PIPER BETEL. 



" kept damp till the young shoots appear and make a little growth. Planting is done in the spring 

 " (March) ; the cuttings are generally under grass for a month or more ; and from the time of the 

 " removal of the grass till the rains the plant must be regularly and carefully irrigated. Towards 

 " the end of the rains the dtars are manured with pounded oil-cake, sometimes with pease-meal. 

 " During the cold season irrigation is renewed, but more sparingly than in the hot months. The 

 " plants are trained upon thin supports called sarai or kamaia. The plant grows from 4 to 7 feet 

 " high. Vines planted in March yield leaves fit for plucking in June or July. Pan is plucked all 

 " the year round, but the full-grown plant yields most leaf in the autumn. If properly tended, the 

 " plants last two or three years. 



" The leaves when mature bend back and are nipped off with the hand. They are arranged in 

 " packets of fifty called kaunris, and four of the latter make a dholi. These again are packed in 

 " little baskets of leaves called gadaukas or donas. The plucked leaves must be kept damp, be 

 " frequently turned, and the little rotten spots in them cut out. In a garden of good healthy 

 " plants, from 50 to a 100 dholis of pan per dtar, according to the length of the dtar, are gathered 

 " in the season. The leaves are sold to Tamolis at rates varying with the season from half an anna 

 " to five annas a dholi. Pan is very susceptible to frost. It suffers also from blights, and from the 

 " attacks of lice. Several varieties are planted — sanchi, languid, chakaiyd, kapuri, kakarid" 



The following information is taken from Wright's " Memorandum on the Agri- 

 culture of Cawnpore," p. 68 : — The tender shoots from a growing plant are laid flat and 

 covered with wet earth, then with grass, over which water from the pond is sprinkled 

 four times a day. The shoots are planted in rows (mdndha ). In one acre there will be 50 

 such rows, the space of one cubit being left between each. The young plants, two to 

 five, are trained on to sentha, (the stems of the mihij grass or Saccharum ciliare). These 

 stems are set up in lumps of clay. The young plants are tied on to the senthas with 

 kus grass {Eragrostis cynosuroides). Constant labour is required to rear the plant; it 

 must be watered i^dce every day till well grown, when once a day is enough ; and after 

 the rains every third day. Meanwhile plants of the pumpkin kind are grown over the 

 frame-work to keep the interior cool. During the months of August, September and 

 October the plants are manured with a mixture of flour {kanak) and oil-cake. This 

 costs 1 0^ annas per row. Pan is often kept for a long time, and sometimes sells as 

 high as eight leaves per pice. It is stored in baskets of bamboo or of some other grass, 

 each basket containing one dholi. 



The medicinal properties of pan are thus described in U. C. Dutt's Materia Medica 

 of the Hindus — 



" The leaves of this creeper are, as is well known, masticated by the natives of India. The 

 " poorer classes make their packets of betel with the addition of lime, catechu, and betel nuts. 

 " The rich add cardamoms, nutmegs, cloves, camphor, and other aromatics. Betel-leaf thus chewed 

 " acts as a gentle stimulant and exhilarant. Those accustomed to its use feel a sense of languor 

 " when deprived of it. Ancient Hindu writers recommend that betel-leaf should be taken early in 

 " the morning, after meals, and at bed-time. According to Susruta, it is aromatic, carminative, 

 " stimulant and astringent. It sweetens the breath, improves the voice, and removes all foulness 

 u Irom the mouth." 



The following terms used in connection with pan and its cultivation are taken from 

 Crooke's " Rural and Agricultural Glossary " : — 



Bhit or b/iint, bhili is the mound on which the garden is situated. 



