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STUDIES IN INDIAN SUGARCANE SEEDLINGS 



5. Shaharchynia-like plants. Usually tall, erect, strict, with the outer 

 shoots only slightly ascending, stems closely packed, leaf tips not curving, 

 strict. 



6. Plants with oblique branches, reminding of birds' nests, or prostrate. 



It will be seen, from the figures on Plates XV and XVA that most of these 

 differ very widely from the parent Saretha, which is an interesting fact, 

 considering that all the seedlings were obtained from one selfed arrow. 

 The following are some of the characters revealed in their final examination 

 at crop time : — 



From the table it would appear that this line, of separating out seedlings 

 according to habit, may be a profitable one, and it is interesting to note that, 

 taking all the characters together, the class most resembling the parent is the 

 best. It has, however, been found very difficult to distinguish classes of 

 seedlings before they are near maturity. 



In the Naanal seedlings of the season ] 912-14, seven were easily picked 

 out quite early, differing widely from the rest, in that they had extremely 

 narrow leaves, grew very vigorously and took on a strong resemblance to the 

 wild Saccharum spontanewn, although obviously not belonging to that species. 

 The rest of the seedlings, with broader leaves, were subdivided according to 

 their erectness and bushiness, characters which change a good deal during 

 the early stages of a seedling (Plates XVI and XXIV). The following were 

 the results of the final examination at crop time : — 



