78 



J'iLLERiNG IN INDIAN SUGARCAiSTES 



Cane-brceding .Station to give the thick canes more room than the thin, in spite 

 of their smaller tillering power, and this appears to be the general rule in India 

 where these two types of canes are planted on the same farm. There is, how- 

 ever, a much more liberal application of manure in the former case, for the thin 

 canes are found to be unable to assimilate such heavy dressings and, at the 

 same time, to mature properly at harvest time. The object aimed at in each 

 case is to obtain a full stand, with as great a weight of canes as possible, 

 Avithout unnecessary expenditure in costly seed material. The development 

 of the cane clump is influenced by warmth, moisture, soil, and no strict rule 

 can be laid down as to the most suitable spacing, and hence the importance 

 of the very numerous experiments which have been made. 



.Several workers have dealt fairly fully with the relation between spacing 

 and the number of canes reaped, and it will be necessary to consider their papers 

 somewhat in detail. As other matters, besides the influence on tillering, are 

 also included in them, it will be convenient to treat these papers as a whole, 

 and append a summary of conclusions at the end under the several headings. 



.Stubbs, in 1892-93, conducted experiments with the local Louisiana canes 

 by planting the sets at distances of 6", 12" and 18" in rows five feet apart. The 

 plants were first reared in a nursery and, as each was planted in its plot, care 

 was taken that it was the result of the growi;h of only one bud. His results 

 are given in the followinu' table : — 



Spacing 



Number 



planted in 



March 



yhoots in 

 June 



6" 

 12" 



18' 



17 600 

 8.800 

 5,860 



72,.^25 



51,188 

 37,230 



Shoots in 



October 



(harvest) 



39.050 

 32,964 

 29,070 



Average 

 weight of 

 each cane 



217 1b, 

 2-49 lb. 

 2-60 lb. 



Tonnage 



-12 55 

 41-60 

 37-24 



These figures show a greater number of shoots arising in the more closely 

 planted rows, but a gradual diminution of the differences in these numbers as 

 growth proceeded. Inversely, there was an increasing weight of individual 

 canes Avith greater spacing, but the tonnage was greater in the closely planted 

 plots. Stubbs concluded that tillering depends on room available, and that 

 there is practically no limit to it, provided the space given is sujfficiently ample. 

 In 1894-95 he carried out the same experiment with much greater care, studying 

 each plant throughout its growth. Five plants of each of the two varieties, 

 the Striped and the Purple, were used in each experiment, so that, altogether, 

 there were thirty plants. A book was kept of births and deaths by the chemist 

 in charge, who also labelled each shoot as it appeared. At harvest each clump 



