ilO Tillering in indIan sugarcanes 



were selected. To these were added six unclassified varieties of indigenous 

 canes, including two recent importations from Java, four of the " Rogues " found 

 in thick cane seedling plots, four wild Saccharum species growing in India, 

 six thick cane varieties and a couple of crosses between these and SaccJianmi 

 spontaneum. In each variety at least four clumps were dissected, two at 3-4 

 months from planting, in order to study early stages and to determine the rate 

 of maturing, and two 7-10 months old, when the plants were more or less full 

 grown, to obtain general formulae of the canes and shoots at crop time. These 

 varieties were grown in a special plot, in rows three feet apart and at distances 

 of two feet in the row. The treatment was good and the soil fair. Most of 

 the plants developed well, but in certain cases it was found difficult to obtain 

 good representative specimens, and in such cases recourse was had to the 

 ordinary variety plots, where there was a larger number of plants to choose 

 from. The general aim was to secure moderately well groMai plants, and all 

 meagre, stunted clumps were rejected as unlikely to be of comparative value. 

 There was, curiously, special difficulty in obtaining good specimens of both 

 Saccharmn spontaneum and thick tropical canes. Better specimens of the 

 former were secured from the seedling plots, where Saccliarmn spontanevm 

 was grown as a parent, and of the latter, as already stated, by sending a man 

 down to Nellikuppam in the South Arcot District, where Red Mauritius was 

 known to be growing luxuriantly under crop conditions. A certain number 

 of ratoons were included among the thick canes, and, as in these cases the 

 original piece of cane, planted two years before, was still attached, the results 

 have proved of exceptional interest. 



On a review of the formulae obtained, and the general course of branching 

 in the varieties and groups mentioned above, certain doubts have at times 

 crept in as to the correctness of the classification adopted in the Agricultural 

 Journal paper. In selecting the varieties for each group, it was attempted 

 to obtain a general representative series, including specimens of all observed 

 deviations from the typical varieties. Certain forms have shown themselves 

 to be aberrant in their branching, and in other cases a series of transitions 

 has been observed between the different types. Thus, in the Mungo group, 

 Khanvi, a primitive form, differs a good deal from the rest, especially in the 

 rate of maturing, and appears to approach Dhaulu in the Sunnabile group. 

 The inclusion of this cane in the Mungo group will have to be reconsidered, 

 especially as it was placed there as the result of only a cursory examination, 

 owing to its recent arrival on the farm. Katara, also only tentatively placed 

 in the Mungo group, and obviously somewhat deviating from the type, has 

 shown in its dissections that it is transitional between KJiarwi and the others. 



