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time to time loosened about the plants. In 

 August, small trenches are cut through the field, 

 with little intervening spaces for the purpose of 

 draining off the water if the season be too wet. This 

 is very requisite, for if the canes are at this period 

 of growth supplied with too much moisture, the juice 

 is rendered watery and valueless. If the season, 

 on the contrary, happens to be dry, the same dikes 

 serve to conduct the irrigating water through the 

 field, and to carry off the surplus that does not 

 soak into the earth in a few hours. Stagnant 

 water the natives consider very injurious to 

 the cane, and on the proper contrivance of the 

 drains depends in a great measure the ultimate 

 result. 



Immediately after trenching, the canes are propped, 

 which are now about three feet high, each set having 

 produced from three to six canes. The lower 

 leaves are first carefully wrapped round the plant, 

 covering it completely in every part ; a strong 

 bamboo, eight or ten feet long, is then inserted 

 firmly in the centre of each stool, and the canes 

 tied to it. This secures them in an upright posi- 

 tion, and facilitates the circulation of the air. 



Hoeing cannot be repeated too often. This is 

 demonstrated by the practice of the most successful 

 cultivators. In the Zillah North Moradabad, in 

 April, about six weeks after planting, the earth on 

 each side of the cane-rows is loosened by a sharp- 



