Annual Report of the Sugarcane Research Scheme Mushari (Bihar and Orissa) for the year 1934-35

One of the most important cultural operations in the successful growing of sugarcane in rainfed tracts of Bihar is the intercultivation of the crop after it is planted and the study of root habits suggested this operation to be of greatest avail during the dry weather when it stimulated deeper penetration of roots and fostered development of tillers. [...] (2) The course of metabolism in both the tolerant and susceptible types exhibited an initial rise in the rate of respiration more so in latter ; then a considerable fall less accentuated and long delayed in the former ; and finally a rise in the case of tolerant varieties maintaining slightly above the normal rate. [...] The supply' jar was fixed in the centre after filling the container trpto the middle with the desired type of soil and had two glass tubes standing well above the brink of the container to be connected to the reservoir and to serve as water-level index respectively. [...] The total quantity of water required to mature a plant was calculated from the data— the initial quantity of water present in the soil plus the total quantity of water taken up from day to day by the plant till its maturity minus the quantity of moisture left in the soil at the close of the experiment. [...] (b) Cane maturity.—Progress of ripening and maintenance of juice quality of early varieties was studied fortnightly from the first week of October till the end of December (Table VII) of the midseason varieties fortnightly from the middle of December to the end of February (Table VIII) and of the late varieties from the first of February to the end of the April (Table IX).