EDIBLE CANXA IX WAIMEA DISTRICT OF HAWAII 19 
buds. The buds on the very small, immature seed are of the primary 
type and are usually in good condition. 
Obviously, no single set of experiments over one year can do more 
than indicate the most desirable type of seed for planting. Many 
unknown and variable factors remain for determination, even when 
the soil is uniform, the culture perfect, the weather normal, and the 
crop of the proper age for harvesting. Whether edible canna is 
sufficiently pure in type to obviate the effect of individual variation 
in the seed is unknown. The ultimate result of continuously planting 
one kind or size of seed to the exclusion of all others must be deter- 
mined. The economic phases of the problem also await solution. A 
type of seed proving more desirable than others through repeated 
experiments may not be available during certain seasons of the year 
or stages of maturity of the crop. For example, many large, imma- 
ture rootstocks with developing buds can be found during certain 
seasons with practically no attached spikes. Two months later 
these buds will have nearly all developed into spikes, with scarcely 
any developing buds. At other times neither spike nor bud is present 
in large numbers. Dependence upon one particular type of seed 
would probably be impractical. 
Results of experiments in seed selection point to the elimination 
of at least three types — those with no visible buds, the small detached 
spikes, and the very small secondary kinds. With the elimination 
also of the dormant buds as questionable because of their long 
exposure to weather and insects the only desirable types remaining 
are the subsurface, the immature with one or two buds, and the 
attached spikes. 
As the hill advances in age the proportion of desirable seed decreases. 
This decrease is due partly to the development of buds on the older 
rootstocks, but mostly to injury to the buds. On the other hand, 
nearly every rootstock is desirable for seed in a field where the fourth 
and fifth generations (usually at nine months) are developing. This 
fact suggests the possibility of digging young fields for seed purposes. 
The relative desirability of planting one carefully selected seed piece 
per hill or two less carefully selected seed can be determined only after 
data are obtainable on relative yields, percentages of germination, and 
cost of seed. 
TREATMENT OF "SEED" 
Rotted seed may be found in normal hills, but more frequently it 
is associated with particularly small or stunted hills. To determine 
the effect of chemical treatment on rot, three types of freshly dug 
canna rootstocks were exposed to the sunlight for 24 hours and then 
soaked in solutions of copper sulphate or mercuric chloride. The 
rootstocks were then dried in the sun for an hour and placed three per 
hill in the field. In order to produce conditions favorable for rot, the 
field was irrigated three times a week. The resulting crop was har- 
vested after two months when the most advanced stalks were about 
3 feet hisrh. The results of treating seed with copper sulphate are 
given in Table 8. 
