144 SUGAR 



canes, widely distributed between Bihar and the Punjab, 

 but chiefly in the western portion of the cane tract. 

 Thicker than the others, belonging to " ganna " class, 

 between the canes of North India and those of Madras, 

 erect, bunched; leaves much broader, bending over in 

 thick masses of foliage; rind soft, cane juicy, and with 

 less fibre; not frost-resistant, and liable to the attacks of 

 red rot; circlet of hairs soon disappearing, excepting a 

 few bristles under the bud; joints zigzag and curved, 

 becoming dark green on exposure; swollen at nodes, 

 ovate-campanulate above the root-zone; root-zone 

 moderately broad, swollen, and often tubercled, thicken- 

 ing bell-like downwards, with two to three rows of large 

 eyes; growth ring narrow and barely marked, except as 

 a constriction of the cane; buds large, swollen, curved, 

 ovate pointed, considerably exceeding the growth ring; 

 bursting apically and with well-marked cushion; leaf- 

 sheaths short and with dark purple blotches; ligular 

 processes absent, as also splits and ivory markings. 



These three groups form natural classes, and are very 

 clearly marked off from one another. A relationship 

 may perhaps be traced between Rheora and Chin as 

 mentioned, but Pansahi seems to have no point of contact 

 with either of the others. 



Similar summaries of characters have been prepared of 

 many other forms. Among these there are smaller 

 groups and a number of isolated varieties, such as 

 Kanara, Sonabile, Cheni, Naanal, Khari. Missing links 

 will have to be foimd in order to trace the relationship 

 of these canes, and large tracts of country have still to 

 be explored for this purpose. When this classification 

 of the North Indian canes has been worked out more 

 completely, I propose to turn to the thicker ones scattered 

 over the country and introduced at various periods from 

 tropical countries, but there will be in that case the dis- 

 advantage that they cannot be studied in the place where 

 they have been evolved, and, from a cursory view, they 

 appear to differ far less markedly among themselves than 

 do the canes indigenous to India. 



The suggestion has been made in another place that 

 the cultivated cane of North India may have arisen from 



