676 
THE TROPICAL AGPJCULTUEIST. [Apbil 1, 1899. 
(13) Insect Life. Vol. V. (1S92-93); Page 80, 
" Oiihczui insiijnia as a Gardi n peat," by Professor 
T. D. A. Cockerell; pagd 121, "Notes on Plant 
Faunaj," by ProfHssor T D. A. Cockerell ; pages 
159, 247, '' Food Plants of nome Janiiican CoccicJaj," 
by Professor I. D. A. Cockerell. 
(14) Bulletin of the Cape of Good Hope Depart- 
ment of Agriculture, Nos. G and 12 (189H). "Another 
introduced Scale Pest," by ('. P . Loutisbnry. (Re- 
printed from Agricultural Journal March 31 and 
June 23, 1898 ) 
E. ERNEST GREEN, 
Honorary Government Entomologist. 
Pundalu-oya, December 12, 1898. 
Noetu-East. 
Mangoes. 
' ^ E 
CULTIVATION OF ARECA-NUT IN TH 
GODAVARI DISTRICT. 
[A Paper head bbfoke the Agricultural Students 
Association, Madras College of Aoricultuke, 
Saidapet, by Student Du\turi Bala- 
KBISHNA MURTI, of GoDAVAKI.] 
Gentlemen, — In the whole district of Godavari 
areca-nut plautiition are met with only in one tahirj, 
which forms the delta of tho Godavai i, namely the 
Amalapur taluq. A a part of this talaq, known as 
Kona Soeina, is exclusively devoted to plantations 
of various kinds. It is on this account many Euro- 
peans call this part, " The Garden of Lombard?. " 
Only a limited portion of this Seema is nuder areca- 
nut and the rest is under coconut, plantations, etc. 
The total area under areca-nut alone does not exceed 
six thousand acres. All th«se plantations are situa'ed 
around Ambajipeta within a radius of 12 miles. 
This is the most paying cultivation in the district. 
A man owing a garden of three acres is considered 
to be a rich man. Even in settling marriages among 
Brahmins in S«ema, the first question asked by the 
parents of the bride is whether the bridegrooms' 
family owns an areoa-nut garden. 
2. The areca-nut palm is a well-known native of 
tropical climates. There are two varieties of this 
lalm, one producing bigger nnts than the other. 
...t is' only the small variety that is found in this 
taluq, and to it only that the whole of this paper 
refers. Th* maximum height of this tree is from 
fifty to sixty feet. The stem is quite cylindrical 
and perfectly vertical, having a light greenish white 
colour. The diameter of a full grown healthy tree 
is 10 inches at the base, 8 inches in the middle, 
and 4 inches at the top, and the tree bears about 
18 green leaves at the top. 
3. The soil best suited to this palm is red loam, 
rich in organic matter. On this soil the plant ia 
healthy and the yield is heavy. There are also 
plantations on other soils, as clay loam, sandy 1 am, 
and black soils, the last being the most unsuited 
for the plant. On all soils other than the red 
loam the yield is comparatively less, and the plant 
is not so vigorous. 
4. Preparation of Land. — A plot of land of about 
three acres is selected. It is generally oblong in 
shape, facing north-east and south-west. In the 
middle of these three acres, about one acre is left 
for the future areca-nut plantation, and the surround- 
ing two acres are placed under coconut. On the 
exterior border of the coconut plantation a row of 
eood selected mango seedlings is planted on a raided 
bund while on the interior border oranges, limes, 
battavians, pomegranate and such like plants are 
erown. On the north-east and south-west, sides 
exposed to the monsoonic winds, five rows of coconuts 
are planted, while three such rows only are planted 
on each of the other two sides not so exposed. The 
earth is removed to a depth of 9 inches. The 
arrangement of these plants is such as to break 
the force of the wind, the plants in one ro-sr alter- 
nating with those in the next. 
Five r.^ws of coconuts and j^k trees 
here and there. 
0:an"3 
g3s, limes, poni.'granates. etc. etc. 
s C. 
3 ^ 
^ 2 
1^1 
t re 
5 O 
;iOO aiTca nut palms 
ill 12 rows, each row con'lBlIng of 
25 plants. 
Sugar- 
plantains 
Single-mhote. 
well 
Sugar 
Plantains 
3in areca-nut palraa 
in 12 rows, each row consiating of 
25 plants. 
Oranges, limes, pomegranates, etc. 
5 rows of coconuts and jak trees 
here and there. 
m 
! 
a o 
Eo 
o 
w O 
V 
c > 
2 5 
O " 
Mangoes. 
South-West. 
The rows of coconut are eight yards from one 
another, and the plants in the rows are also the 
same distance apart. At the inter-section of th« 
diagonals between four coconnt trees forming a 
quadrilateral, a jack tree is placed. In addition to 
these a few grafted mangoes are also found. Thus 
the coconut plantation all around with all the 
micellaneons items forms a protective wall against 
the strongest monsoonic winds. ° 
Ten or twelve years are allowed to pass before 
the interior is occupied by areca-nut. During the 
fi St eight or ten years poises, especially gram, are 
grown in the central part, and in the two years 
immediately preceding the permanent transplanting 
of the areca plants, a plantain tope is started for 
the purpose of affording shelter to the young areca 
plants during the four years succeeding the per- 
manent transplantation. Sun-hemp is also grown 
during these years in the interspaces between the 
plantains, and ploughed in as green Manure. In 
the centre of the area selected for the plantation 
there is also a well, generally 12 to 15 feet in 
diameter, with a water-level from 10 to 12 feet from 
the surface. 
5, TIte Raising of Seedluir/s —TJader this heading 
comes the selection of seed nuts. Fruits for seed- 
lings are generally selected from trees over 50 years 
old, which have ceased to bear well. These trees 
have generally one or two clusters, each having not 
more than forty or fifty fruits. These fruits are 
taken when they are fully ripe and dried for 15 or 
2 ) days in shade when they are ready for sowing. 
The chief reason for selecting fruits for seedlings 
from old trees is to ensure timely sprouting and 
steady growth of the future plant. The scientific 
explanation for this practice is not known, but it 
has been decisively proved both by observation and 
experiment to be a complete success. 
As to_ the raising of seedlings, a plot four feet 
square is selected on an elevated place under shake 
pit thus prepared is filled with sand up to 6 inches; 
on this the seed-nuts are arranged in rows tho 
proper time for this operation being November. 
