BRASSICA CAMPESTRIS. 31 



produced in greatest abundance in the districts which border on the Himalayan Tarai. 

 It is very little grown in the districts of the Ganges-Jurana Doab, where it generally 

 occurs as a subordinate crop in vegetable gardens, mixed with carrots and amaranth 

 {rdmddnd). It is in this case sown in September, six weeks or two months before the 

 regular rabi sowings commence.* 



Sarson being so rarely grown alone, no adequate returns of the area which it occu- 

 pies can be obtained. Its cultivation is, however, known to be largest in the Doab dis- 

 tricts lying between Meerut to the west and Allahabad to the east. The cultivation of 

 lahi is only of importance in the line of districts lying under the Himalayas. Thus 

 Saharanpur returns 5,400 acres, Bijnor 2,500 acres, Moradabad 2,800 acres, Tarai 

 2,000 acres, Pilibhit 1,500 acres, Basti 9,000 acres, and Gorakhpur 11,000 acres. In 

 no other temporarily settled districts of the N.-W. Provinces does its area exceed 600 

 acres. 



Both sarson and lahi are grown for their oil, which under the name of Icarwa tel, or 

 bitter oil, forms an important ingredient in Indian cookery. It is also used for lighting 

 purposes. 



Sarson is sown with wheat and barley, and cut immediately after they are har- 

 vested. Lahi is sown somewhat earlier, and comes into market in February and 

 March. 



The average produce of sarson to the acre varies of course very greatly, but may be 

 assumed to be from 1 \ to 2 maunds. Lahi produces from 4 to 6 maunds, but is the sole 

 return for cultivation ; whereas sarson merely supplements the more valuable cereal 

 crop. 



The outturn of rape is extremely precarious, or otherwise it would be much more 

 generally grown as a sole crop than it is, since area for area the value of a crop of sar- 

 son would be considerably greater than that of a crop of wheat. It is, however, peculiar- 

 ly liable to the attacks of a species of blight, and in damp seasons every plant in a field 

 is not uncommonly covered with tiny insects (aphides), which suck the sap from the 

 flowering shoots and effectually prevent any seed from growing. Where holdings are 

 large, as they are in the sub-Himalayan country, a cultivator can afford to risk the 

 total loss of the crop on a part of his land, with the chance before him of handsome 

 profits if the season is propitious. But in the crowded districts of the Doab the total 

 loss of a crop means such distress to the cultivator that he prefers to make a certainty 

 of a moderate profit than run any risk in aiming at a larger one. The cultivation of 

 rape as a sole crop in some parts of the Provinces, and as a subordinate crop in other 

 parts, is therefore explained by a difference in the density of population. 



Eape oil is expressed after the ordinary fashion by the oil presser or teli, who returns 

 to the cultivator one-third of the weight of the seed in oil. The export of rape is one 



* The rara variety (sarson) is grown all over the hills in small quantities only, as it requires mucli manure, and is liable to 

 injury from hail. It is sown in first class unirrigatcd land iu November-December and gathered in April. It yields about 

 3 maunds of oil to an acre. The ^arij/a variety {B- diclwtoma) is sown in the beginning of September, in fields where 

 manure has been lying. The stalks are eut from the root, and when dry the grain is threshed out and the oil expressed in 

 the common hulhu, or oil press. It is a favourite crop near Almora. The lai variety (B. toria) is cultivated all over the hillg np 

 to 11,000 feet, and la the staple mustard crop of the Bhiibar (Atkinson in Gaz. N.-W. Prov.). 



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