180 SUGAH. 



the water, should the season prove too wet for the canes, which 

 is often the case, and would render their juices weak and unprofit- 

 able. The farmer, therefore, never fails to have his field plentifully 

 and judiciously intersected with drains while the cane is small, and 

 before the usual time for the violent rains. Immediately after the 

 field is trenched, the canes are all propped ; this is an operation 

 which seems peculiar to these parts. 



In Dinajpoor, in about a month after planting, " the young plants 

 are two or three inches high ; the earth is then raised from the 

 cuttings by means of a spade, and the dry leaves by which they are 

 surrounded are removed. For a day or two they remain exposed 

 to the air, and are then manured with ashes and oilcake, and 

 covered with earth. Weeds must be removed as they spring ; and 

 when the plants are about a cubit high, the field must be ploughed. 

 When they have grown a cubit higher, which is between the L3th 

 of June and 14th of July, they are tied together in bundles of three 

 or four, by wrapping them round with their own leaves. This is 

 done partly to prevent them from being laid down by the wind, 

 and partly to prevent them from being eaten by jackals. During 

 the next month three or four of these bunches are tied together ; 

 and about the end of September, when the canes grow rank, they 

 are supported by bamboo stakes driven in the ground. They are 

 cut between the middle of December and the end of March. 1 ' 



If the canes grow too vigorously, developing a superabundance 

 of leaves, it is a good practice to remove those leaves which are de- 

 cayed, that the stems may be exposed fully to the sun. In the West 

 Indies, this is called trashing the canes. It requires discretion ; 

 for in dry soils or seasons, or if the leaves are removed before suf- 

 ficiently dead, more injury than benefit will be occasioned. 



Harvesting. The season in which the canes become ripe in 

 various districts has already been noticed when considering their 

 cultivation. In addition I may state, that in the Kajahmundry 

 Circar, about the mouth of the Godavery, Dr. Roxburgh adds, 

 " that in January and February the canes begin to be ready to 

 cut, which is about nine months from the time of planting. This 

 operation is the same as in other sugar countries of course I need 

 not describe it. Their height, when standing on the field, will be 

 from eight to ten feet (foliage included), and the naked cane from, 

 an inch to an inch and a quarter in diameter." 



In Malda, the canes are cut in January and February. In N. 

 Mooradabad, upon the low land, the canes are ripe in October, and 

 upon the high lands a month later. The fitness of the cane for 

 cutting may be ascertained by making an incision across the cane, 

 and observing the internal grain. If it is soft and moist, like a 

 turnip, it is not yet ripe ; but if the face of the cut is dry, and 

 white particles appear, it is fit for harvesting. ( Pitzmaurice on the 

 Culture of the Sugar Cane.) 



Injuries. 1. A wet season, either during the very early or in 

 the concluding period of the cane's vegetation, is one of the worst 

 causes of injury. In such a season, the absence of the usual in- 



