180 STUDIES IN INDIAN SUGARCANE SEEDLINGS 



LENGTH OF CANE AND SUCROSE 



Correlation 5. 



The lencrth of the cane was usually deterniiiied by taking ten or more 

 canes out of tlie cut crop, measuring them accurately and striking an average 

 of the ten. The canes were not measured until all the leaves had been stripped 

 off, so that the total length above ground was easily obtained. The correla- 

 tion is therefore between the average length of cane above ground (or height 

 of cane) and sucrose. On the whole there seems to be a general tendency for 

 the taller canes to have more sucrose. The matter is not, however, very con- 

 vincing, in the absence of a marked correlation, because it is probable that 

 ill grown seedlings, which would be of poor stature, would naturally give poor 

 juice. This was certainly the case with theCheni seedlings of 1911-13, all of 

 which were analysed at crop time irrespective of extremely poor growth in 

 some of them. The differences in sucrose are not very great between the 

 extreme classes in the table. There is, however, one feature which deserves 

 attention. In many cases (especially the larger series of Chittan and Karim 

 seedlings), while the first three classes show a distinct rise in sucrose with 

 increasing length, there is a fall in the fourth class of longest canes. This 

 occurs in at least one of the classifications of each set of seedlings, where four 

 classes have been possible, that is in all the sets excepting the small lots of 

 Cheni and Poovan. It may therefore be postulated that the very tall canes, 

 as a class, are distinguished by having less sucrose than those of moderate 

 height, and, if we rule out this fourth class, there is a distinct positive correla- 

 tion between Icnffth of cane and sucrose. 



