IIHKA FIHKK <>K IMM \ 



BCEHMERIA 



NIVEA 



Cultivation 



Semioai. The pioneer investigator of rhea in India was apparently Col. 

 i Hannay. In 1850 that indefatigable agriculturist published a report of his 



uii'iitiii plantation, tnd descrih.-d tin- \ativo in. i result* in I. in- 



thai l-'ft littli- t.> discover forthosewho followed. He obtained 6 maunds 

 ni ill in-. Uit was of opinion that a higher yield with more accurate methyl* 

 be obtained. Mr. Monahan (while Director of Land Records and Agri- 

 nit ure) wrote a bulletin on rhea cultivation in this province. As that paper 

 in easily pmnirable, and has been largely drawn upon in my detailed report, 1 

 l.i imt rmiMiiiT it < I.-.MPH I >lr to reproduce it further. Briefly, it may be said that 

 ust as in Bengal so in Assam, the finest sandy loams are required for the culti- 

 . it inn of this plant a circumstance that of necessity enhances the cost of 

 It is usually planted out in April and May, or in October and 

 ntirr. After two years the soil becomes exhausted and the rhea stems 

 .mil thin ; the roots are then taken up, divided, and replanted in a plot of 

 IK! specially prepared for their reception. With frequent manuring the plant 

 iy. Imwrver, be continuously grown on the same land for many years. Khea 

 >lanted about the end of the rainy season, say October to November, will yield 

 first cutting about the end of March or beginning of April, and will continue 

 e cuttings every month or six weeks in the rainy season and every two or 

 months in the cold weather. It would thus seem that in Assam four or 

 five cuttings a year may be depended on, say in May, June, July, August and 

 November, or even as late as December: One cultivator whom I questioned 

 personally said that he could make his plot give cuttings every 15 or 20 days ; 

 ield, in his opinion, was purely a question of manure and moisture. He held 

 ,t the quality of the fibre depended upon the rapidity of growth ; the older 

 stems the coarser the fibre, and hence high manuring paid, and when moisture 

 as deficient irrigation would also be profitable. A sudden interruption to 

 wth, he thought, ruined the fibre. I believe upon the whole he was very 

 nearly right, and his remarks have a special bearing on the rhea produced outside 

 the area I have indicated, more especially in the warm dry tracts of Northern 

 India, which have a short term of annual humidity followed by many months 

 if extreme heat and an absolutely dry atmosphere and soil. 



Yield. This has been variously stated. According to Mr. Monahan, 

 ling between 76 Ib. and 605 Ib. of cleaned fibre may be obtained per acre 

 g to the care and attention bestowed on the crop. An estimate, based 

 the results obtained at the Nowgong Jail, came, however, to 911 Ib. Mr. (now 

 James) Buckingham, who has given the subject of rhea cultivation in Assam 

 considerable attention, thinks that 640 Ib. (8 maunds) would be a safe average. 

 According to another experiment in Nowgong, reported on by Mr. L. J. Kershaw, 

 the outturn was: July cutting, 48 Ib. ; September, 169 Ib. ; and October, 116 

 'h. ; three cuttings a year and a total of 333 Ib. per acre. But from an actual 

 xperiment, performed by purchasing a plot of growing rhea and reaping the 

 p, Mr. Kershaw showed the outturn to be 900 Ib. per acre, although the 

 wner stated that his last year's experience was 600 Ib. in three cuttings. 



Doubtless the labour question, as already observed, is the first and foremost 

 >nsideration in Assam, while in Bengal the chief difficulty may possibly be to 

 ure suitable land for the crop. 



Burma. So little is known regarding the rhea cultivation of this 

 irovince that no good would be served by reviewing in detail the informa- 

 '.on that actually exists. Mr. Copeland, Deputy Conservator of Forests, 

 ported of Nanlan that small plots were to be found attached to several 

 ouses in all the villages on the plateau. His account of the method of 

 ultivation, process of separating, and uses of the fibre, etc., is precisely 

 hat already narrated in connection with Bengal and Assam, except 

 that Mr. Copeland is of opinion that the Shans would very possibly 

 extend their cultivation if a remunerative price were offered for the fibre. 

 From Maymyo was received a sample of what was spoken of as " wild- 

 rhea," and known to the Natives as hpetye. This proved, like the 

 Assam wild-rhea, to be an entirely different plant and not rhea at all. 

 The Burmese so-called wild-rhea was the stinging-nettle <;ir<n-<(inia 

 (see p. 161), which thoroughout the mountains of India 



1M 



ItwulU. 



Soil Required. 



Season*. 



Yield versus 

 Manure. 



Interruption 



Injurious. 



Yield. 



Safe Average 

 640 Ib. 



Actual Drop 



Experiment. 



Burma. 



Identical 



Nilgiri Nettle, 



