152 FUNDAMENTALS OF AGRICULTURE. 



embryo, and it serves in planting for the propagation 

 of the new crop. It was long thought that the eye 

 was the true seed of the plant, but it was proved a 

 number of years ago that the tassels or arrows that 

 the canes bear do not consist entirely of sterile flow- 

 ers, as had been generally believed. Though it is pos- 

 sible to germinate a small percentage of these seeds, 

 it is only with great difficulty, and it is impractical to 

 grow cane commercially from the seed of the tassel. 

 They serve a most important purpose, however, in be- 

 ing the means of propagating new varieties. 



The translucent dots around the stalk at the eye are 

 embryotic rootlets, which sprout simultaneously with 

 the eye when the cane is planted and serve to furnish 

 nourishment to the young cane prior to the develop- 

 ment of its own root system. 



In tropical countries at the approach of maturity a 

 certain percentage of some varieties send up arrows 

 or tassels bearing flowers. When an individual floret 

 is examined with a lens it is found to have three sta- 

 mens inserted upon the ovary, surmounted by two 

 elongated styles with terminal feathery stigmas. The 

 fact that most of the resulting seeds are infertile is no 

 doubt due to the fact that cane has for so long a time 

 been reproduced from the bud or eye. 



The maximum sucrose content is generally attained 

 at two to three months after flowering, after which a 

 deterioration sets in. 



The general matrix is composed of pith and cells 

 and appears hexagonal as seen in cross section. The 

 greater portion of the inner part of the stalk is com- 

 posed of these cells, and in them occur the sugar and 

 other products which are needed for the future use of 

 the plant. At the nodes the pith almost entirely dis- 

 appears, and the whole tissue is made up of bundles 

 and modified pith that fills the space between. Dis- 

 tributed through the pith of the stalk are bundles or 

 tubes of a fibrous consistency. These run parallel and 

 distinct from each other throughout the internode, but 



