IMI'KKKKCT ROTATION 



ARACHIS 



HYPOO/EA 



Cultivation 





m4 . ; each, ami udd- that tin- niu-.t popular rotation ia 



th tin- ci-n-.il varagu ritntrmn iniiiuretun<. Barber recently re-investigated 

 tii.- ,|ueMion --I' rotation of ground-nuts with other crops and came to the 



n " th.it tli.' .-liar-, .it" continuous cropping wan well-founded. The answer 

 n to geiierni ini|iiii-ios on the subject was that a rest of one j-oar was 

 allou. -d in everj I or ">." " The fields may be said to have little rest. Several 

 usually taken off in tin- \ear. ni' u hirli ground-nut s form one." "Of 

 ; itii- rotation it may safely be asserted, as regards ground-nuts, there is none, No Rotation, 

 although tin- int.-r\.il of nM allowed to the land shows that the ryot is aware of 

 its advantage. " Harber thus views rotation from a different standpoint to 

 that of tin- Indian cultivator, and liy most persons his views would be upheld. 



Mollison. speaking of the rotation pursn.-d in Bombay, says the produc- Bombay Mrthoi. 

 ti..n of i;r-"ind-imt is undertaken by well-to-do cultivators, and is an indication 

 of prosperity and easy circumstances. It is often rotated with sugar-cane 

 d chillies, and is occasionally taken where- potatoes, onions, and brinjala './,/- 

 *./... !/. -ii, i are grown. In the garden land of Surat, where chiclo (a sedge) 

 is a troublesome weed, the growth of ground-nut helps to suppress it, and the 

 thorough digging which the soil gets in removing the nut is very beneficial 

 Among garden crops ground-nut occupies the important position which gram 

 holds among dry crops. 



Manure. Sabba Rao observes that the best manure appears to be the silt Manure. 

 posit of tanks, and so highly is this valued that the cultivators carry silt Silt 

 from great distances and even pay high prices for the privilege of removing 

 it. In South Arcot the fields are so manured once in 4 years with from 50 to 

 100 cartloads per acre. The silt from the Perumal tank (that most in use in 

 South Arcot) has been found to contain about 22 per cent, of lime and nearly 

 70 per cent, of sand. Lime is fully recognised as a valuable manure for the crop. Lime. 

 [Cf. Saidapet Farm Manual.] Ashes are also reckoned as very good manure for 

 ground-nut, more especially on poor, sandy soils. So important is this that ashes 

 also are carried great distances, even by rail, to the ground-nut area. Ashes are 

 in fact applied every year, sometimes at the rate of 30 cart-loads an acre. 

 With regard to Thiselton-Dyer's recommendation to test the value of 

 wood-ashes as a manure, it may be remarked that Leather made a special 

 examination of certain soils in South Arcot, commonly under ground-nut. He 

 found them all very deficient in lime. Four contained too little phosphate ; 

 five were low in nitrogen, and only one showed a defect in potash. Mollison 

 remarks on the subject of manures for ground-nuts that sheep or goat manure, sheep and Goat 

 applied either by folding the flock on the field or otherwise, is considered specially Manure, 

 suitable, but, failing this, ordinary farm-yard manure should be applied in 

 considerable quantity. Deep ploughing and thorough pulverisation of the soil 

 before sowing help the crop materially. 



Preparation of Land and Seasons of Sowing and Reaping. After Madras 

 the remarks already made on soils, rotation, etc., it is hardly necessary Method, 

 to do more than observe that ordinary methods of tillage usually 

 suffice. About 90 Ib. of seed per acre will be sufficient for sowings made up 

 to the middle of August, but later on about 112 Ib. are required since the seed to the Acrj. 

 plant does not grow so luxuriantly. The crop is sown thickly since the 

 bulk of the pods are borne within a few inches around the central stem. 



The crop is generally hand-hoed twice, about fifteen men per acre being Hoeing, 

 required each time. The bullock hoe is not used owing to the injury done 

 by it to the crop. In normal seasons ground-nuts, sown under irrigation, 

 are watered twice a week during the last two months. While being watering, 

 watered it is customary to weed the plots, and in some cases the plants 

 are lightly trodden under foot with the object of bringing them into 

 better contact with the soil. On unirrigated land the crop is sown any 

 time between the middle of June and the middle of August ; on irrigated ( 

 land from the middle of August to the middle of September. The latest l 

 possible sowings are from September 30 to October 15. viz. in Chingle- 

 put and North Arcot. There would thus appear to be two areas or con- 

 ditions an early and a late. The normal dates of sowing for the former 



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