January, 1909.] 



25 



Edible Products. 



17. Cultivation and Sowing. — The 

 method of cultivation adopted on the 

 Palur Agricultural Station is still under 

 trial, but there is every reason to believe 

 that equally good, if not better, crops 

 can be obtained at great saving of seed, 

 water, irrigation, and hand cultivation. 

 As recommended in the case of the rain- 

 fed ground-nut crop, the seed is sown 

 in every third plough furrow, the kernels 

 being dropped at intervals of 6-9 inches 

 in the furrow. Before sowing, the land 

 is irrigated, and as soon as it is dry 

 enough the surface is levelled with a 

 harrow. The moisture in the soil i9 

 sufficient to germinate the seed, and 

 when the crop is once up the rows 

 can plainly be seen. 



18. After Cultivation and Irrigation. 

 —Furrows for irrigation are opened with 

 the country plough between the ground- 

 nut rows, and water is allowed to run 

 down these and thus irrigate the crop 

 without flooding the whole surface of 

 the land. Occasionally, if the land is 

 not level, subsidiary channels have to 

 be made across the rows from which 

 the crop can be irrigated in each 

 direction along the furrows. After each 

 irrigation, as soon as the soil in the 

 furrows is dry enough, the surface soil 

 in the furrow is worked with a bullock 

 hoe. This prevents the rapid evapor- 

 ation of water from the surface. The 

 next irrigation is not given until it is 

 seen that the crop actually requires it. 

 In this way for the first two-three 

 months, irrigation should not be neces- 

 sary more often than once a fortnight, 

 and often the intervals between irriga- 

 tions are considerably greater. The 

 time between the irrigations must, how- 

 ever, be left mora or less to the discretion 

 of the cultivator, as this depends to a 

 great extent on the texture of the soil. 

 As long as the plants look vigorous 

 and healthy in the early morning before 

 the sun is hot, irrigation is unnecessary. 

 When the crop nearly covers the ground, 

 it is not possible to continue working 

 between the rows with the bullock hoe, 

 and the furrows must then be left open 

 after the last irrigation, so that watering 

 can be continued without disturbing 

 the crop. During the last two months 

 it will be found that more frequent 

 irrigations are necessary. The plants 

 are now forming their nuts and require 

 a greater quantity of water. At the 

 end of five months from the time of 

 sowing it will be found that the majority 

 of the nuts are fully formed, Irriga- 

 tion must then cease in order to ripen 

 off the crop. The harvesting is similar 

 to that described above for the dry crop, 

 except that the land must once more 

 be irrigated to lossen the soil sufficiently 



4 



to lift the crop. The yield of the irri- 

 gated crop will vary from 1,000-2,000 

 Madras measures, and even yields of 

 3,000 Madras measures are common, 

 — Bulletin of the Department of Agri- 

 culture, Madras, 1908. 



TAMARIND CULTURE. 



From time immemorial the tamarind 

 ranks among the useful trees of India. 

 There is scarcely any family of trees 

 that are more generally useful in tro- 

 pical climates than the tamarind tribe. 

 The Arabs first learnt its essential 

 properties from the Hindus, and thence 

 it gradually made its way into Europe. 

 It was at one time known as the Indian 

 date among the ancient Arabs and the 

 Persians. In Europe it became known 

 as Tamarindus Indicus. It grows every- 

 where in India with a little care. In 

 preparing plantations the rainy season 

 is the best one. The seeds should be 

 strewn on damp soil, and after a lapse of 

 two or three years the tree grows big 

 enough. In the forests and hilly regions 

 these trees abound in great many num- 

 bers. The tree grows big within a few 

 years and lives for a considerable length 

 of time. The height of it varies from 75 

 to 80 feet. The outspreading branches 

 of these give a beautiful aspect. The 

 circumference of the trunk is 24 

 feet. The trees flower in the spring and 

 fruits ripen in winter. From five to six 

 maunds of fruits can be gathered from 

 a full-grown tree. The tamarind fruits 

 are used in preparing condiments and 

 are exported in large quantities to 

 foreign countries. The tamarind is the 

 bare necessity of life with every Indian 

 villager. He may live without mangoes 

 or jack fruits, but this he cannot dis- 

 pense with. From the green leaves to 

 the outer husks are used as eatables by 

 the Indian villager. There is a story 

 current in Bengal about the usefulness 

 of the tamarind. There lived at one 

 time a logician in Nadia. He had one 

 day no other articles of food except 

 some rice in his house. When inter- 

 rogated by his wife as to what she 

 should prepare for curry, the logician 

 got up in haste and directed his eyes 

 towards the tamarind tree. His wife 

 took it in her head and forthwith came 

 out of the house to pluck some tamarind 

 leaves wherewith to prepare a nice 

 curry. When the logician returned 

 home and sat down to dinner, her lov- 

 ing consort got a dish of tamarind curry 

 which he partook of with great relish. 

 The logician, after eating to his heart's 

 content, remarked : "Ours shall be no 

 want so long as this nectar-giving 



