JULY — SEPT. 1857.] Aslca Sugar Faclonj. 
I do not trust it sufficiently to quote it. The cost of wateiing de- 
pends upon the position of the land, but sites are usually chosen 
where irrigation can be had a part of the year and Tvhere a very shal- 
low well will supply water with the least labour when the irriga- 
tion fails. The purchase of cuttings is in most cases the greatest 
item of expense, and as the money has to be laid out a whole year 
before the crop is cut, the interest is very heavy upon that portion 
of the outlay. The Revenue is also taken before the crop is sold, 
and money has to be advanced on that account. The cost of cul- 
tivation having in like manner to be advanced, the land is poorly 
worked and spa»iiigly manured, and as the cost of watering must 
be kept down as low as possible for the same reason, land is cho- 
sen where water is near the surface, whether it is liable to flood, or 
is difficult to drain, or in other respects unsuitable for a sugar crop. 
In short the cultivation generally is carried on under the disadvan- 
tages of the very cheapest farming, and as those who lend the 
money work upon the common Indian principle of taking all that 
they can get when they have a chance, without reference to the 
future ; the growers find themselves with little profit even in the 
best seasons, and in case of accident hopelessly in debt. Under 
such circumstances, it is no wonder that the extension of the growth 
of sugar is slow, although experiment has shown, that under good 
farming, the profit from an acre is very moderately estimated at 
100 Rupees. 
The Government might do something to remove these difficulties, 
and the European purchasers might also help. The most import- 
ant step the Government could take would be, to secure a certain 
supply of water to land suitable for sugar, so as to remove the cost 
of working wells and make water so cheap, that as much may be 
given to the cane as it can take up and convert into sugar. This 
will, if well managed, work favorably in more ways than one. The 
best land may then be chosen having soil suitable, and being ca- 
pable of good drainage. In Rajahmundry where the wells were 15 
feet deep, working them was so expensive, that a supply of water 
for an acre from a channel flowing thro^.igh the year, was consider- 
ed by the ryots worth 50 Rupees in the saving of labour only; so 
wells are not used, and the farming altogether is poorer, but the 
