136 STUDIES IN INDIAN SUGARCANES 



It was first possible during the harvesting season of 1916 to devote some 

 attention to this side of the subject, and a series of more or less hurried com- 

 parisons were made betweeix these two canes and the other indigeixous varieties 

 oollected. Furthermore, it was only then that, by their gro^\-t,h and vigour, 

 the North Indian canes showed that they were thoroughly acchmatized to 

 their new surromidings. The two characters mentioned above, leaf tips and 

 circlets of hairs, inevitably suggested a comparison with the two aboriginal 

 types, Katha and Dhaulu of Gurdasfur in the Punjab, for these two varieties 

 had been shown to differ in just these two respects.^ A further study revealed 

 the fact that it was possible to collect many of the unclassified varieties under 

 two heads corresponding with Ganda Cheni and Naanal, in these and other 

 respects. A prehminary note was sent to the Agriculnual Journal of ludia,- 

 and a detailed study of the members of the two series was commenced, as far 

 as time was available, during March-April 1916. It was found that varieties 

 of these two groups had been collected from Madras, Mysore, Bombay, the 

 Central Provinces, Bihar, Assam, Bengal, and the United Provinces, besides 

 those akeady described from the Punjab, wdth the not surprising tendency 

 constantly to become thicker and more like tropical canes as we proceed 

 eastwards to Assam and southwards towards Madras. 



As Katha and Dhaulu represent the thinnest and most meagre members 

 of these two series, and are only baown in the Punjab, new names have been 

 sought for the two classes. And, in selecting these, I have been chiefly guided 

 by the extent to which the varieties are generally known in the Provin.ces. 

 Saretha and Sumiabile have, at one time or another, been distributed and 

 tested in almost every Province in India. Saretha is a characteristic and 

 valuable cane in the Meerut District and Sunnabile is a Bombay cane. They 

 are canes of medium thickness and display the characters of their respective 

 groups sufficiently well. The fact that the name " Sunnabile " appears to be 

 of comparatively rare occurrence in Bombay districts has not been allowed 

 to stand in the way of its selection, because the cane is well known as an 

 introduction on the Government Farms of Madras, the Central Provinces, the 

 United Provinces and the Punjab, and doubtless elsewhere. 



1 Barber, C. A., Studies in Indian Sugarcanes, No. 1, Punjab Canes. Mem. Ikp. 

 A(jr. Inrl., Bot. Ser., Vol. VII, No. 1, May lOlf;. This Memoir will in future be referred to as 

 Mem. 1. A second paper by the same author. Studies in Indian Sugarcanes, No. 2, Sugarcane 

 Seedlings, etc.. Mem. Dep. Ac/r. hid., Bot. Ser.. Vol. VIII, No. 3, July 1916, will be referred to 

 as Mem. 2. 



2 Barber, C. A., The Classification of Inditienous Indian Canes. The AyrknUnral Journal 

 of India, Vol. XI, Part IV, p. 371. 



