AGRICULTURAL REPORT. VII

Among the seeds, cuttings, and tubers which have been introduced from abroad, or have been made the subject of experiment in this country since the date of the last Annual Report on Agriculture from this Office, it may be stated that—

The cuttings of the sugar cane—imported from Demerara by gov- ernment for the planters of the South promise to attain a large size, and, should they prove sufficiently hardy to withstand the climate of the regions where they are intended to grow, it is believed that they will amply compensate in the end for the trouble of introducing them.

In addition to the large amount of Chinese sugar-cane seed culti- vated and distributed towards the close of the last year, more than one hundred bushels of the seed of this plant were imported from France, and distributed throughout the cultivated parts of our terri- tory for experiment. Sufficient returns have been made to convince us that this new product will prove of incalculable value for feeding stock, and promises fair to be of other economical use in all situations where the corn-plant will thrive.

The success attending the culture of the Chinese yam has also peen such as to warrant us in stating that it is well adapted to our soil and climate; but how far it can be depended upon as an alimentary basis as a substitute for the common potato can only be determined by further experiments. The aspersions and prejudices which have been advanced against this esculent for the last two years have pro- bably arisen from a want of knowledge of its habits and the disadvan- tages under which it has often been grown. For instance, most of the plants which have been propagated in this country have been started from the small tubers, or pseudo bulbs, taken from the vines of the preceding year. These, in many cases, probably, did not possess sufficient substance to maintain the vitality of the plants, and even when they did, it was in so feeble a degree as not to allow the growth of the roots to make much progress before the second year. Several tubers have been presented to this Office exceeding two feet in length and weighing nearly two pounds each.

Among the Cereal grains distributed by the Office in the course of the past summer, I would instance several varieties of wheat obtained from the shores of the Mediterranean, and a quantity of bald barley from Tuscany, which, it may reasonably be expected, will succeed in

many localities where they have been sown.