THE HUSBANDRY OF THE CANE 131 



Source of Seed Cane. — Generally it is the young immature top of the 

 cane that is used as a cutting or as "seed." This scheme is defensible in 

 that this part is of small value in the factory and that it contains besides a 

 large proportion of salts and nitrogenous matter that serve as food for the 

 growing plant until it has developed a root system of its own. This view is 

 supported by a large number of somewhat contradictory experiments made 

 in Java dealing with the effect of manuring on the germination of the eye. 

 The results of these tests in general point to a benefit when the older joints 

 are used as seed and to no effect when the tops are used. The maximum 

 quantity of manure ever necessary appears to be 5 grams of sulphate of 

 ammonia per plant, or about 35 lbs. per acre. 



When the harvest and planting take place at the same period there will 

 always be a supply of seed cane available, but when, as is often the case, 

 these periods are separated, special means must be taken to obtain cuttings. 

 In Cuba it is customary to leave a certain portion of the crop uncut to supply 

 seed for the planting that takes place after the termination of the harvest 

 at the mid-year. In this case the whole stalk of mature cane is utilized. 

 A second scheme to obtain a supply of tops independent of the harvest is 

 to "draw down" young cane of about six months' age, and also in this case 

 to use the whole stalk. In Java the growing of cane for seed has developed 

 into an industry independent of the plantations proper. There it has been 

 foimd that mountain-grown seed is less liable to attacks of sereh than is seed 

 obtained from cane grown on the lowland plantations. Accordingly cane is 

 first planted at an elevation of 5,000 to 6,000 feet in " grandmother fields." 

 After six months' growth selected disease-free stools are dug up and trans- 

 planted to " mother fields," at an elevation of 2,000 to 2,500 feet. This 

 process is repeated, and selected stools are next transplanted to " daughter " 

 or " export fields " at 1,000 to 1,200 feet elevation. After seven or eight 

 months' growth here the crop is cut down and used for seed on the planta- 

 tions, either directly for cane or in the establishment of a lowland nursery. 



In the Hawaiian Islands the formation of seed from growing cane is often 

 forced during the harvest time. If, after flowering, the top of the cane be 

 cut off, the upper joints sprout and grow into short- jointed, very woody 

 pieces of cane containing numerous eyes. This abnormal growth, known 

 locally as a " lala," is used as a cutting. A similar scheme obtains in Java, 

 where, however, each joint as it puts forth a shoot is removed from the 

 parent stalk, and planted separately as a one-eyed cutting. In this way 

 nearly all the eyes of the cane can be induced to sprout. When planted, 

 the leaves already formed are cut off, so as to reduce transpiration, until the 

 cutting has developed a root system of its own, but experiments made there 

 do not show that any benefit results from this practice. 



In Louisiana, where it is necessary to carry over seed from the harvest 

 at the end of the year to the time of the spring planting, seed cane is preserved 

 buried in the ground as a protection from frost. This process is known as 

 " windrowing." It is also in use in those islands of the Japanese Empire 

 where a cane sugar industry is established. A peculiar method of obtaining 

 seed in use at Ganjam, in British India, is described by Subra Rao.^ In 

 June the seed cane is planted in a seed bed so close as to leave no space 

 between the individual cuttings, which are of three joints each. In the 

 middle of August the cuttings that have by then sprouted are transplanted 

 to a nursery about five times the size of the seed bed. The nursery is laid 

 out in furrows about 18 inches apart. In the following May the crop is cut 



