84 HOLDINGS 



who will undertake to use the water, or at any rate 

 to pay for it, every year. 



This principle, by itself, will not take us very far 

 along the road of practical improvement. There is, 

 however, a method by which the canals can be made 

 to pay, and the sections of perennial irrigation pro- 

 vided with adequate roads and effective drainage. 

 The scheme * is based upon the outstanding facilities 

 which these canals offer for the very profitable industry 

 of sugar production. The physical conditions for 

 cane production on the perennial canals of the Deccan 

 are as good as any in the world. It is the economic 

 conditions which block the road to the establishment 

 of a prosperous sugar industry. At present raw 

 sugar, known as gul, is produced by primitive methods. 

 This article is in local demand, and is liked by the 

 people of the Deccan, but its use is limited and its 

 keeping properties are bad. It becomes very sticky 

 and deteriorates greatly in damp weather, and is 

 difficult to transport to long distances. A reference 

 to page 51 will show that the present area under 

 sugar-cane on the Deccan canals will be more than 

 trebled in a short time when the canals now under 

 construction are in working order, and the field for 

 cane growing will increase to a much larger extent as 

 the projected canals come into existence. If nothing 



* Scheme worked out by Mr. 0. C. Inglis, of the Bombay Irriga- 

 tion Department, who has made a special study of the problems of 

 drainage and improvement of canal areas. 



