SUGAR 147 



when more experience has been gained as to the best 

 time to sow the seed. There seems to be no doubt that 

 the weight per acre would be equivalent to the European 

 standard. As regards the length of season over which 

 roots suitable for manufacture can be grown> this is the 

 first year in which an attempt has been made to obtain 

 information. Seed was sown fortnightly, commencing 

 on September 20, 1913, and by March 15 the average 

 weight of the roots was about i lb., the sucrose was 

 14*2 per cent, expressed on the root, and the coefficient 

 of purity \vas 89. Other plots which were sown later 

 will come to perfection late in May. It may be said, 

 therefore, that sugar-beet suitable for the manufacture 

 of sugar can be grown in this part of India the Peshawar 

 valley certainly over the period March 15 to the end 

 of May that is, two and a half months. Whether this 

 period can be extended either earlier in the year or later 

 remains to be seen. 



The life-history of the sugar-beet seems to differ here 

 from that in Europe. Whilst in Europe the plant 

 terminates its first vegetative period in the autumn with 

 a yellowing of the leaf and cessation of growth, to be 

 followed in the following year, if replanted, with a 

 development of the flowering and fruiting stage, here 

 in the Peshawar valley the second stage follows the first 

 without any break, and some of the beets which were 

 sown in September, 1913, have already flowered and 

 " set " their seed. It remains to be seen whether by 

 sowing in June and July the root will develop by 

 December in the same way that it does in Europe, cease 

 its vegetative growth temporarily, and then develop its 

 fruiting stage when replanted in the following year. 



Whilst the investigation into the possibilities of the 

 sugar-beet crop have been in progress, the local sugar- 

 cane crop has been examined. This is a thick cane, 

 possessing* a high proportion of juice, and yielding con- 

 siderably more heavily per acre than most Indian canes; 

 the general yield in the district is not less than 30 or 

 40 tons of stripped cane. Samples of canes brought 

 from villages near the Government farm last December 

 yielded from 70 to 75 per cent, of juice at the mill (a smalJ 



