September, 1910.] 205 Edible Products. 



Table /.—Summary of Rainfall from 1898 to 1906. 













Number of days with 











Annual 





















Year. 



rain- 

 fall. 



No 

 rain. 



Under 

 •50. 



•05 to 

 under 

 •50. 



•50 to un- 

 derlincb. 



1 inch to 

 under 



2 inches. 



2 inches 

 to under 



3 inches. 



3 inches 

 or over. 



Not 

 Mark- 

 ed. 



Total 



1898 

 1899 

 1900 

 1901 

 1902 

 1903 

 1904 

 1905 

 1906 



76- 85 

 90-56 

 78-02 

 86-99 

 75-74 

 71'79- 

 96-36 



77- 35 

 9157 



175 

 194 

 145 

 150 

 165 



1W 



* O t 



155 

 176 

 148 



45 

 44 

 60 

 70 

 64 

 69 

 49 

 40 

 64 



93 

 70 



111 

 85 

 91 

 QO 



111 

 98 

 98 



28 

 28 

 33 

 23 

 29 

 21 

 29 

 29 



20 

 15 

 19 

 18 

 1 13 

 20 

 13 

 19 



o 



£ 



5 



5 



a 

 



2 

 2 

 7 

 4 

 3 



2 

 4 

 1 



2 

 2 

 3 



3 

 3 

 4 



2 

 "2 



3*65 



335 

 365 

 365 

 365 

 365 

 365 

 365 

 365 



Aver- 

 age. 



82-80 



163 



56 



94 



28 



17 



- 6 



1 







Table //.—Average Temperature for the Years 1898 to 1906. 





1898. 



1899. 



1900. 



1901. 



1902. 



1903. 



1904. 



1905. 



1906. 



Maxi- 

 mum. 



79-02 



79-46 



79-51 



80-06 



79-05 



78-72 



79-67 



77-25 



77-54 



Mini- 

 mum. 



66-55 



66-74 



66-88 



62-25 



64'29 



63-23 



64-59 



64-48 



04-07 



The Mode of Culture. 



The ground taken for planting has been 

 common grass pastures. Three methods 

 of preparing the ground for planting 

 have been tried : (1) ploughing, and 

 cross ploughing, (2) forming trenches 1 

 foot wide and 18 inches deep, and (3) 

 digging holes where the plants are to 

 stand, about 15 inches cube. 



It is not possible, at present, to ex- 

 press an opinion regarding the com- 

 parative merits of these methods ; in 

 all the earlier cultivation the land was 

 prepared by ploughing, and the last two 

 methods have not been tried sufficiently 

 long to judge results. The plants were, 

 at first, put in 6 x 6 feet apart, but it 

 was soon found that this gave too much 

 room for weeds. A plant was then put 

 in each interval in one direction, making 

 the spaces 6 feet by 3 feet. In the 

 later plantings, the distance has been 

 still further reduced, the holes being 

 placed 4 feet by 2 feet. It is, I believe, 

 in India, the custom to plant closely 

 so as to cover the ground quickly, but 

 I do not propose to reduce the interval 

 between the rows below 4 feet, because 

 that width is necessary to allow of 

 cultivation and to let in light and air 

 between the plants. 



Propagation is by seed ; cuttings occa- 

 sionally strike, but not sufficiently well 

 to be useful. Planting the seed at stake 

 appears to be preferable to forming 

 seed-beds and transplanting, In the 

 latter case a spell of dry weather and 

 hot sunshine after transplanting may 

 cause the loss of many plants. The seed 

 may be germinated befoie being planted, 

 but great care is then needed in plan- 

 ting it, as the young shoots are very 

 fragile; if not previously germinated, 

 the plane should appear in from one or 

 two months after sowing. When the 

 plants have grown a few iuches high, 

 the ground is gone over and any gaps 

 supplied. In spite of this supplying, 

 there appeal gaps latter on which are 

 filled with plants from seed-beds of 

 about the same age as the rest of 

 the field. 



The cultivation for the next three or 

 four years is simply to keep the ground 

 between the plants as clean as possible. 

 This entaiis a constant expenditure in 

 destroying weeds one month to see them 

 grown again in the next month. This 

 long period of expenditure without 

 income, combined with the considerable 

 outlay for buildings and machinery, is 

 the great drawback to the industry. 



