MUSTARD AND RAPE 



BRASSICA 



CAMPESTRIS 



Dichotoma 



as that of the pure crops, the net area (worked back from the published 

 production) would have been 1 million acres (calculated as pure crops) 

 yielding 467,450 tons of " Rape and Mustard." That calculation repre- 

 sents a yield of, say, 5 cwt. an acre. Sarson is, however, an extremely 



Pests. precarious crop, being very liable to pests and blights as also to climatic 



vicissitudes. For example, it is peculiarly subject to the ravages of 

 an aphid that sucks the sap of the young shoots to such an extent that 

 they fail to produce seed. It is, however, exceedingly profitable, and 

 whenever possible the cultivators put at least some portion of their lands 

 under it. 



D.E.P., 



i., 523, 525. 



Rape. 



Cold-season 

 Crop. 



Distinctive 

 Features. 



Season. 



Distribution. 



Microscopic 

 Examination. 



Yield of 

 Mustard-oil. 



U. Prov. 



Indian Rape OP Tori, Lutni or Mag-hi ; Sinapis dichotoma, 

 Roxb., Fl.Ind., iii., 117 ; S.campestris, subsp. Napus, Fl. Br. Ind., i., 156 

 (in part) ; Brassica campestris, subsp, Napus, var. dichotoma also Toria, 

 Duthie & Fuller, Field and Garden Crops, pt. ii., 29 ; B. campestris 

 subsp. campestris, var. dichotoma also Toria, Watt, I.e. ; B. campestris, 

 Linn., subsp. Napus, var. dichotoma, Prain, I.e. 36-40, 46, 76-7. 



Prain (I.e. 76) says that after rai this is the most important of Indian 

 grades of mustard. It is a cold-season crop on the plains of India and a spring 

 crop on the Himalaya. It was sent for cultivation and study from all the 

 districts of Bengal except Saran and Shahabad. "It is easily distinguished 

 from Rai by its stem-clasping leaves and its small size ; when reaped the seed 

 is recognised as being larger, though of the same colour, and by having a paler 

 spot at the base of the seed ; the seed-coat, too, is only slightly rough. From 

 Sarson or Indian Colza it is easily distinguished by its smaller size and by its 

 leaves, though stem-clasping, as in Sarson, being less lobed and having much 

 less bloom. The seeds are of much the same size in Tori and in ordinary 

 Saraon, but as a rule the seeds of Sarson in Bengal are white. When Sarson 

 seeds are brown they are of an amber colour, and have no paler spot. The 

 seed-coat, too, is smooth. The seeds of Saraon are sometimes considerably 

 larger than those of Tori. When this is the case, the two are easily distinguished." 



" There are two kinds of Tori a taller, rather later, and a shorter, very 

 early kind. Both kinds, however, ripen well ahead of any Rai or any Sarson. 

 The earlier kind of Tori does not appear to occur in North- West Tirhut ; the 

 later kind is unknown in East Bengal or in Chittagong ; elsewhere both sorts 

 prevail throughout the Lower Provinces." 



" This mustard is known as Tori in Bihar and the northern districts of 

 North Bengal, Lutni in Chota Nagpur and the drier parts of West Bengal, 

 Sarisha in Orissa, West Bengal, Central Bengal and the south-western districts 

 of North Bengal, Maghi in the south-eastern districts of North Bengal and 

 throughout East Bengal. The Bengal name Sarisha recurs hi Chittagong." 



Kinzel (I.e. 108) informs us that " as compared with European Rape and 

 Colza, the amount of mustard-oil the seeds contain appears very variable. As 

 compared with other species, the testa of the seeds has remarkably narrow, very 

 distinctly circular markings. The only species with circular markings almost 

 as small is B. manna, Prain, which is at once diagnosed by its detachable 

 epidermal layer. All the samples dealt with here have in transverse sections 

 an undetached epidermal layer with narrow lumen." " The transverse sections 

 of the samples examined were, moreover, very uniform. As compared with 

 the other species, the cells of the palisade-tissue have a very thin wall, and 

 consequently a clearly defined wide lumen, exactly as in s. jvapuH, Linn,, the 

 European Rape. In transverse section they appear very blunt at the apex. The 

 layer with colouring matter is very loose ; the viscid cells are often in two 

 layers ; the thin-walled parenchyma is disposed in three to four layers." 

 Kinzel gives the range of mustard-oil as from 0'239 to 0'848 per cent. 



Cultivation and Area. It has not been found possible to isolate 

 some of the facts regarding this plant from those of sarson. The fore- 

 going observations have, therefore, to be read in connection with 

 the special particulars that have been elucidated regarding tori the 

 present plant. Duthie and Fuller urge that so far as the United Pro- 



178 



