july— sept. 1857.] Asha Sugar Faciortj. 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 purehaser, but the success of this 

 would depend upon those who undertook the management, 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. 



