SUGAR-CANE 489 



The bundles are most numerous just beneath and within 

 the rind, where they serve to give strength and stiffness to the 

 stem. At the joints or nodes the bundles branch and inter- 

 mingle, a part being continued into the leaves, and a part enter- 

 ing the nsxt upper internode. The larger the amount of fiber, the 

 smaller is the amount of sugar, and the greater the difficulty of 

 expelling the juice. Therefore, canes with short internodes, 

 and hence consisting largely of the fiber that constitutes the hard 

 nodes, are less desirable than those with long internodes. The 

 internodes are longer where all conditions are favorable to a 

 luxuriant growth ; for example, abundance of plant-food, an 

 ample supply of moisture, and judicious cultivation. 



468. The buds or eyes. At each node or joint on the 

 stem is borne a bud. This is the part of the plant from 

 which the next crop must grow, just as the eye of the Irish 

 potato serves instead of seed to perpetuate that plant. 

 The buds occur alternately on opposite sides of the stem. 

 A bud is about the size of half of a pea. It is closely 

 enfolded and protected by the leaf-sheath. Moreover, 

 each bud consists of the inner part, which is capable of 

 growth, and of several outer protecting coats. 



The aim in harvesting before frost that part of the cane 

 crop intended for planting and the banking or windrow- 

 ing of cane in winter is to protect the buds from freezing. 

 The life of the bud is easily destroyed by freezing weather, 

 especially if moisture has collected under the leaf-sheath 

 and around the bud. 



469. Method of propagation. For commercial pur- 

 poses, the only method of propagating sugar-cane consists 

 in planting the stalks or sections of stalks on which are 

 borne the eyes. Stimulated by the moisture and heat of 

 the soil, the bud swells and grows into a sucker, or young 



