C. A. BARBER 145 



fuller descriptions are then recorded year after year, when there is the time for 

 it. There is thus a great mass of information available regarding the characters 

 of varieties which have been growing for some years on the farm, and of course 

 less for the newer importations. We are thus fairly well acquainted with 

 many of the varieties dealt with in this paper, but, for the sake of comparison, 

 we have mainly relied oii studies in which all the varieties were grown on the 

 same plot of land at the same time. Two such occasions have offered, namely, 

 during the 1916 and 1917 cropping seasons. But the number of varieties 

 in the classes under discussion grown in these two years differed a good deal 

 in that a great many were added during the year, chiefly from the United 

 Provinces and Bombay. The 1916 crop consisted of about eight varieties 

 of the Saretha group and 10 of the Sunnabile. The canes were well grown, 

 but the examination was taken up rather late, and many of them were 

 obviously over-ripe, there were a large number of short joints at the ends 

 of the canes and the leafy shoots were often injured, or flowering had 

 taken place, \vith coi^sequent shooting. For the better study of the leaf 

 shoots, in which a great number of distinguishing characters were noted, 

 it was decided to do the work over again in 1917, but at an earher stage 

 of gro\\'t.h. The varieties were therefore examined at about nine months. 

 The numbers of varieties in the two groups had now considerably increased 

 and there were 18 m the Saretha group and 15 in the Sunnabile. But tlie 

 piece of land on which this crop was raised was not nearly so satisfactory, 

 it was stiflter and more sahne, and the general growt.h of the canes was poor. 

 There were far fewer joints than could be accounted for by the youth of 

 the plants, and the curves suffered accordingly. But the leafy shoots were 

 healthy and the leaf characters were oii the whole nuich more satisfactory. 

 In most cases the results of the measurements in the two years are given separ- 

 ately, and it is ii\teresting to note how well they agree, in spite of the great 

 differences both in the varieties examined and the conditions under which the 

 examination took place. This agreement is sufficiently strikii^g in most cases 

 to afford additional evidence of the justness of the classification. 



The present Memoir is divided ii\to the following parts : — 

 I. I]itroductioi\. 



IT. General list of characters dealt with, followed by a summary of the 



chief differences noted m the Sunnabile and Siiretha groups, 



arranged in tabular form. 



TTI. Note on the dissection of stools, as demonstrating the th ickness of early 



and late canes and the relative systems of branching in the groups. 



