OR CUTTACK. 173 



of the Vegetables producing materials for dying, cordage, &c. reared in 

 the district, the Safflower (Carthamus Tinctoria) Pat (Hibiscus Cannabi- 

 mis) and Kasmira or Sana (Crotolarea Juncea) being the only kinds that 

 are commonly met with. The culture of the Poppy, Mulberry and Indigo, 

 is unknown in the plains of Orissa. Nor, what will appear strange, were 

 the peasantry acquainted with the method of cultivating the Betlevine, un- 

 til taught by the natives of Bengal some generations back. The Piper Be- 

 tle now flourishes in the gardens around Puri and in the neighbourhood 

 of a few Brahmin villages, but the produce can be adequate only to the sup- 

 ply of a very limited consumption, notwithstanding the assertion of the au- 

 thor of the work called the Ayeen Acberi or Institutes of Acber, that 

 " they have a great variety of the Betle leaf in Orissa." The spots which are 

 destined for the cultivation of Betle as also of Turmeric, Sugar-cane, &c. 

 require laborious preparation and the application of a large quantity of 

 manure, for which latter purpose the oil cake or Phi made of the refuse 

 of the sesamum, mustard and other seeds of the same family is generally 

 used. An occasional sprinkling of rotten straw, cow-dung and ashes is the 

 only manure expended in the fields which yield the other kinds of produce. 



Orissa has little to boast of in the produce of its gardens though prais- 

 ed by Abulfazl for the excellence and abundance of its fruits and flowers. 

 There is no deficiency however of the humbler kinds of pot herbs, and cu- 

 curbitaceous plants, with the Hibiscus esculentus, the Solanum Melon- 

 gena or egg plant, the sweet Potatoe and Lanka Mirch or Capsicum an- 

 nuum. The native lists likewise comprize most of the ordinary garden 

 produce of India.* The commoner fruits are as elsewhere, the mango, the 



* Kachu (ArumEsculentum); Mula(Raphanus Sativus); Kareia (Cleome Pentaphylla) ; Dhanva 

 (Coriandrum Sativum); Ajwain (Ligusticum Ajwain) ; Metthi (Trigonella Foenum Groecum) ; Phut 

 (Cucumus Momordica); Kankur(do, Utilissiinus); Ben Gomtiga (CucumusMadraspatana) ; Pita Ta- 

 rai (Tricosanthes lobata); Dhundolo (Luffapentaiidra) ; Kalam Sag (Convoloulus reptans) ; Lai 

 Sag (Amaranthus gangeiicus) ; Calra (Moniordica muricata ) ; Kala Shima (Dolichos Eusifonnoides) ; 

 Sorva (Anethuni Sorva), Sic. &c. 



