15 



with seedlings, I find a foot apart every way the most advan- 

 tageous distance, as very few shoots are thrown up the first 

 year. 



(3) By divisions of the roots. — This is by far the most advan- 

 tageous and profitable method. The plants for this purpose 

 should be three or four years old. After gathering the spring 

 crop, dig out each plant carefully, and remove the earth from 

 the roots. I generally put the mass of roots into running water 

 for a short time ; this cleanses them thoroughly and enables 

 the gardener to see his work clearly. The tuberous portions 

 of the roots will be found to show a large number of eyes 

 similar to those on a potato. From these carefully separate 

 portions, each containing five or six eyes ; let the cuts be clean 

 and reject all fibrous and decayed matter. Expose these sets 

 to the sun for a couple of hours to dry the surface of the 

 wounds, and then plant six inches deep, and at the full distance 

 of four feet apart every way. In this way two good crops will 

 be obtained from them the first year. 



THE SOIL AND SITUATION FOR PLANTATIONS. 



A rich loam suits the plants best, but they will grow in any 

 kind of soil, provided that a full supply of moisture be available, 

 combined with thorough drainage. The latter is emergently 

 (sic) required, particularly during the rainy season, as should 

 the land be retentive, and become swampy, the plants will decay 

 in a very short period. 



If the land be poor, a liberal supply of manure is requisite, 

 otherwise the stems will be short and weak, yielding scarcely 

 any fibre. In no part of upper India can the plant be success- 

 fully cultivated unless water for irrigation be available during 

 the dry season. The facilities for obtaining an ample supply 

 of water, combined with the moderate temperature at all 

 seasons, renders this district particularly favourable to the 

 plant. 



CULTIVATION. 



Should the land have been stocked with seedlings or cutt- 

 ings, then in the following spring, after having reaped the first 

 crop of available shoots, every other plant should be transferred 

 to fresh ground, and put down at two feet apart. The follow- 

 ing year the same course should be pursued, taking up each 

 alternate root and replanting at four feet apart. After this 

 the plants may well remain undisturbed for four years, hoeing 

 well between after each crop, clearing away weeds, irrigating 

 moderately during the dry season, and supplying manure where 

 neceesary. The only manure I had at command has been vege- 

 table, consisting mainly of the leaves and wood portion of the 

 plant itself, and of tree and vegetable leaves stored up for the 



