SACCHARUM OFFICINARUM. 



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between cultivator, landlord and capitalist. When a cultivator manufactures his own 

 sugar he nearly always makes gurh or shakar, and rdb is, as a rule, only made by profes- 

 sional sugar-boilers or khansdris, with juice which they purchase from the cultivators. 

 These purchases are all negotiated, like those of indigo factories and the Opium Depart- 

 ment, by means of advances, and the system has so important a bearing on the agricultural 

 condition of a large portion of the Provinces, that it may not be out of place to quote 

 here some remarks on its working, written by Mr. Moens when Settlement officer of the 

 Bareilly District : — 



" The bargains for juice commence in May, and are usually all concluded by September. The price per 

 " 100 kacha maunds of juice is agreed on between the parties, and the amount of advances per bigah 

 " to be made by the merchant or khansdri. A bond is then executed by the cultivator, specifying the price 

 *' per 100 kacha maunds of juice, the amount of advance, and the rate of interest; which is usually 1 per 

 " cent, per month ; occasionally, howevei", Rs. 2 and even Rs. 2-8 per month is charged. The field of cane 

 " is hypothecated as security for the advance, and there is a condition usually added by which the cultivator 

 " binds himself to repay 1| times the amount of advance, if he sells the juice to any other party, or works 

 " it up himself into gilrh. As soon as the bond is executed the cultivator receives Rs. 5 per bigah down in 

 " cash, and a promissory note for the remainder, to be paid when his November, December and February 

 " instalments of rent fall due. As soon as the sugar boiling is over the accounts between the khansdri and 

 " cultivator are made up, the latter being credited with the amount of juice received at the price specified in 

 " the bond. If, as is usually the case, a balance remains against the cultivator, he is charged interest at I 

 " per cent, per month on the balance from the date of the execution of the bond, and the total sum due is 

 " deducted from its advances in the next year. Though convenient in one way to the cultivator, as giving 

 " him the command of a few rupees just when he wants them to pay his rent, yet the system is ruinous to 

 " him in the long run. Once in debt he can hardly ever extricate himself, for then the price of the juice in 

 " future is always fixed by the khansdri below the market price, and the rate of interest is raised. The cul- 

 " tivator must consent or be sued in the Civil Courts for the balances due, sold up, and ruined. I have known 

 " as low a price as Rs. 16 per 100 kacha maunds entered in the bonds, when the ruling price in the open 

 " market was Rs. 26 and 27. I have known in the same year, at the same time, and in the same village, one 

 " cultivator get only Rs. 21, and another Rs. 28 for the 100 kacha maunds. The system is profitable to the 

 " zemindar, who has a good security for his rent, for he will not allow the cane to be cut until his demands 

 " are satisfied, and the khansdri must see that the rent is paid or he will be a heavy loser. Besides this the 

 " zemindar often acts as the distributor of the advances, taking so much per cent, from the khansdri and the 

 " cultivators. In the long run therefore, the extension of the advance system can not be considered to have 

 " been productive of any real benefit to the district, as it has tended to render the cultivator less independent 

 " and to have increased his indebtedness." 



In the sugar districts of the Meerut Division on the other hand the rule is lor 

 the cultivator to boil his own cane juice, and add the profits of manufacture to those of 

 cultivation. It is generally assumed that the cultivating classes of these districts are 

 the most prosperous in the Provinces, though their prosperity may be perhaps bought 

 by a loss in the total value of the produce. 



Diseases and injuries. The most serious injury to cane grown on lowlands results from being flooded 



in the rainy season, and large areas of cane may often be seen during the cold weather 

 reduced to a mere snipe cover by the overflow of the tank or river on whose banks they 

 are situated. Cane also suffers at times from the attacks of caterpillars, one kind called 

 Jcanswa in the Meerut District, attacking the young shoots, and another known as sildi, 

 the full grown plants. Jackals are also fond of sugar-cane, and do a great deal of 

 injury, especially to the softer varieties, unless the fields are watched at night. 



Cost. The average cost of growing an acre of cane is shown below : — 



