C. A. BAfeBfeR l7l 



in 1915-16; none of their stamens were open and, in the pans sown, not a sin«fle 

 seedhng germinated. None of the other members of the group flowered. 

 The capacity for fiowering and the fertihty of the arroAvs would thus appear 

 to be an important character in the separation of tlie two groups. 



Since writing the above, the 1916-17 results have become available. In 

 the Saretha group, Katha, Lain, Mesangan, Kansar, Chin, Chunnee, Saretha 

 (green) and Saretha (brown), Hullii Kabbu and Gandu Cheni flowered. The 

 last named had 62% of anthers open in the arrows and all the rest over 80%. 

 Hullu Kabbu and Ganda Cheni did not produce seed which germinated but, 

 wherever the others were sown, they produced masses of seedlings. In the 

 Sunnabile group, Dhaulu, Ekar, Hotte Cheni, Kaghze, Putli Khajee and 

 Mojurah, all produced a few arrows, but in none of these were any of the 

 anthers open and no seedlings Avere obtained in the pans sown. Here too, 

 then, the thicker members of the Mesangan group showed an approximation 

 to the Sunnabile group. 



Number of Dead Leaves, Length or Cane bearing them, Length of 

 Living Shoot, and Total Length of Plant. 



The general height of canes in the field is not readily discernible in small 

 plots where the plants are grown in. a few rows. The heavy nodding masses 

 have to be supported, and, this being especially the case with thin varieties, 

 they lose more of their height than the thicker ones. But certain observations 

 have been recorded which give us information on. this point in an. indirect wav. 

 These observations are detailed in the headin.g of this section, twentv canes 

 being carefully measured in each variety as usual. In the 1915-16 crop, seven 

 varieties of the Sarttha group and ten of the Sunnabile were thus studied 

 before the plots were destroyed. But the canes had beeji over twelve months 

 in the ground, the plan.ts were overgrown aiul the end portions were twisted 

 and shooting, so that the leafy shoots were frequently drying and irregular. 

 It was accordingly decided to repeat the observations on the 1916-17 crop at 

 an earher date, especially as a nnich larger number of varieties had been separated 

 out as belonging to the two groups. Eighteen members of the Saretha grouj) 

 and fifteen of the Sunnabile were examined when about nine months old, and the 

 leafy shoots were intact and vigorous, while the canes were still comparatively 

 straight. But in this case, as noted elsewhere, the growth iji many of the 

 varieties ii\ both sections was very poor and the figures nuist be considered, 

 as distinctly below the average. In spite of these draw]>acks, the general 

 agreement of the ))r(»portioual figures in the two sets of observatiojis justifies 

 the belief that there are real differences in the Saretha and Sunnabile group^s 



