Preparation 

 of Soil. 



Propagation. 



Irrigation. 



Trimming. 

 Top Dressing. 

 Harvest. 



SACCHARUM 



OFFJCINARUM THE SUGAE-CANE PLANT 



Bengal 



these, viz : ( 1 ) Shamshara, (2) Kajli, (3) Poori and (4) Poona. The results attained 

 point to the Shamshara as the best grwr-producing cane. The crop grows both 

 on clayey and loamy soils, but a mixture of the two is preferable. Mukerji states 

 that the best canes are found at the junction of old and new alluvia on the sides 

 of streams and rivulets, where the soils are red clay loams, rich in mineral matter. 

 As the crop is an exhausting one, it is never grown on the same land year after 

 year. The crops it most commonly follows are pulse, mustard, potato or dus 

 paddy. The best time for harvesting sugar-cane is from December to February, 

 and the most advantageous time for planting, the month of February. 



In Lower Bengal the land is prepared by frequent ploughings from the middle 

 of October to the middle of January. In most places it is also hoed, since 

 deep cultivation is considered essential. When the soil has been thoroughly 

 broken up, it is harrowed several times. The field is then divided into beds, by 

 digging broad trenches, slanting from top to bottom at intervals of 40 feet, then 

 subdivided by cross trenches 7 feet apart. Parallel furrows, at intervals of 1 to 

 2 feet, are now drawn along the beds, and oil-cake put into these. The plot is 

 then well irrigated and cane cuttings placed lengthwise in the furrows and covered 

 up. These are taken either from entire canes or the tops of canes. The 

 latter system is said to be that pursued in the Bardwan Division, whilst the 

 former is adopted in Bihar and Eastern Bengal. The cuttings are previously 

 prepared by having been kept for a week or so in a cool pit layers of cane with 

 wet straw and ashes between. Subsequently the land is retained in a moist 

 condition by artificial irrigation, generally given every fifth day, and when the 

 young shoots have come above ground, the surface is well watered and hoed 

 between the furrows. Afterwards it is occasionally irrigated and hoed, the plants 

 being earthed up until the original furrows are converted into ridges. During 

 the rainy season the soil is kept well drained, loose and free from weeds. From 

 the middle of July to the middle of October the plants are tied up in clumps. 

 Their dead leaves are removed, and oil-cake applied as a top dressing, at the rate 

 of 4 to 5 maunds per bigha. The crop is harvested from the middle of December 

 to the middle of February. 



In some places, especially on light soils, water-channels are not made at the 

 time of planting, but the land is simply thrown up in ridges over the cuttings. 

 Again, in others, after water-channels have been made, as described above, 

 holes are dug 2- feet in diameter and 14 feet apart, in lines H feet from one 

 another. One cutting is put in each hole with oil-cake and water, and then 

 covered up. This is known as the Mauritius system, because supposed to be the 

 method adopted there, and in India is mostly used on undulating ground, but 

 the furrow system is said to be best where irrigation is required and possible. 



Mukerji estimates the total cost of cultivation at Rs. 160 an acre. The 

 Experimental Farm Reports have investigated many important issues, such 

 as the yield of sugar with the various races of cane, the advantages or otherwise 

 of ratooning, and the economy of propagation by tops in place of lower 

 portions, that is, cuttings of the mature cane. [Cf. Sen, Kept. Agri. Stat. Dacca, 

 1889, 33-7 ; Basu, Agri. Lohardaga, 1890, pt. i., 79-80 ; pt. ii., 37-41 ; Baner- 

 jei, Agri. Cuttack, 1893, 92-6; Voelcker, Improv. 2nd. Agri., 1893, 244-5 ; Mukerji, 

 Handbook Ind. Agri., 1901, 394-6, 398-403, 405-8 ; Rept. on Cult, of Sugar by 

 Bihar Indigo Planters, 1901 ; Admin. Rept. Beng., 1901-2, 24-5, etc. ; Roy, Crops 

 of Bengal, 1906, 100-12 ; Wilkie, Sugar Cane Cultivation Bihar, in Agri. Journ. 

 Ind., 1906, i., pt. iv., 322-8 ; Repts. of Dept. Land Rec. and Agri. Beng. ; Exper. 

 Farm Repts. Beng. ; Dumraon, 1906-7, 4-10.] 



Eastern Bengal and Assam. The area under sugar-cane for 1904-5 

 in Assam proper was 44,869 acres. The largest areas ordinarily occur in 

 Sylhet, which had 20,000 acres ; Sibsagar, 6,925 acres ; Cachar, 5,250 

 acres ; Lakhimpur, 3,783 acres ; Kamrup, 3,688 acres ; Darrang, 2,176 

 acres, etc. But since the separation of Bengal, 14 districts formerly 

 treated as within that province are now returned under the new province 

 of Eastern Bengal and Assam, and later statistics accordingly manifest 

 an apparent provincial expansion. Thus in 1905-6 the estimated area 

 and outturn in the new province were 201,500 acres and 188,500 tons, 

 and in 1906-7,199,900 acres and 193,500 tons. 



The following information regarding cultivation in the Brahmaputra valley is 



942 



Mauritius 

 System. 



Cost. 



E. Bengal 

 and Assam 



Areas. 



Yield. 



