JULY—sErT. 1857.] Asha Sugar Factory, 281 
that no native land-owner would allow the field to pass out of his 
possession that had once yielded him the full profits of a sugar 
crop. Land let on such favourable terms, and supplied with water 
for sugar the whole year through, might well be paid for at 15 Ru- 
pees the acre ; it would be worth 50 Rupees, but 15 would pay the 
Government well. Where very high profits are received from the 
land, as there would be in this case, there will soon be an inter- 
mediate man in possession of it who will be the gainer by the re- 
duced Assessment, not the^actual cultivator. Even with the As- 
sessment I name, the land would be saleable at a high price, and 
the man of capital would be the sugar grower ; the cultivator 
would then be his •servant ; paid it may be from the crop, but he 
would not as now have risked the cost of cultivation. The owner 
who possesses land so valuable will not only secure its being cul- 
tivated, but will see that the right crop is grown, and to do this, 
his terms with the cultivator must be liberal. I believe that 
nothing would so certainly lead to a class of wealthy land-owners 
as an irrigation suited to the growth of sugar, and terms favorable 
to introduction. And I have not yet seen any province of the Presi- 
dency better suited to the plant and its high cultivation than Ganj am. 
I have noticed the comparatively large sum required for the 
cuttings of a new sugar garden, and the want of money for pur- 
chasing them will be an impediment to the growth, when the Go- 
vernment has done all that I recommend. I am generally averse 
to Government attempting any cultivation of its own, simply be- 
cause my experience leads me to expect that no good will result 
from it. I would otherwise suggest that a few acres of land should 
every year be planted with cane to be distributed as cuttings ; I be- 
lieve that great encouragement might be given by this means, and 
at no expense as the actual cost under tolerable management would 
make them very cheap to the purchaser, but the success of this 
would depend upon those who undertook the managenr^ent, and I 
cannot say who has either time or taste for that. I have however 
suggested this mode of giving an advance, to the owners of the Aska 
sugar factory and I am perfectly certain that it is worth their while 
to make the trial. 
