Of Alcesa-
ma" by the late DR.. Charles Mohr, a
very valuable work issued by the geo.
logical survey Of Oklahoma. The au-
thor says: "Arundinaria tecta rarely
exceeds the height Of twelve or fifteen
feet, and the slender culm branching
from the base Is seldom half an inch
In thickness. Early IN the spring, ap-
parently every three or four years,
the paniculate flowers are produced
on naked radical shoots scarcely ex-
ceeding eighteen inches in height,
while the tall fowerless canes are
sent up every season from the long
creeping rhizemes. Arundinaria ma
crosperma, from fifteen to thirty feet
high and frequently an inch and over
In diameter, produces the panicles of
Its flowers in the axils Of the branch
es at long and indefinite intervals of
time. 1t is evident therefore, that gen.
erations may pass by before the spec
tacle Of such canebrake in blossom
Is ever witnessed
For example, in the beginning of
the summer Of 1895 the inhabitants
Of Russell county were astonished sud-
denly to find the canebrakes bending
under burden Of their heavy, nutri-
tious grains, which attracted large
numbers of birds and beasts. The
farmers regarded this as an entirely
new plant, and finding their stock grow
fat upon the seed stored away quanti-
ties of 1t, not only for future feeding,
but under the delusion that If sown 1t
would constitute crop of small grain
equal in value to any previously
grown.
But in the light Of experience It Is
to be presumed that a period Of not
less than forty or fifty years has to
pass before the propagation Of this
plant by sexual reproduction takes
place. With the maturity Of the seed
the vitality of the plant is exhausted
and the cane decays. In the succeed
ing season from the spontaneous
stocking Of the ground with an abun-
dance Of seed, a new crop springs up.
The seedlings produce no branches
during the first year. These simple
sprouts, which are known as mutton
cane, are tender and sweet and af-
ford the best Of pasturage. They are
particularly sought after by deer,
which find in the impenetrable densi-
ty Of the canebrakes their securest re-
treats"
Gray says !, that the large cane
fruits at indefinite periods and soon
after decays" Chapman uses almost
the same words, and Wood remarks
that 1t flowers scarcely ever" I
haven't copy Of Elliott's sketch of
the Botany Of South Carolina and
Georgia" at hand, but If my memory
Is correct he says that the cane f1ow-
cred in the neighborhood Of Charles
ton in 1907 and again in 1911, and
speaks Of this interval of four years
as phenomenally short.
DR.. Mohr's statement that the flow
ers Of the small cane are produced on
radical roots is misleading. They are
more frequently seen projecting from
the summit Of the branches Of the
culm. The raceme or spikelet Of flow
ers is somewhat like a head Of wheat
or beardless barley, purplish green in
color and, when "in bloom" the large
yellow anthers, hanging from their
slender flaments, are quite conspicu-
Gus. Some Of the spikelets bear per-
feet flowers, consisting Of both stamens
and pistils, while some bear only stam-
mate or pistillate flowers.
The writer has seen flowers Of the
small cane every spring for the past
five years in different localities in New
berry county, and they are abundant
this year in Hampton county. I have
seen those of the large cane only twice
lin Newberry in 1903 and in Hamp-
ton county in 1907. In 1903 revisit
ed the brake where I had seen the
flowers, intending to collect some OF
the seeds, but they had all been de-
stroyed by insects. This year. In
Hampton county, the flowers were nip
ped by cold early in April.
John Hawkins.
Hampton, s. c., April 20. 1907.