126 TILLERING IN INDIAN SUGARCANES 



" side-issues." Such are, the not infrequent thickening upwards of the early 

 canes and narrowing upwards of late ones ; the sometimes enormous thickness 

 at the base of late canes, especially within the region of curvature ; the ovalness 

 of some canes and the tereteness of others, and, lastly, the curious case in a few 

 varieties where this ovalness is very pronounced, but in the lateral instead of 

 the median plane, a general flattening of the stem at the base soon to give way 

 to normal tereteness. But these de\'iations have little or no effect, on the 

 general increase in thickness as we proceed to branches of higher order. 



Summarizing the results recorded in the last few pages, we see that there 

 is a marked difference between the early and late formed stems in the sugar- 

 cane plant. The main shoot has a longer basal portion than its branches, 

 but, o\ving chiefly to curvature, this portion becomes longer again in the 

 branches of the second and third orders. The average length of joints in the 

 lower part of the cane is less in the main shoot than its branche?, and in these 

 again than in the branches of higher orders. With few exceptions the same 

 holds good of the thickness of the cane. For the separation of the canes in a 

 clump, we thus have a series of characters whereby we can distinguish the early 

 and late canes, ^vithout the necessity of the tedious process of dissection, there 

 being a marked contrast between the as and 6s, on the one hand, and the cs 

 and f& on the other, differences which are so striking that we can with compara- 

 tive certainty apply the test to the general mass of canes belonging to one 

 variety in the mill yard, and by this means are in a position to make further 

 studies on the milling properties and sugar content of the branches of different 

 order, 



(7) Rate of maturing in different varieties and groups. 



Tn passing through the various plots of cane varieties growing on the farm, 

 it is at once obvious that, in the early stages, there is a great difference in the 

 rjite of cane formation. While ;;:ome, like Saretha, fihow cane formation very 

 early, others, like Dhor, grow very slowly at first, and do not show any canes 

 for months afterwards. This difference is largely cloaked in Noi-th Indian 

 canes by the persistence of the leaf sheaths, but the swelling canes often split 

 these at the base while still attached, and it is quite easy to strip ofE one or two 

 where this is not the case. But it is difficult to place this difference before 

 the reader, and various attempts have been made, as will be seen below, to 

 make it clearer. There were comparatively few dissections among young 

 canes in the 1916-17 crop, but the results were sufficiently distinctive to make 

 it desirable to extend the series to all the indigenous classes. Two clumps 



