IO4 Indigo in Shahabad. 



Indian name for the month which corresponds to the 

 last fifteen days of June and the first half of July. 

 The assarhi crop is a particularly precarious one 

 and it is only in years of light and favourable rain- 

 fall that it yields a good return. Even then, the 

 quantity and quality of the produce is vastly inferior 

 to that of the nauda. Assarhi is never exclusive- 

 ly sown in all concerns in Shahabad and other dis- 

 tricts for the above reason. 



The stumps of the assarhi, after being cut in 

 September-October, are left in the ground, and in 

 favourable years, generally give another cutting along 

 with the nauda (both at this stage being called 

 indiscriminately khunti] in the following year ; but, 

 frequently, in the heats of spring, the plant dies 

 away, thus presenting another serious objection to 

 assarhi. 



The nauda, after germinating and becoming suffi- 

 ciently advanced to allow of the process, is weeded 

 carefully, and in December, January, and February, it 

 is again cleaned and pruned. Sometimes a second 

 cleaning and pruning in April-May is necessary, but 

 not always. 



Nauda may be looked upon as the backbone of 

 the Shahabad indigo system, strengthened and bol- 

 stered up by assarhi as described above, and jamana 

 or assamiwar indigo. Under this latter system, the 



