CULTIVATION OF SARSON 



Microscopic 



Kx;i':i.'. 1 1 i'i'. i. 



BRASSICA 



CAMPESTRI8 

 Sarson 



-I M -liking, therefore, the 2-valved erect subraco is characteristic of Chota Nugpur, 



\\ . -t. <Viitral and East Bengal; the 4-valvod erect subraco is char- 



; ii- ..r tin- woHtern half of Bihar, and again of North Bengal, while the 



I ..-in l. -Hi Mibraces occupy the region between the arcon to tho north of the Ganges 



i'cu|iii'il l>y ili.' i-r.M't 4-volvtHl Hubroce." 



" Tin- iiiiino Sarson prevails in Chota Nuguur in Bihar, and in extreme North 

 I. In r.i-ngal proper this is the mustard known as Sweti Sariaha, or simply 

 In OriK.su it is Oanga toria." 



Dr. Kin/.el says, " It is so easy to recognise this species as such, that perhaps 

 with a little more experience it may become possible to distinguish micro- 

 M-ojiirally the seeds of the various races of sarson. In brown-seeded sarson the 

 struct im- of the testa is very uniform, and is almost equally so in the white- 

 seeded and yellow-seeded kinds. The mucous epidermal layer has been found 

 ( l>t undetached in every one of the races." In The Agricultural Ledger (1901, 

 N.i. 7, 111, pi. i., ff. 1-3) are shown the form and structure of the seed-testa 

 df various qualities of sarson. This, it will be seen, is composed, like that of 

 all the species of ttmnHicn. of a soft parenchyma below, a layer of glutinous 

 c.-Us. a layer of colouring matter, a layer of palisade tissue (the cells of which 

 are narrow, elongated and acute, the shape and size varying with each form of 

 mustard), and lastly an epidermal layer. To appreciate the value of the relative 

 developments of these structures in the various species and races, it is necessary 

 to inspect Dr. Kinzel's plates. Concluding his account of sarson, he observes 

 that " the quality of mustard-oil varies from 0'564 to 0'875 per cent., and shows 

 remarkable uniformity in some of the races. In nine sorts examined the mustard- 

 oil averaged 0'708 per cent. The quantity present was lowest in the race with 

 the longest seeds (Lalka Tora, the large-brown race)." Wiesner (Die Rohst. de 

 Pflanzenr., 1903, ii., 726) reviews Kinzel's paper and thus indirectly accepts 

 some of Prain's main conclusions regarding this and the other special Indian 

 forms of Rape and Mustard. The Taleef Shereef (Playfair, transl., 1833, 92, 94) 

 mentions sarson under the names sedarth and sir Icup. 



Cultivation and Area. N. G. Mukerji (Handbook Ind. Agri., 271), 

 endorsing previous published opinions, says that tori (latni, sarisha, 

 shorshe) and also sarson (shweti shorshe) are usually sown with wheat 

 or barley, or in gardens with carrots, amaranth, etc., while rai is 

 grown by itself. They are sown, in September, i.e. six weeks to two 

 months before the regular rabi sowings. He then observes that when 

 grown as mixed crops 1 Ib. of seed to the acre are required, the yield 

 being 1 to 2 maunds. When sown as pure crops 4 to 6 Ib. of seed are 

 necessary and the produce 4 to 6 maunds. With rai the seed should be 

 3 Ib. and the crop 3 to 4 maunds. 



The greatest possible difficulty exists in furnishing definite particulars 

 regarding the area of production and methods of cultivation of sarson in 

 India as a whole. Duthie and Fuller's account of the United Provinces 

 of Agra and Oudh may very possibly be admissible as indicative of the 

 main features of interest, when taken in conjunction with such particulars 

 as may be derived from Prain's account of the mustards, etc., of 

 Bengal. From the Field and Garden Crops we learn that sarson is a 

 cold-season crop, grown usually mixed with wheat or barley. It is sown 

 either broadcast or in parallel lines running across the fields. It is cut 

 shortly after the harvest of the associated crop. But it is difficult either 

 to fix the actual area under it, or to ascertain the yield. The districts 

 of the middle and lower Doab are specially well suited to it, and in these 

 hardly a wheat or barley field can be seen in which some portion is not 

 devoted to sarson. The extent of that cultivation may be inferred from 

 the fact that in 1901-2 while only 125,585 acres were returned as pure 

 " sarson, rape or mustard," 8,267,844 acres were shown as mixed crops 

 of these oil-seeds along with wheat, barley, etc. If, however, we accept 

 the yield in the mixed crop to have been approximately in the same ratio 



177 Ii' 



Bowing 



Yield. 



Area. 



Method of 



Sou in . 



Pure and 

 Mixed Grope. 



