iin.t 



Central 



In.lni. 



AOCHARUM 



HI:H YIELD IN BOMBAY OWCINARUM 



Cultivation 



th<- middle of December the harvest begin*. The first canes to be cut aro thos* 



iiitrml. -i I : i -i-,i- as "need." The cutting and nwmifu- 

 in Muri-h. In tin- MUM.- /. >t tlw U 



raised on soil that has nevur before borne t) Ijeen uionured. A* 



the Ian. I becomes more and more saturated with the dung which i* annually put 

 tli.- MM.il:!', . i tln gur gradually deteriorate*, till it roaohai the normal. 

 \\ ht-ii the crop is to be turned into gur, the cane is dug up with a sharp pick. The 

 leaves arc peeled off and the stripped cane is then taken to the mill, 

 the only mill known was a cumbrous wooden structure, but an iron rH< U now 

 in universal use. As the juico is extracted, it is poured into the evaporating pan. 

 When evaporation is complete, in about six hour* the juioe is poured into a woodsn 

 trough sunk in the ground. After it has cooled and hardened it is hung up in 

 rlntliri t drain, an. I in a couplo of days is ready for the market. [C/. Fuller, .Vote 

 on Outturn of Land under Crops in C. Prov., 1894, 24-40 ; Land Rev. Settl. RepU.] 



Rajputana and Central India. The only States of Rajputana and Raj pu tan a 

 ( Vntrul hull. i for which statistics are obtainable for a recent year (1905- 

 6), and in which sugar is grown to any extent, are Gwalior, 5,221 acre* ; 

 Jaipur, 645 acres ; Bharatpur, 459 acres ; Tonk, 340 acres ; Kotah, 320 

 acres ; and Alwar, 220 acres. 



The systems of cultivation pursued differ in no material respect from those 

 already detailed in connection with the Central Provinces and the Panjab. In 

 the Dictionary full particulars will be found of individual reports, but nothing of 

 any great interest has since been published. The yield of gur would seem to be 

 about 30 to 40 maunds to the acre (28} cwt.), and in some localities with good 

 black soil and abundance of water (such as in Chitorgarh) as much as 50 "iimty 1 * 

 (36 cwt.) have been recorded. Ratoon crop is not uncommonly seen in these 

 Native States. 



Bombay and Slnd. Sugar-cane is cultivated in almost all parts of 

 the Presidency, and according to Mollison on a greater diversity of 

 soil than is the case with any other irrigated crop. The area is 

 ordinarily about 60,000 acres. In 1905-6 the actual area amounted 

 to 56,333 acres in Bombay; 2,549 acres in Simi. In l ( J06-7 the area 

 was 49,090 acres, and in 1907-8, 48,470 acres with a yield of 121,874 

 tons. In Bombay the chief centres of cultivation in 1905-6 were 

 Poona, 12,204 acres; Satara, 10,011 acres; Belgaum, 9,950 acres; 

 Nasik, 5,528 acres ; Surat, 3,372 acres ; Kandra, 3,004 acres, etc. In 

 Sind, Karachi, 907 acres, and Hyderabad, 900 acres. In the Report of 

 the Department of Land Records and Agriculture (1904-5, 6), the following 

 observations occur : " The sugar-cane crop in this Presidency is of small 

 importance as regards area, but of considerable importance in regard to 

 value. The United Provinces of Agra and Oudh have a million and a TW<L 

 quarter acres under sugar-cane, and the Panjab and Bengal together 

 have an equal acreage. We have only some 60,000 acres, but while 

 their cane is largely grown without irrigation, and, even when irrigated, 

 produces an outturn of not more than 2,500 Ib. of gvl per acre, the 

 Bombay cane is always irrigated and produces an average outturn of 

 7,000 Ib. of gul ; with sufficient manure and skilful cultivation, near Poona, 

 the outturn is known to reach even 15,000 Ib. The cane crop pays a 

 considerable part of the irrigation revenue on canals and is one of the 

 most remunerative investments open to capital in Western India, the 

 average net profit being reported to be about Rs. 150 per acre. Experi- 

 ments have been in progress regarding the best methods of cultivation 

 of this crop for ten years, and important conclusions have been pub- 

 lished by Mr. Mollison and a pamphlet issued this year by Mr. Knight. 

 These conclusions are (1) that excessive irrigation is ordinarily applied 

 by cultivators from canals ; (2) that water to the amount of 2$ to 3 



947 



iUtooo Crop. 



Bombay 

 and Bind, 



ArtM. 



. kd - 



.: : 



Practical 



