Cane is hand selected for consistent color, unblemished by spots, and to keep the growth direction of the cane properly oriented. A unique strength grading system allows us to provide three sub-strengths for every numerical half strength. This produces reeds that have tremendous consistency within a box, so your yield of good reeds should be much better than what you get with reeds made by the "big companies". You can find the sub-strength on our "seal of quality" on the back of the box. This seal shows a lot number that allows us to track harvest date, plantation, and sub-strength for better quality control.