90 TILLERING IN INDIAN SUGARCANES 



Muller vou (V.oi'iiicki in lii.s Iarf2;er plots of 3-5 acres obtained " no advantage 

 in yield by planting widely (5' instead of the nsiial 4'), rather the reverse," 

 but the experiments he considered unsatisfactory because of variations in soil 

 and the impossibility of having any controls. In his carefully controlled 

 small er;^ plots, again selecting the rows with 10, 14 and 20 sets in them, he gives 

 the following weights of canes reaped in pikuls per bouw, CJieribon (tops), 

 1398, 1416, 1518 ; J. 100 (tops), 1140, 1220 and 1320 ; J. 247 (tops), 1536, 1446 

 and 1410 ; J. 247 (sets), 1728, 1452 and 1536, respectively. These figures are 

 in favour of closer planting in the Cheribon and J. 100 plots but in the J. 247 

 they are inconclusive, and in fact have higher yields in both cases with the 

 wider planting (Has this anything to do \nt\i the known greater tillering 

 power of this variety ?). 



On the whole, there seems to be a general concensus of opinion that wide 

 planting reduces the yield in canes at harvest and the best distance apart 

 will have to be decided for each variety, climate and soil as the result of 

 experiments on the spot. With the generally higher yields of closer planting, it 

 becomes a matter for the balance-sheet, especially where the sets are costly, 

 for the price of the latter may then easily exceed the advantage gained by 

 planting more sets to the acre, as was the case in the Samalkota tract referred 

 to above. 



(e) The influence of spacing on total yield of sugar. The factors of 

 moment in the yield of sugar per acre are very numerous. The variety 

 grown, the climate and soil, the character of cultivation, the efficiency of 

 the manufacturing side, the number of canes per acre and their thickness, and 

 the richness and quantity of juice, are all concerned. It is difficult to 

 quote experiments where the effect of all these factors have been considered, 

 but the various workers have given their opinions and these may be summa- 

 rized, in that they are in general agreement. Within fairly wide limits, close 

 planting appears to give a greater yield, but this is chiefly where the general 

 level of cultivation is low. The local rate of planting is, in India, frequently 

 excessive. This was clearly shown at Samalkota where the same yield in 

 jaggery was uniformly obtained with thick canes by planting half the sets 

 generally used. Similar results were obtained as to the maximum yield of 

 gur in the experiments at Partabgarh, where, however, only one local cane was 

 experimented with and that of course was a thin indigenous one. A somewhat 

 similar result appears to have been obtained by Stubbs in Louisiana, for he 

 recommends for the maximum crop the planting of the sets 6" apart in 5' to 6' 

 rows. 



