C. A. BARBER 111 



although certain canes in this tract appear habitually to flower, an examina- 

 tion of the inflorescences of indigenous canes, received from North India, has 

 shown that the anthers are completely closed and the pollen is undeveloped 

 (Woodhouse notes that in Khelia grown at Sabour the anthers dehisce). i, 2. 



The following is the list of the cane seedlings obtained during the first 

 season : — Poovan 9, Namam 2, Kaludai BootJiav. 2, Vellai 1, all of these being 

 local Coimbatore canes ; Cheni from Bangalore 32, in all 46. The first seedlings 

 were obtained from arrows collected in January 1912, and the poor result 

 is now further explained in the lateness of this date in the flowering season, 

 it being established that October-November is the best time for obtaining 

 seed at Coimbatore, and that the fertility of the arrows steadily decreases as 

 the season advances. 



As other land was not available, these seedlings were planted out in the 

 Botanic Garden. The ground was entirely unsuited for sugarcane growth and, 

 accordingly, large pits, three feet cubed, were dug and filled with soil and 

 manure ; irrigation was however only obtainable from a well of brackish water. 

 While some of the Cheni seedlings suffered considerably from the salt water, 

 most of the seedlings grew enormously under this treatment, and produced 

 a very large number of shoots, one Poovan seedling having at crop time, 

 eighteen months from sowing the seed, no less than 143 matured canes (PI. III). 

 But the juice of these seedlings turned out to be of quality very inferior to 

 that of their supposed parents, and considerable doubt has been raised from 

 this and other facts whether the parentage, other than in Cheni, has been 

 correctly stated. Most of the seedlings, in fact, diftered considerably from 

 those obtained from the same canes in succeeding years. 



A detailed study was made of each seedling, and photographs were taken 

 at various stages of development ; two were sacrificed and dissected in early 

 stages of growth. After the harvest, when the juice was analysed, they were 

 all planted again, and have been grown on each year, in order to test the per- 

 manence of their morj^hological characters and the quality of their juice. At 

 present, in October 1915, there are 38 still surviving. As noted above, the 

 sugarcane commences to flower at Coimbatore in October, and most of the 

 seedlings are obtained during the following two months. They are planted 

 out in the field when about six months old and are ready for harvesting and 

 analysis after another twelve months, or eighteen months from sowing. It 



' Woodhouse and Basil. The Distinguishing Characters of Sugarcanes cultivated at 

 Sabour, 3Iem. Dept., Agr. I ml., Botanical Series, VII, 2, Apl. 1915. 



A large number of arrows were received from North India iu 1915, and hi these 

 occasionally a few (1—4%) of the anthers were open, April 191(5, 



