255 



tied as before, and again ten or fifteen days after- 

 wards ; which done, nine or ten clumps are tied 

 together. 



In the Rajahmundry Circar, on the Delta of the 

 Godavery, Dr. Roxburgh states that "nothing more 

 is done after the cane is planted, if the weather be 

 moderately showery, till the young shoots are some 

 two or three inches high ; the earth is then loosened 

 for a few inches round them with the weeding iron. 

 Should the season prove dry, the field is occa- 

 sionally watered from the river, continuing to 

 weed and to keep the ground loose round the 

 stools. In August, two or three months from the 

 time of planting, small trenches are cut through the 

 field at short distances, and so contrived as to serve 

 to drain off the water, should the season prove too 

 wet for the canes, which is often the case, and 

 would render their juices weak and unprofitable. 

 The farmer, therefore, never fails to have his field 

 plentifully and judiciously intersected with drains 

 while the cane is small, and before the usual time 

 for the violent rains. Immediately after the field 

 is trenched, the canes are all propped up ; this is an 

 operation which seems peculiar to these parts." 



In Dinajpore, in about a month after planting, 

 " the young plants are two or three inches high ; 

 the earth is then raised from the cutting by means 

 of a spade, and the dry leaves by which they are 

 surrounded are removed. For a day or two they 



