HKIMJKS \M> SHM.K-TRKKS 



(urn to vield \\ln-ii nun- or ten months old, and continue to yield 

 lor two or even three years. The leaves are tied in t>u 400 each, 



and tin- usual price of such a bundle is an anna. A. two jean 



produrr, r,.(KK) to 7,"<H) ,,f the,,- IIIIIK II. -s, worth I; 



lii .Mysoiv th<> cultivation is tin: My tore Gaz., 



i., 16(>-'J) : A liliirk soil is required, and tin- plant thrive* bout 

 in low ground where it run ha\e ;i siipph oi u.it.-r from 



In the east (e.g. Chaitra or Vainakha), tin- ground is trenched over 1 

 culiit deep and surrounded with ;i mud wall, within which a hedge, 

 chiefly ol l-'.iiitlnn-hiii 'I'inn <ilii. is planted. If there is not plenty 



.iin, it must be regularly watered for nix months. The gard- 

 then dun and formed into beds with a space of 20 feet between them 

 .-iinl the hedge. By an elaborate system of channels for supplying and 

 draining oil water, the garden is divided into blocks. In the centre of 

 each, a row of small holes is formed, 1 cubit distant from one another, 

 and in December-January into each hole are put two cuttings of the 

 betel-vine, each 2 cubits long. The middle of each cutting is pushed 

 down and slightly covered with earth, while the four ends project and 

 form an equal number of young plants, which for eighteen months are 

 allowed to climb on dry sticks. For the first week after planting they 

 must be watered twice a day, for another week once a day, and till the 

 end of the second month once in three days. A small drill is then made 

 across each division of the beds, and between every two holes in each, in 

 which seeds of agase (Senbni<i </ra mli/tora), nugge (Morint/n jttery- 

 f/oN/H'rinfi), etc., are planted. The young betel-vines must have some 

 manure, and for four months require to be watered once in three days. 

 Afterwards all the channels are filled with water once in four days. When 

 a year and a half old, the plants are removed from the sticks. Two cubits 

 of each next the root are buried in the earth and the remainder, conducted 

 close to the root of one of the young trees, is allowed to support itself on 

 the stem. At the end of two years, 2 cubits more of each plant are 

 buried, and afterwards this is repeated once a year. At the end of the 

 fourth year the cultivator begins to gather the leaves, and continues to 

 obtain a constant supply for six or seven years. 



In the west, the betel-vine is grown with the areca-palm. When 

 the areca plantation is fifteen years old, in the month following the vernal 

 equinox a hole is dug near every tree, one cubit deep and one and a half 

 wide. After the earth has been exposed for a month, it is returned to the 

 hole and left for another month. A little earth is then taken out, the 

 surface smoothed and the ends of five cuttings of betel-vine buried in it. 

 For a month they are watered once every two days, and shaded with 

 leaves which are afterwards removed, and the earth in the holes stirred with 

 a stick. In the first year, the waterings are repeated every day, and the 

 whole must be hoed once a month and manure given to each plant. In 

 the second year, the vines are tied to the palms, and the garden hoed and 

 manured once in two months, but watered only in the hot season. At 

 the end of the second year, the vines begin to produce saleable leaves. In 

 the third year and every year after, the part of the vines without leaves 

 next the root is buried. Once in six months the garden must be hoed and 

 manured, and watered every other day during the hot weather. [C/. 

 Sturrock, Man. S. Canara, 1894, i., 206-7.] 



Burma. No statistics are available regarding the extent of pdn 



895 



PIPER 



BETLK 



Cultivation 



TUM. 



i 



i:. .... ! | 

 ..!.:. 



DrmbMC* 



; . ,:.-. 



Watering. 



} mUf 



Burma. 



