160 



SUGAR. 



poured out again on a mat, on which the sugar dries and becomes 

 hard. It is then broken up and packed for market in baskets of five 

 maunds each. 



The goor of the Sahitru districts in Sinde varies in appearance and 

 substance from that of other parts. It is remarkably hard, and 

 requires some exertion to break it, and is at the same time of a very- 

 deep colour. This is doubtless owing to the nature of the sugar-cane, 

 which is quite difierent from that of Southern India. It is a thin, 

 cane-like plant, seldom much thicker than a small finger, very hard, 

 and yielding little juice, so that to see the business of expressing the 

 juice therefrom, one would imagine it scarcely worth the trouble. 

 The flavour of the goor, however, is good. A superior kind of native 

 spirit is made from this goor, which is very generally drunk by all 

 classes without exception, although strictly forbidden in Mahomedan 

 and Hindoo law. There are several kinds of it, which vary in price 

 according to quality. The liquor is, however, intrinsically the same, 

 the good or bad quality of it depending upon the quantity and variety 

 of spices added to it. 



Several varieties of sugar-cane are cultivated as the country cane, 

 the original form of the species ; the ribbon cane, with purple or 

 yellow stripes along the stems ; the Bourbon or Tahiti cane, a more 

 elongated, stronger, more hairy, and very productive variety. Sac- 

 charum violaceum, Juss., the Batavian cane, is also considered to be 

 a vai'iety ; but the larger S. cTiinense, Eoxb., introduced from Canton 

 in 1796 into the Botanic Gardens of Calcutta, may be a distinct 

 species ; it has a long, slender, erect panicle, while that of S. offici- 

 narum is hairy and spreading, with the ramifications alternate and 

 more compound, not to mention other differences in the leaves and 

 flowers. 



In the Madras Presidency in 1870 there were 29,000 acres under 

 sugar-cane ; the largest quantity was grown in Bellary, the next in 

 Ganjam and Cuddapah. 



The following have been the quantities of sugar exported from 

 British India : 



Cwts. 



1865 477,099 



1866 428,341 



1867 221,006 



1868 93,187* 



1869 450,051 



Cwts. 



1870 385,638 



1871 345,300 



1872 419,282 



1873 671,659 



1874 337,465 



• And 1345 bags. 



Siam. — Next to rice, sugar is the largest article of export from 

 Siam. Nachonyhaisi and Petno are the principal sugar districts ; 

 but it is also produced at Paklat, Bangpasoi, Chantibon, and 

 Petchabure in considerable quantities. The owners of the mills 

 seldom cultivate the canes themselves, but purchase them standing 

 in the fields from the growers, who have usually money advanced 

 to them by the mill-owners at the commencement of the season, to 

 enable them to plant on their ground, they in retui'n being bound to 

 sell all their canes at a fixed price to the person lending the money, 

 besides paying interest at the usual rate. The cultivation of the 



