C. A. BARBEE 55 



solid cap a foot in thickness. The formation of nnderground runners is 

 occasionally met with in cultivated canes. It is commonest in the Saretha 

 group, the most primitive class of indigenous Indian canes, and, apparently, 

 the nearest in descent to the wild Saccharuin sjjontaneum. In other classes, 

 runners are usually only formed where space is needed for the free development 

 of a large number of cane stems. Thus we meet with them most frequently 

 in the Mungo and Pansahi groups which are characterized by much branching. 

 In these cases long, thin joints are intercalated between the normal short 

 thick. ones of commencing shoots, and in the dissections these are always 

 noted {cf. also pp. 104 and 112). 



(3) The branching of the cane above ground and abnormal 



bud formation. 



Branching of the cane plant below ground is a well marked feature in all 

 varieties. Above ground, in the light and in the absence of the stimulus of 

 moisture, the buds usually remain inactive during the period of maximum 

 growth. But the shooting of aerial buds is by no means uncommon, and is of 

 some disadvantage from the crop point of view. It has been noted that some 

 varieties, such, for instance, as B. 208, shoot more readily than others ; but 

 there are a number of circumstances which render all canes more or less liable 

 to this defect. Any injury to a growing cane will tend to cause the buds below 

 the injured place to shoot out because of the damming up of the current of 

 water and nutrition. This is often seen where stem borer is at work. The 

 joints immediately above the attack are shorter and thinner than the average, 

 and large shoots are often observed coming from the nodes below the borer 

 hole. Canes which have lodged or fallen will frequently develop a mass of 

 shoots all along the prostrate part ; over-ripe canes and such as have flowered 

 usually form a mass of shoots in the upper part if allowed to continue growing ; 

 lastly, the local climate has a very distinct influence in the matter. Thus, 

 when the same canes are grown at Pusa and at Coimbatore, they behave very 

 differently as regards shooting. At Coimbatore, which is in a semi-arid region, 

 shooting of the canes is very rare ; while at Pusa. with its abundant supply of 

 subsoil water, approaching the surface in the rains, a great mass of green is 

 sometimes seen all the way up the stem, even in erect canes, long before the 

 reaping season. This shooting of the buds is generally correlated with a 

 more or less active protrusion of the root eyes. In places where there is a 

 marked difference in the humidity and temperature at different periods of 

 the cane's growth, this difference is often permanently marked on the different 

 joints of the cane stem. Thus, at Rajshahi in North Bengal, it is easy at 



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