74 SCIENTIFIC REPORTS OF THE AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH 



sented the greenest look of all the varieties, thick as well 

 as thin. Next to this came the following in order of their 

 drought-resisting qualities, so far as could be judged by 

 the eye, Java 36, CO 210, Kussur, Tobe Manjet, CO 213 and 

 CO 214, CO 204, CO 205 and other varieties of thin canes. 

 All the thick varieties, including Sathi 131, Purple Mauri- 

 tius and D 99 American, exhibited a scorched yellow 

 appearance and in all these plots dead-hearts and dry 

 shoots were prominent. Damage by borers and similar 

 agents increased with the decrease in drought-resisting 

 quality of the different varieties. The first heavy shower 

 of rain fell on 18th June and was followed by other 

 showers. By the end of the year under report (30th June) 

 all the thin varieties had made good progress, but in the 

 case of the thick varieties progress was extremely slow and 

 it seemed that they would take a long time to recover from 

 the effects of the drought. The above facts indicate the 

 suitability of particular varieties of sugarcane to particular 

 areas according to differences in local climatic conditions. 

 Severity or otherwise of attack by borers seems to be inti- 

 mately connected with this fact. Extended observations 

 over different parts of India are required to throw light on 

 this point and to enable us to arrive at definite conclusions* 



Another point which requires similar extended observa- 

 tion is the pest-resisting qualities of different varieties of 

 sugarcane. As a rule, thin varieties .seem, to be more 

 resistant than thick varieties, but individual varieties, both 

 of thick and thin canes, show different degrees of immunity. 

 At Cuttack in December 1919, Minzo, a thin variety, had 

 all the principal pests, viz., .Scirpophaga ocanthogastrella, 

 Diatrcea auricilia and D. venosata, whilst Sathi, another 

 thin variety, was practically free. Observations made 

 about this time at Pusa, Cuttack and Chinsurah indicated 

 a greater liability to fungal diseases on the part of Purple 

 Mauritius than in the case of other thick varieties. A 

 variety known as B. 3412 was observed to be very badly 

 affected by smut at Chinsurah, whilst all other varieties 

 growing there were completely free from this disease. 



