100 THE AGRICULTURAL PESTS OF INDIA. 



Ricinus communis, Linn., the castor - oil plants, when 

 allowed to stand three or four years in the North- Western 

 Provinces, become breeding - g % round for a hairy brown, 

 caterpillar, which is supposed to bring ill-luck. D. & F. 

 Vern. Arendi. 



Rust is a disease of plants. Peridermium Thomsonii, 

 'Berk.., affects the foliage and twigs of coniferous trees of 

 Northern India and Himalaya, Other known species are 

 Periderm. pini, Chev., Europe ; P. elatinum, Link., Europe ; 

 and P. columni. Leaf rusts are also known to be caused 

 by Melampsora salicina ; M. populina, Lev. ; M. Tremuke, 

 Lev* ; M. betulina, Desm. ; M. padi, Kurze. ; Uredo 

 quercus ; Lecythea mixta, Lev. ; L. saliceti, Lev. ; Puc- 

 cinia prunorum ; P. buxi, D. ; Uromyces buxi, Cooke, 

 Himalaya. 



s 



Saccharum officinarum, Linn., is the sugar-cane. Many 

 varieties of it are grown in India, but they may be 

 noticed here as edible and non-edible cane, the former 

 being eaten raw, as a fruit, while the latter is utilized in 

 the manufacture of sugar. Edible cane is much the 

 thicker, softer, and juicier, and is grown with very high 

 cultivation. Its principal variety is in the North- Western 

 Provinces known as the ' phaunda.' In the North- 

 Western Provinces the most distinct varieties of non- 

 edible cane are four in number, viz. the ' dikchan ' of 

 Eohilkhand, called ' barokha ' in Cawnpore, growing as 

 high as 10 feet; one of 5 or 6 feet, called ' agholi' or 

 ' matna ; ' thirdly, a hard, tall, reddish cane, of poor 

 quality, called 'chin/ and grown without irrigation in 

 damp localities ; and fourth, the ' dhor,' a dwarf cane, white 



