48 TILLERING IN INDIAN SUGARCANES 



the limits of the first formed joints by viewing them in a Jongitudinal 

 section than from the outside (PI. VIII, fig. 1 c). The region of root formation 

 is at the base of each joint, above the origin of the leaf, and consists of a narrow- 

 ring of the surface where the nascent roots may be seen as two or three rows of 

 dots ; this is termed the root zone. In parts of the stem beneath the level 

 of the ground these root primordia quickly grow out and, perferating the leaf 

 bases, form a mass of roots which, with their branchings and root hairs, leave 

 no particle of soil untappzd. The first formed joints are extremely short, 

 being in the form of narrow superposed discs, and the leaves borne by them are 

 therefore very close together. The joints are, moreover, extremely thin at 

 first, but increase in thickness upwards, the successive leaves and roots 

 providing material for their expansion, so that, as in many Monclcotyedons, a 

 longitudinal section of the stem at the base shows its form to be that of an 

 inverted cone (PI. VI, fig. 1 d). The leaves, growing much more rapidly than 

 the stem, increase in width at the base and encircle a larger portion of the 

 circumference of the stem until their edges overlap. The further development 

 of the plant proceeds on strictly similar lines. The main points to be held in 

 view are the upward increase in thickness of the stem, the protiusion of the 

 buds from the leaf axils, the increasing number and thickness of the roots 

 developed on successive joints, the continual lengthening and widening of 

 the leaves, so as not only to completely encircle the stem, but also to enclose 

 the younger parts in a set of enveloping sheaths, and, later on, the gradual 

 lengthening of successive joints, so that the growing point is raised above the 

 surface of the ground. Immediately this occurs, the stimulus of moisture and 

 darkness being removed, the formation of roots falls into abeyance, but the 

 root eyes can be detected in the root zone from the outside throughout the length 

 of the plant. The leaf, at first purely protective and consisting of leaf base or 

 leaf sheath, on emerging to the light, soon develops a small green tip, the lea^ 

 blade or lamina, and this part rapidly increases in relative size until it forms 

 the bulk of the leaf. But this leaf development is much more rapid than that 

 of the stem, so that, when the growing point of the stem at length reaches 

 the surface, the leaves have already reached a very respectable size (PI. V). 

 The largest seedling (fig. 4) has a leaf already a foot in length, whereas 

 the stem is as yet only one-third of an inch long. 



The cane seedling four or five months old, viewed from above ground, 

 usually shows a tall central shoot surrounded at its base by a number of smaller 

 shoots emerging from the soil near it. These are the developed buds of the 

 lower leaf axils. As the first joints of the stem are very close together, and 

 each has its lateral branch, these shoots, being pushed out of their original plane 



