i§iJ 



1 frnPlQAL AQmCVtTmm% [Amu 1, mi, 



like) upon the lower stone. A workman with a wooden 

 shovel is constantly eaiployed in keeping the roots 

 beneath the revoving stone. When the roots are 

 sufficiently crushed they are placed with water in 

 kettles and boiled for twenty-four --hours. They are 

 then removed from the kettles aud placed beneath a 

 screw-press, and all the juice is thoroughly squeezed 

 out, which runs into a cistern beneath . This juice is 

 pumped from the cistern and passed through a sieve 

 into kettles and the boilng resumed. The sediment 

 from the strainer i^ again pressed. 



The contents of the boiling kettles is a second time 

 filtered. When boiled to the proper consistency it is 

 removed to a broad, shallow kettle over a slow fire, 

 where workmen with spades continue to stir it until it 

 becomes dense enough for paste. Then it is removed 

 and placed in wooden moulds of the size they wish 

 the cakes, or by workmen worked into little rolls or 

 sticks. When cold aud hard the cakes are wrapped 

 in paper and boxes for export. 



The little rolls or sticks of licorice are placed upon 

 ehelves to dry. ^Vhen they become perfectly dry and 

 hard they are packed in laurel leaves in boxes. 



In preparing the root for market, women with 

 knives scrape off the bark and then cut it into bits of 

 one half inch or longer in length, as the purchaser 

 may wish. These are then dried in the sun and placed 

 in bags for export. 



In response to my question a manufacturer answered 

 that licorice paste may be adulterated with starch, 

 rice flour, wheat flour, flour of the carraba (locust bean), 

 or even wood ashes ; but he expressed the opinion that 

 the manufacturers of Oatania could not be so recreant 

 to honesty as to resort to these base methods. 



The Chamber of Commerce of Catania report that 

 in the year 1883, 440,920 pounds of the root were 

 prepared by the manufacturers aud exported to the 

 United States, in value amounting to §11,580, and that 

 79,126 pounds of the root were manufactured and 

 exported to France, in value amonnting to §2,079, the 

 totil export for the year being 520,080 pounds of the 

 root manufactured, valued at §13,659. 



As shown by my records for the year 1884, there 

 were exported to New York of licorice paste 112,746 

 pounds, valued at S14,96.5'85, and of the root 14,017 

 pounds, valued at S567'24 ; the total value of the 

 article exported for the year being S15,533'09. — Chemist 

 and Lrugyist. 



AGEICULTURAL EXPERIMENTS AT SHIYALI. 



The very interesting report by Mr. Krishnasawmy 

 Mudaliyar, of Shiyali, recently published by the 

 Madras Government, shows that that gentleman 

 continues his public-spirited efforts to induce his 

 fellow-countrymen to improve tneir agricultural 

 methods. Mr. Krishnasawmy Mudaliyar engaged his 

 labourers permanently, but the cultivation of rice 

 on single crop land affords employment for only a 

 portion of the year, so that it became necessary to 

 introduce some crop which would allow of a more 

 economical distribution of the work of men and 

 cattle. The crop selected was sugar-cane, and, to 

 begin with, an experiment was made with an acre 

 aud-a-half, which was planted in the season of 1882-83. 

 A three-roller J5eheea mill was purchased, and the 

 canen, in due course, were cut and crushed. Owing 

 to several causes, chief among which was deficient 

 drainage, and want of experience in the process of 

 crushing and converting into jaggery, the experiment 

 Was scarcely a success, although the rate of profit 

 is said to have been a little above the average 

 gained from rice cultivation. Mr. Krishnasawmy 

 Mudaliyar accordingly^ determined to repeat the 

 experiment, and this time he selected a larger area, 

 with greater natural advantages for drainage and 

 irrigation. The land was ploughed to a depth of 

 five or six inches, and was manured with 175 cart- 

 loads of farmyard manure. The planting out was 

 completed by the middle of May, and, alter a part- 

 icularly fortunate season, the cutting and crushing 

 were commenced in the following February. The 

 average yield of stripped cane was a little over 16 

 ^OBI jpev' aes«. This yield ii jpoor eooipared witb 



the 22J tons which is the average yield for the 

 Presidency as a whole, while in Lower Bengal, an 

 acre of good land is said to yield 25 tons of stripped 

 canes. The proportion of juice expressed to the cane 

 crashed was about 50 per cent, and this again can- 

 not be considered satisfactory as compared with the 

 64 per cent obtained at the Saidapet Farm. The 

 proportion of jaggery obtained to cane crushed was 

 9* per cent which compares favourably with the 

 Saidapet Farm results of only 8§ per cent. The 

 average yield for the Presidency, however, is believed 

 to be about 10 per cent, and this is obtained with 

 the native wooden mills, which are much inferior 

 to the three roller iron mill used by Mr. Krishna- 

 sawmy Mudaliyar. It is only fair to mention that 

 none of the canes of the best of the three varieties 

 grown at Shiyali were crushed, as they were required 

 for seed. When the results of the present season's 

 crop are known, we may fairly expect a higher 

 percentage of jaggery. We would suggest, as one 

 means of improving the yield, a change in the man- 

 ures used. An analysis of the juiee of the sugar- 

 cane shows that it consists very largely of potassic 

 salts. It is obvious, therefore, that the manures te 

 be used in sugar-cane cultivation are those which 

 are rich in these salts. We would recommend Mr. 

 Krishnasawmy Mudaliyar to make a few experi- 

 ments with bone-dust and saltpetre. The latter 

 might, with advantage, be used as a top-dressing. 

 We would also commend to his notice the trench 

 system of sugar-cane cultivation, which is followed 

 in the West Indies, and which is the most econ- 

 omical both of water and manure. It has, we be- 

 lieve, been adopted with the best results by Messrs. 

 Thomson and Mylne, of Beheea. 



Turning now to the financial aspect of the ex- 

 periment we find that the total cost of cultivation, 

 including the subsequent manufacture of the cane 

 into jaggery, was R136-5-3 per acre, while the value 

 of the outturn is given as R168-12-0, leaving a net 

 profit, after payment of all charges, of R31-11-0 per 

 acre. We are not sure, however, whether the jag- 

 gery was actually sold for the amount stated above, 

 or whether that is simply the value placed upon it 

 by its owner. The point is an important one as 

 hypothetical valuations are apt to be misleading. 

 We observe that a few canes were sold for seed, 

 and that the rate per acre realised from this source 

 was R350, or more than double that obtained for 

 jaggery, with the additional advantage of a saving 

 of the expense of crushing and boiling. Here i8 

 indeed matter for the consideration of the political 

 economist. The supply, compared with the demand, 

 is practically unlimited. Yet custom, that element 

 which so constantly disturbs economical theories in 

 India, is stronger than the laws of supply and 

 demand, and we find an article fetching in its raw 

 state a price more than 100 per cent greater than 

 that which can be obtained for it when manufact- 

 ured. The profit yielded by 6 acres of sugar-cane 

 was greater than the whole of the profit derived 

 from 124 acres under rice crop in the same village. 

 The season was particularly unfavourable for rice 

 cultivation, and the conclusion to be drawn from 

 these results is, not that rice is a worse crop than 

 sugar-cane, but that the ryot would be well advised 

 to cultivate more than one kind of product, and not 

 place all his eggs in the same basket. It will fre- 

 quently happen that one season is favourable for 

 one kind of crop and unfavourable for others, and 

 the farmer who would insure himself against risks 

 of this nature should so distribute his capital and 

 labour that failure in one direction will be com- 

 pensated by success in another. Mr. Krishnasawmy 

 Mudaliyar's example has already been followed to 

 a considerable extent, and we consider that this fact 

 affords the best possible evidence of the financial 

 success of the experiment, for, opinions to the con- 

 trary notwithstanding, the ryot is very quick to 

 appreciate what is likely to lead to hi.s own advant- 

 age. The Board of Revenue, however, knows better 

 than Mr. Krishnasawmy Mudaliyar, or the ryots 

 who have followed his example, and it considers tha 

 sugar-cane is 901(0 unsuited to Taojore. It appear 



