SECTION XXVI. SUGAR CANE 



SUGAR cane and corn both belong to the grass family. 

 Safely hidden under the clasping or tube-like lower 

 portion of each leaf are buds or eyes, one at each joint. 

 These serve instead of seed to multiply the plant. 



When a stalk of sugar cane is planted, the moist, warm 

 soil causes the buds to grow into young sprouts, which for 

 a little while feed on the juice of the mother cane. 



Roots and suckers. At each bud or eye and extending 

 entirely around the stalk are several rows of small, whitish 

 dots. If cane is planted and a few weeks later dug up, 

 it will be found that the roots have grown out from these 

 spots. 



Unfortunately these dots, especially in some varieties, 

 also throw out roots when the cane is blown down and lies 

 touching the damp ground. Roots from the joints above 

 ground are not wanted. In a row where only one con- 

 tinuous line of cane has been planted, there may be 

 single hills from each of which three or more canes may 

 grow. The first grew from the bitd; the others from 

 buds on the base of the young cane. Stalks that grow 

 from a bud on a young plant, rather than directly from 

 a bud on the planted cane, are called suckers. Suckers 

 that start early add to the yield, but those that form late 

 are useless. 



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