8 STUDIES IN INDIAN TOBACCOS. 



and also had the effect of forcing the plants. Any subsequent 

 watering required b}^ the crop is done by filling the trenches. 



During the last three years at Piisa our experimental tobaccos 

 have been grown under furrow irrigation with marked success 

 over the methods adopted by the ryots. The advantages of this 

 method of watering by lateral seepage, are largely bound up 

 with the question of tilth. Wherever tobacco is grown, the impor- 

 tance of a well cultivated and well derated soil has been empha- 

 sised, and it has frequently been laid down that this is the first 

 condition for successful tobacco-growing. Badly cultivated 

 and poorly aerated soil always lead to disaster. The surface 

 rooting habit ol tobacco and the exceedingly rapid growth of this 

 crop both demand a projaer condition of the soil which would be 

 difficult with surface irrigation. Lateral seepage is so slow that 

 the tilth is not destroyed, and it is also the most economical 

 method of supplying moisture as the loss by evaporation is 

 reduced to a minimum. 



The system of furrow irrigation described above might with 

 advantage be adopted in general cultivation. The tobacco crop 

 is an exceedingly valuable one in India and great care is taken by 

 the cultivators in raising it. Its welfare in Bihar to a great 

 extent depends on the rahi sowing rains, known as the hathia, 

 which fall at the end of September and in the early part of 

 October. These showers, however, are precarious and it is not 

 uncommon for the monsoon to come to an end early and to be 

 followed by rainless hot weather in September and October. 

 Under these circumstances a large number of the young trans- 

 planted tobacco seedlings die off and others are devoured by grass- 

 hoppers and cut worms. Many plants have to be replaced and a 

 very uneven crop is obtained, resulting in loss of maturit}^ at 

 harvest time. It would not be difficult to completely ensure the 

 crop in dry years by furrow irrigation from wells. 



