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for planting out may yet be kept for a month if the covering 

 of earth is removed from the pit, and the cuttings kept in a 

 standing position in the pit with a covering of straw and 

 ashes, which should be kept damp by sprinkling of water as 

 occasion arises. The top two feet of canes make the best 

 cuttings, but the topmost bud must be rejected as already 

 directed. The practice prevalent in most parts of India of 

 utilising for cuttings the very topmost portion only is based 

 on a false idea of economy. If topping is done there is no 

 difficulty in selecting the most promising cuttings for plan- 

 ting. In any case, that is, whether topping is done or not, 

 the healthiest and best canes should be chosen for seed, and 

 the top two feet of these used. As the bud occurs on the 

 upper side of a knot and the nourishment is derived from the 

 portion of the cane above this knot and below the next knot 

 above it, cuttings should be so made that there may be no 

 superfluous cane below the lowest node and that a whole joint 

 above the highest bud may be included. Each cutting need 

 not have more than three buds, and if they are made after 

 sprouting has taken place subsequent to topping, one can be 

 almost sure of three buds going to every cutting. With 

 regard to the sprouting of lateral buds either in the cane 

 while it is still standing, or after planting the whole cane in 

 the soil, it should be noted that the topmost bud of the cane 

 sprouts first, then the next one below it, and so on towards 

 the lower end of the cane. But if the cane is cut up into 

 sections and planted, every bud at the upper end of each cut 

 ting will come out first simultaneously, and then the next ones 

 towards the thicker end, and so on until the third or fourth 

 bud, i.e., as many as are left on each section, finishes sprouting. 

 So although the planting of cuttings along a line is almost 

 continuous, whole canes, or sections which are too long 

 should not be planted, but to make sure of at least one healthy 

 and uninjured bud per cutting, it is best to have each cutting 

 about 9 inches long. 



