july — sept. 1857.] Aslca Sugar Factory. 



279 



I do not trust it sufficiently to quote it. The cost of watering de- 

 pends upon the position of the land, but sites are usually chosen 

 where irrigation can be had a part of the year and where 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 sparingly 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 through the year, was consider- 

 ed by the ryots worth 50 Rupees in the saving of labour only; so 

 well3 are not used, and the farming altogether is poorer, but the 



