296 DATE SUGAR INDUSTRY IN BENGAL. 



he would consider 10 feet apart as quite the minimum distance pos- 

 sible. When 4 or 5 years old the green upper leaves are tied up like 

 a bouquet, the lower yellow coloured ones being cut away. At 5 to 

 6 years old the stem is about 1 J feet high and the tree is ready to be 

 tapped. The spaces between the trees are generally occupied by 

 oil seeds, pulses such as Phaseolus radiatus and Cajanus indiwis or 

 by linseed. Later on even Aus paddy is sometimes grown under 

 the trees. Thus the cost of a native plantation is reduced, whilst 

 the trees benefit by the ploughing, which loosens the earth, and the 

 ground is kept free from weeds. 



The quality of the cultivation in date gardens varies greatly. 

 Some of the gardens I have seen have been wonderfully clean, 

 whilst others have been almost choked up with jungle growth. 



