322 REPORT OF THE CONFERENCE ON GENETICS, 
fairly conclusively that the older cultivated varieties of sugar-cane were 
few in number, and presented only those differences which were due to 
changes of cultivation, climate, and environment. 
Since the advent of seedling canes it has become customary to 
designate their origin by the letter of the country in which they are 
raised, with an affixed number, eg. B. 147 (Barbados Number 147), 
D. 95 (Demerara Number 95), T. 24 (Trinidad Number 24), J. 30 
(Jamaica Number 30), &c. Seeing, therefore, that the hybridisation of 
the sugar-cane is now becoming general all over the tropics, it is essential 
that some scheme for naming and classification be devised, or else a 
greater confusion than ever will be the result. All workers, therefore, in 
the production of seedling canes should see that a letter and a number be 
affixed to the new seedlings before distribution, and a system of classifica- 
tion, based on colour and other external appearances, be adopted. 
If such or any other system were uniformly adopted, it would be easy 
to compare the results of a given variety when grown under different 
conditions and in different parts of the world. 
RESULTS ALREADY OBTAINED. 
INDIA. 
Efforts to improve the sugar-cane in India have only recently been 
made. With the establishment of the Samalkot Experiment Sugar 
Station in Madras, the cultivation of the sugar-cane under Indian 
conditions is being carefully studied. Several varieties of canes have 
been introduced from other countries, and the shipments from Mauritius 
and Barbados have given good results, the yield of these varieties 
comparing very favourably with the home canes. 
One of the imported Mauritius canes was a ribbon cane called Striped 
Mauritius, and Barber, in his report on the station for 1904-5, states that 
this cane has given rise to bud varieties—red and white sports being 
produced. These sports have been carefully grown and analysed, with 
the result that the red sports have proved better than any other canes 
that are grown at the station in respect to richness of juice. 
In 1903-4 a number of canes arrowed at the station, and an effort was 
made to obtain cane seedlings, but without success. In the following 
year a number of boxes were planted with arrows from different kinds of 
canes. Two seedlings were obtained from the Mauritius canes, but they 
lived oniy for a short time. 
Although previous to this time repeated mention of cane seed has 
been made in different parts of India, no record of the seed being fertile 
seems to have been reported. 
Barber states that these experiments with cane arrows were directed 
mainly towards the investigation of whether the sugar-cane produced 
fertile seed in India. This has therefore been shown to be the case, but 
it is thought that the burning dry air of the Indian climate is unsuitable 
to the successful raising of seedling canes, and that the cultivation of 
sports appears to be much more practicable than the raising of seedling 
canes. The raising of hybrid canes, however, would possibly be a means 
of combating many of the diseases that cause so much trouble to 
cultivators of sugar-cane in India. 
