ARECA 



CATECHU 



Betel-nut 



Nurseries. 



Selection of Seed. 



Planting Season. 



Manure. 



Bearing Period. 



Yield. 



Artificial Hoods. 



Pass from Tree 

 to Tree. 



South 

 India. 



Mysore. 

 Cultivation in 

 Madras. 



Kevenue. 



Best Gardens in 

 Malnad. 



THE BETEL-NUT PALM 



perennial ndla passes by the main channels through the garden. The 

 soil is thus kept continuously moist." " The palms are raised in seed- 

 beds and are once transplanted before they are planted out permanently. 

 The first seed-bed is carefully prepared, the soil is dug, broken fine and 

 mixed with leaf-mould. Fully matured nuts from old trees are specially 

 selected for planting. These are planted about 9 inches apart in April. 

 The seed-bed should be kept thoroughly moist. The shoots appear in 

 June. The seedlings are transplanted in October into any moist place in 

 the garden or along the watercourses about two feet apart and remain until 

 permanently transplanted. This permanent transplantation is usually 

 done towards the end of the rains. In the following March the trees are 

 manured with leaf manure and the manure is covered with fresh-cut 

 branchwood which is partially withered but which retains the leaves. 

 The object of placing a layer of small branches above the manure is to 

 break the force of heavy rain." 



" The betel trees are manured as described every second year and 

 come into bearing in ten years or so. The plantains are maintained 

 for some years after the betel-palms are permanently planted, but in time 

 are removed and cardamoms planted between the palms, and on the stems 

 of the latter pepper-vines are trained. Betel trees are known to fruit 

 freely for 30 or 40 years, and there is a popular belief that they are 

 sometimes profitable much longer. On an average each tree has two 

 bunches of fruit, sometimes three or four. But two good bunches yield 

 as much as three or four inferior ones. The size of the bunch depends upon 

 the manure used and upon the rainfall. A good bunch gives 200 to 300 

 nuts and a specially good one about 400. With unfavourable rain or cloudy 

 weather in April or May many of the young nuts fall off and a smaller 

 number of nuts on each bunch reach maturity. The trees produce flowers 

 in March and April and the nuts are ripe in November or December, but to 

 some extent the trees produce flowers and fruit out of season " (I.e. 259). 



The flower spathes and leaf -sheaths are " valuable products in the 

 garden economy. They are used to provide hoods for protecting the 

 branches of betel-nuts from the rain. If unprotected the nuts rot. Two 

 sheaths are used to make one hood. The hoods are made and tied on by 

 professionals who come from Mysore territory and below the Ghats. A 

 good workman can make 250 hoods per day and is paid Us. 2 per 1,000. 

 This operation and tying them on costs at contract rates Us. 10 to 12 per 

 1,000 bunches and two meals per day. The men do not ascend and descend 

 each tree. When once they have climbed up, by means of slight exertion 

 they swing the tree and deftly catch hold of another and rarely descend to 

 the ground for hours. These expert climbers also gather the fruit by 

 cutting the bunches from the stem, getting Us. 4 per 1,000 bunches and 

 three meals per day " (I.e. 260). 



South India. A good deal has been written on the subject of the 

 special cultivation pursued in Mysore. Cameron (For. Trees, I.e. 

 324-6) practically reprints the account given in The Mysore Gazetteer 

 when he says : " Areca-nut gardens are a profitable source of income 

 both to the cultivator and the State, the latter deriving a large revenue 

 from a halut or custom duty levied upon the nut. The finest betel 

 gardens are situated on the confines of the Malnad where there is a 

 rich soil and plenty of water." "It is necessary, during the rainy 

 season, however, to drain off superfluous water by means of open 



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