R6AMUM 

 TWO CROPS INDICUM 



others as early rabi crops. Two, at least, of these are eMilr reeognMed 

 one with white seeds (safed til), the other with l.luck (kola til}, lie Utter 

 is much the more common form and is rcput<*<| to yield a superior <>il. 



The rabi crop is most extensively grown on black or medium black 

 cotton soil in alternation with cotton or juar. If sown in September 

 rradv in .hiiniiirv. The kharif crop is usually sown with other CTOJM, such 

 as judr, bdjra and cotton, but is sown by itself in some localities. It ripens 

 in October or November. A good average crop from black soil is said to 

 yield about 450 Ib. of seed per acre (Imp. Gaz. t 1905, iii., S&-9). 



Bengal, Including Eastern Bengal. The estimated area and yield 

 in 1 !" > I .") were 493,700 acres and 59,000 tons. The actual area, however, 

 was 414,200 acres. The largest areas (indicate returns for 1904-5) 



ordinarily are : Maimensingh, 74,300 ; Pabna. 39,000 acres ; Anf 

 34,500 acres; Midnapur, 29, 100 acres ; H a ran bag h, 27, 700 acres ; 

 ganj, 25,000 acres; Jessore, 22,500 acres; Noakhali, 13,600 acres; 

 Tippera, 13,200 acres ; Bogra, 13,000 acres, etc. The supplementary 

 Final Memorandum for 1906-7 estimates the area for 1906-7 at 292,100 

 acres with a yield of 39,600 tons in Bengal, and at 221,800 acre* with a 

 yield of !'.">. KK> tons in Eastern Bengal. 



According to Roy, the best soil is an alluvial loam, high and well 

 drained. The black variety is taken after dug paddy, the white after a'tu 

 or aman paddy. In Dacca only white til is grown. The land is ploughed 

 and harrowed in February and April and the seed then sown " 6 seen 

 per acre." The crop is harvested in May-June, and the average yield is 

 about " 15 maunds per acre." In Orissa, the land is prepared and the 

 seed sown for white til in June-July, and the crop harvested in November- 

 December ; for black til, the seed is sown in September-October and the 

 crop harvested from January to March. [Cf. Basu. Agri. Lohardaga, 

 1890, pt. 2, 35 ; Banerjei, Agri. Cuttack, 1893, 89-90 ; Ttfukerji, Handbook 

 Ind. Agri., 1901, 274-5 ; Roy, Crops of Bengal, 1906, 82-3.] 



Assam. The area in Assam proper in 1904-5 was 8,376 acres and the 

 chief localities Sylhet, /Nowgong and Kamrup. There are reported to be 

 three different crops, viz. the crop sown in February-March in Sylhet, crop*. 

 the August-October crop of the Brahmaputra valley, and the May-June n ' im 

 crop of Manipur and Nowgong. According to F. C. Henniker (Attorn 

 Crop Exper., 1900-1, app.) the average outturn in 1900-1 was found to ooom. 

 be 283 Ib. per acre. [Cf. Allen, Assam Disi. Gaz., 1905, ii., 120-1.] 



United Provinces. As already indicated, sesamum is largely grown u. Pror. 

 as a mixed crop in these provinces. The total area of the pure crop in 

 1904-5 was 304,097 acres, and the outturn (estimated) 13,900 tons ; of the 

 mixed crop (estimated) 600,000 acres, and the outturn (estimated) 36,000 

 tons. The principal districts (according to the returns for 1904-5), where 

 the crop is grown alone, are : Agra : Hamirpur, 115,119 acres ; Jhansi, 

 105,404 acres ; Banda, 35,164 acres ; Mirzapur, 17,663 acres, etc. 

 supplementary Final Memorandum on the crop for 1906-7 estimates the 

 area under the pure crop at 309,200 acres with u vield of 36,200 tons, 

 and under the mixed crop at 775,000 acres with a yield of 90,000 tons. It 

 is a kharif crop, sown at the commencement of the monsoon and harvested 

 in October and November. The method of cultivation is very rough. 

 " The seed is sown broadcast after two or three hurried ploughing*, and 

 ploughed in. When grown with millet or cotton, it gains the benefit 

 the care which these crops receive. It is in this case either sown broadcast, 



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