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plants, but these are not of much consequence, as the 

 saving of labour and time effected by the employment of 

 proper farm-implements instead of garden-tools, is enormous. 

 The 1 8" trenches can be made with the Double-mould-board 

 plough, the cuttings planted length-wise in two rows at the 

 two sides of the trenches, say 3 cuttings being planted in 

 every 4 ft. of length in each row, and the trenches afte.r irriga- 

 tion being filled up by splitting of the ridges in between with 

 mould-boards. The subsequent hoeings and earthings can 

 be done with the Hunter hoe, when the planting is done in 

 the above described manner. Planting in this way, nearly 

 12,000 cuttings are required per acre (theoretically 10,890) 

 and as Bengal cultivators use about 2 kalians (2x1280) of 

 cuttings per bigha (Jrd of an acre), there is really not much 

 sacrifice of space made for effecting saving in the cost of 

 labour. The growth of canes is also healthier under such a 

 treatment, as the plants get more air and sunlight throughout 

 the period of growth and a proper elaboration of sugar is 

 the consequence. 



611. The proper time for sowing of sugar-cane seed is 

 June, but if the arrows appear earlier in the season and the 

 seeds mature in March or April, sowing must be done with- 

 in a month after the seed is gathered. The soil must be kept 

 constantly moist and only just moist throughout the period 

 of germination and growth of seedlings. The transplanting 

 of seedlings into boxes or pots and afterwards into fields 

 should be done in the manner already described. The seedlings 

 when i to i^ ft. high are ready for transplanting into the fields. 

 This should be done during the rainy season, and the plant- 

 ing can be done in double rows six feet apart as before, three 

 plants being put in in every four feet of length on each line 

 i.e. the distance between plant to plant longitudinally is 16 

 inches, and with its neighbouring plant in the same double 

 row is 1 8 inches. It is very important to water the trenches 

 immediately before or after planting the cuttings, if sprouted 



