C'ONCLUDFNG SUMMARV. 



Ill the course of the present |)a])er. a lai'L'o number of matters of minor 

 interest have been introduced in tlie course of the narrative, and certain 

 conchisious have been arrived at with regard to them. For the benefit of those 

 who have not the o])|)()rtunity of reading the somewhat h)n<,' paper through, 

 the following summary of these conchisions is ap])ended. Vor details regard- 

 ing the main issues., the ])aper itself must be consulted, as it has been found 

 imj)ossible to ])]'e])are a summary of many of these, because of the great 

 amount of detail involved. Wherever possible, this detail has been presented 

 in the form of tables, and the paper is co])iously illustrated to render the 

 descriptions clearer. 



The first piece of successful work accomplished in the newly founded 

 Cane-breeding Station was the production of seedling caiics in India. This 

 appears to have been r<!peati;dly attempted, and the reason for previous lack 

 of success appears to be that almost all the efforts were made in North India. 

 Flowering of the sugarcane is rare there, and, when it occurs, there is, generally, 

 sterility in the male organs. Flowering, furtliernu)re, occurs in the cold 

 weather, when it is less likely that seedlings can be raised. The flowering of 

 the sugarcane decreases steadily in India as we proceed ru)rth aiul west, until 

 it disappears entirely. The distributioii of wild sugarcanes is discussed. 

 Saccharum sponfaneum occurs and flowers everywhere ; Sacchanwi, arundina- 

 ceuin is abundant and floweis freely in Assam and is grown as far as the Punjab 

 and Madras, but rarely flowers in these parts : SarcJiiinnn Munja is rare in 

 J3engal and Assam and absent in the peninsula, but grows and flowers all 

 along the submontane region, from Bihar to the Punjab ; Saccharum Narenga 

 is quite at home in Assam, covering huge areas, and appears to extend its 

 habitat along the base of the Himalayas. Of these, all but Saccharunt arun- 

 (linaceuin flower freely on th(^, Cane-breediiTg Station a}Kl crosses have been 

 obtained between. SacrltariDii Nareiuja and Sacchamm .spontanenm and 

 cultivated canes. 



