CHAPTER VII. 



CULTIVATION, MANURING, MEASURING, AND 

 IRRIGATION. 



THE system of cultivation, sowing, cutting, and 

 manufacturing the indigo plant, being precisely 

 the same in both the Sudder and out-factories, 

 except that the Sudder, being larger factories, now-a- 

 days generally use steam-power for beating and pump- 

 ing purposes, one description will do for both. 



The first process in cultivation which our Assis- 

 tant will have to give his attention to is the tumnee 

 or digging, which begins immediately after the manu- 

 facturing for the preceding year ends. This digging 

 is simply the backbone of the sowings, and if badly 

 and carelessly done, there is little hope for the 

 future crops. It is done by many men in a line (as 

 in the illustration given), each armed with a kodal, 

 or native spade, and the whole lot presided over 

 and watched, not only by native peons and burkun- 

 dazes (or stick men), but also, very frequently, by 

 the Assistant himself. The stick men carry large 

 bamboo staves poking out a long way from the 

 shoulder behind them ; they also curve their moust- 



achois most Bombastes Furioso-usly, but are very 

 E,, In. D 



