CROPS 91 



in certain tracts. There are further the seedling canes 

 raised from seed in various countries, from which they have 

 been obtained, namely, Barbados and Java. Indian seed- 

 lings are now being raised on a large scale at the Govern- 

 ment of India Sugarcane Station near Coimbatore. 



This is the chief sugar crop although sugar is obtained 

 from the juice of the palmyra, date and coconut palm. It 

 is a twelve-month crop which requires irrigation through- 

 out, and can only be successfully grown on well-drained 

 garden or wet lands of high fertility which must be well- 

 manured. 



Seed-rate- 10,000 to 35,000 setts (cuttings). These 

 should be cut from the top halves of the cane. Each sett 

 should have at least two if not three joints. Jaggery is 

 manufactured by boiling down the juice extracted by 

 milling the canes in mills with iron rollers. 



Extraction— 60— 70 per cent by weight of the cane is 

 extracted by a good iron roller in form of juice. 



Proportion — jaggery to juice : 11— 13 percent. 



Yield— 4,000 to 10,000 lb. of jaggery. 



DYES. 

 INDIGO. 



(Indigofera Sumatrana.) 



Tamil - ... Avuri : Nili. 



Telugu Nili. 



Malay alam Nilam. 



Kanarese Nili. 



Oriya Nili. 



Tulu Neeli. 



Area in Madras— 66,500 acres. 



There is only one variety grown in Madras. Its cultiva- 

 tion is steadily decreasing ; but the crop is still found on a 

 fair scale in Vizagapatam, Guntur, Kurnool, Cuddapah and 

 South Arcot, where the high prices obtainable for the refuse 

 help to keep the industry going. Two or three cuttings are 

 obtained from each crop. 



Seed-rate — 10 to 15 lb. per acre. 



Volume weight — 1 M.M. weighs 3 lb. 



Weight of seed— 1,000 seeds weigh 5*85 grammes. 



Number of seeds in 1 lb.— 72,500. 



