Cultivation of the Orange and Lemon. 95 



be frequent in the rains, and often flood the orange 

 groves of Shalla to the depth of 6 ft. 



Mr. Brownlow's description of the orange groves of 

 Shalla was written in 1869. Recently I asked Mr. 

 G. Stevenson, Depy. Comr. of Sylhet, to kindly furnish 

 me with some details, which would bring the subject 

 up to date. Some part of the information he court- 

 eously gave me is placed under the head of the 

 " Orange and Lemon Trade of India," Chapter 13. 



In forwarding the following note (28th October, 

 1885), he said, it was made by the sub-divisional officer, 

 in whose sub-division lie the best groves. He added, 

 " At Shalla I have seen a kind of orange, small and 

 round, something like a blood orange, but rather 

 lighter in colour. It is not so sweet as our common 

 orange (the kamla lemboo], but the people here call it 

 ' Royal orange.' "* 



The sub-divisional officer says, " My informations 

 have all been compiled from the two large orange 

 producing tracts in the northern boundary of this sub- 

 division, I mean the Shalla and the Phorarpungi 

 tracts (at the base of the Khasia hills). They are, in 

 fact, the only tracts on this side which carry on an 

 extensive business in oranges. I met with the greatest 

 difficulty in compiling these statistics. The Khasias 

 received my inquiries with suspicion, and tried to 

 mislead me as much as possible. I have, however, 

 used so many different tests, and have so carefully 

 corrected all doubtful points by personal observation, 

 that I may fairly claim for them approximate accuracy. 



" Soil. The soil must be sandy. This seems to be 



an essential condition. The trees thrive most where 



this sandy soil is mixed up with either red or black 



ferruginous earth. It is also necessary for success 



* This may be the usoh sim or raja orange. Vide Appendix 43. 



