May I, 1884.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



823 



Since that time the Eamie has been grown at the 

 Oastleton Gardens and elsewhere for experimental purposes, 

 and the results of these experiments may be briefly sum- 

 marised as follows : — 



1.— The Kamie plant requires a rich, deep soil, plentifully 

 supplied with water ; and to produce good fibre it should 

 be kept under careful cultivation and in a continuous and 

 active state of growth. 



2. — The Eamie plant is Ukely to thrive only in such por- 

 tions of the island where, in addition to suitable soil, there 

 is a plentiful and copious rainfall ; or, failing this, where 

 water can be regularly and largely supplied for purposes 

 of irrigation. 



The Bath and Plantain Garden River districts might 

 grow Kamie without irrigation : as also portions of the Par- 

 ishes of Portland, St. Mary's and Westmoreland. 



Other portions of the island, where the soil is good, might 

 grow Ramie by means of irrigation, and the plant woiUd 

 appear likely to lend itself easily to this treatment. 



If proper appliances are foimd to prepare and clean the 

 fibre eipecUtiously aud economically, large Ramie plant- 

 ations might be established on lauds contiguous to the Rio 

 Cobre Irrigation Works, and taking all the eirciuustances 

 into consideration, probably the district will be found to 

 offer the best localities for the economic culture of Ramie. 

 As shown in the treatment of the Ramie by the Chinese, 

 it can be propagated either by seed or off-shoots. 



Where seed is used, nursery beds carefully prepared, sup- 

 plied with rich soil, and regularly watered, are essential. 

 Gare should be taken to mix the fine small seeds of the 

 Bamie with soil and sow lightly on the surface of the ground. 

 If the seeds are covered with soil they will probably not 

 germinate. 



The plants raised in these beds may afterwards be trans- 

 planted and put out at distances varying from 1| to 2 feet 

 apart, according to the nature of the soil. The Detter the 

 soil, the further apart the plants; and conversely, the poorer 

 the soil the closer the plants. 



Where off-shoots or suckers can be obtained they are to 

 be preferred to seeds, as being more expeditious, and yield- 

 ing better results, especially within the first year afttr 

 planting. Where off-shoots or suckers cannot be obtained 

 in sufficient numbers, young plants may be obtained by 

 "layering" the; taller stems, that is, bending them down 

 (without breaking) close to the ground, and covering the 

 joints with soil. From every ripe joint plants will be pro- 

 duced. 



The burden of the treatment of Ramie, in all its stages, 

 by the Chinese, is the plentiful use of manure and water. 

 Unless the soil is naturally rich and moist, the cidtiv- 

 ators of Ramie must be prepared to supply their plants 

 largely with manure and keep them in a " moist, vigorous, 

 perpetual state of growth." 



As regards the time when the stems should be cut, and 

 the subsequent treatment, it may be mentioned, as noticed 

 by Major Hannay, that the Raime is fit for cutting when 

 the stems becoyne of a brown colour for about 6 inches up- 

 wards from the root. 



Care shoidd be taken in cutting the ripe stems not to 

 injure the young shoots spriuging from the root-stalk which 

 are to form the succeeding crop of stems. It is beneficial 

 to the roots after each crop is reaped to manure them 

 heavily as well as to supply abundant moisture. 



When once the Ramie plants are established, the stems 

 are produced more abundantly with age and also grow much 

 faster. Where too thick they should be carefully thinned, 

 so as to promote the gi-owth of large healthy stems. 



The duration of life of a root of Ramie depends (as on 

 the duration and yield of bananas and other similar plants) 

 on the strength and character of the soil, the relative quant- 

 ity of manure applied, the amount of moisture present, as 

 well as on the general cultural treatment received by it. 



There is no reason to doubt that where these favourable 

 conditions exist, a plantation of Ramie will last tor many 

 years (ten or twelve at least), and prove very productive. 

 The portions of the plant which yield fibre are the cortical 

 layers of the stem. The Chinese divide these layers as fol- 

 lows : — The outer green layer is generally coarse and hard, 

 and only good for making common materials. 



The second is a little more supple and fine; while the 

 third, which is the best, is u.sed for making extremely fine 

 light articles. — Itulian Agriculturist. 



THE SUGAR INDUSTRY IN THE MADRAS 

 PRESIDENCY 



ia fully discussed in a paper with which we have 

 been favoured and some extracts from which will be 

 interesting in view of the discussion on sugarcane 

 cultivation in Ceylon : — 



Particular kinds of cane cultivated ; their suitability 

 ot special soils ; mode of selection by cultivators ; possi- 

 bility of introducing better kinds or better tillage. — The 

 sugar-cane (Saccharum Officinarum)ia indigenous to India, 

 and has been cultivated ;from time immemorial. There 

 are very numerous varieties of the cane quoted by the 

 Distric Officers under local vernacular names, but Mr. Ro- 

 bertson, Agricultural Reporter to Government, states that 

 many of these varieties cannot be distinguished, and that 

 the distinguishing characteristics of other varieties arise 

 from local conditions of soil and cUmate, and disappear 

 when these conditions are absent. In popular parlance, 

 the cane is divided into the three varieties mentioned at 

 page 372 of Drury's Useful Plants of India — the red 

 cane, which grows on dryer ground, the striped cane, 

 which takes a richer soil, and the white cane, which suc- 

 ceeds in wet land unfavorable to the two other varieties. 

 In the Madras Presidency, the cane is cultivated chiefly 

 in the districts on the coast of the Bay of Benga, and 

 Bome inland districts which have a comparatively dry 

 climate, weile there is but little cane grown on the West 

 Coast, where the climote is moist and resembles that of 

 the Straits, the Mauritius and the West Indies. The cane 

 in those colonies attains to a luxrianf giowth never equalled 

 in this presidency, and at the recent exhibition at Madras, 

 a sample of cane from Penang was far superior to the 

 sample of cane from Bellary district which gained the 

 second prize. Many attempts have been made to intro- 

 duce into this presidency these larger varieties of cane. 

 Otaheite and Bourbon canes along with the Minnesota 

 Amber cane are now to be seen in the Godavari district, 

 while at the Saidapet Experimental Farm successful trials 

 have been made of the Chinese sugar-cane (!Svrghnm 

 Saccharatum) and other sugar-producing sorghums. It 

 has not yet been shown, however, that any of these for- 

 eign varieties will, in this climate, continue to produce more 

 sugar than the country cane, and on this point the Board 

 would quote the result of the experiment recorded in the 

 Vizagapatam District Manual. It is there recorded that 

 Messrs. Arbuthnot and Co., the renters of the Palkonda 

 estate, brought a cane planter from the West Indies to 

 teach an improved method of cultivation, spent large sums 

 in the introduction of the Mauritius cane and placed 

 the experiment under the personal supervision of Mr. 

 John Young, now Chairman of the Oriental Bank, but 

 the result showed that the native system of cultivation 

 was more suited to the existing circumstances, and that 

 the Mauritius cane was more precarious than the country 

 varieties. It is not likely that any attempt to improve 

 upon the tillage of the cane will ever be made more 

 carefully or under conditions more favorable to success. 

 The first year for which stitistics are available is 18ro2-.53, 

 when the area under cane was /(cres 38, -JUS. It remained 

 almost stationary until 1869-70, when it was acres 37,805, 

 and then increased steadily till 184.5-7'*, when it was 

 acres .52,094. The famine years shew a great decrease, but 

 in 1881-^^2, the area under cane in Government, Zemiu- 

 dari aud Inam lands in this presidency was acres 72,382, 

 the produce of acres 69,383 of which was manufactured 

 into sugar and jaggery. 



It is said that sugar or jaggery is r&anufactured from 

 the produce of the following acreages : — 



acres. 

 Under sugar cane .. 69,383 



Coconut palms . . 5,700 



PahnjTas . . 24,884 



Date palms .. 1,575 



Sago palms . . 19 



so it is evident that the jaggery manufactured from the 

 palmyra is the only considerable rival of the product of 

 the cane. 



It is not usual to cultivate the cane two years running 

 upon the same land. In parts of Kurnool, Tinnevelly and 

 South Cauara, however, the stumps of the caucare left in the 

 ground to sprout and yield a crop the following year, and 

 in the Naudyal taluk of the Kurnool district, the cane ie 



