253 



pointed hoe, something in the shape of a bricklayer's 

 trowel. This is repeated six times before the field 

 is laid out in beds and channels for irrigation. 

 There, likewise, if the season is unusually dry, the 

 fields in the low ground are watered in May and 

 June. This supposes the existence of either 

 nullahs or old pucka wells," otherwise the canes are 

 allowed to take their chance, for the cost of sinking 

 a well up-country is from ten to twenty rupees 

 an expense too heavy for an individual culti- 

 vator, while none would join in the expense, as 

 perpetual disagreements and quarrels for the water 

 would be the consequence. 



In the vicinity of Benares, as the canes advance 

 in growth, the leaves are wrapped, as they begin to 

 wither, round the lengthening stem, which is bound 

 to the bamboo higher up. Should the weather 

 be wet, the trenches are carefully kept open ; but 

 if dry, water is occasionally supplied. Hoeing 

 is also performed every five or six weeks. 

 Wrapping the leaves around the cane protects 

 them from being cracked by the heat of the sun, 

 and prevent their throwing out lateral branches. 

 In January and February the cane is ready for 

 cutting. Its average height is about nine feet, 

 foliage included, and the cane itself from one to 

 one-and-a-quarter inch in diameter. 



Near Maduna, the hand-watering is facilitated by 

 cutting a small trench down the centre of each bed. 



