IStTTLER AND HAFIZ. 173 



111 India it is in many places the greatest obstacle to successful 

 cane cultivation. In Madras. Bombay and Bengal the area under 

 thick cane has in certain districts periodically shrunk as a result 

 of an accumulation of red rot in the crop, to expand again only when 

 the diseased cane has been replaced from outside. Ked rot has often 

 l)een the limiting factor to the successful cultivation of heavy yield- 

 ing canes. 



The experiments given above aie, we think, sufficient grounds 

 for holding that this should not be the case : that, granted that a 

 start is made with a lit'.ilthy stock, it should be possible to keep 

 the disease undei- control with uo inoic than an occasional severe 

 outbj'cak due to a speciallv uiifa\'oural)le season. 



The first requirement is to start with a healthy stock. In those 

 districts, such as the Godavari Delta and som(» parts of Bombav 

 Pivsidency,' where the local canes have become widelv infected, 

 new healthy seed must be l)rought in from outside. The very 

 successful history of the 8amalkota Sugar Station in the Godavari 

 Delta, shows what excellent i-esults mav be obtaini'd bv this measure,, 

 under efficient supervision. It is highly probable that the little 

 that has been heard of red rot in Java, in recent years, has been due 

 to the efforts made to obtain good cane for planting, from special 

 seed nurseries, combined with the growth of seedling canes which 

 will be I'efcn-ed to below. As the Samalkota ivsults ai'e available 

 in the Annual Reports of the Station, the methods adopted need not 

 be more fully detailed. The past history of the cane must be 

 taken into consideration. There is good evklence to show how 

 dangerous it is to grow a variety from stock known to have been 

 seriously infected, even though the crop may do well for the first 

 few years. Large estates or groups of estates should be self-con- 

 tained in the matter of seed su]j])ly ami should possess a nursery 

 or testing garden for the trial of new varieties under the best condi- 

 tions. For the ordinary native cultivation, Government Farms 

 should be utihzed for the same purpose. In this way a supply of 



' Kulkarni, (i. 8. Preliminary stud}' of the red rot of sugareane in the Bombay 

 Presidency. Dept. of Agric., Bombay, Bull. Xo. 44, 1911, pp. 5-6. 



