Cultivation of Sugar and Cotton in the East Indies [pp. 511-543]

614 CULTURE OF SUGAR AND COTTON IN THE EAST INDIES,
ground beyond the 25th of Jeyte, they would ill all probability pro —
duce flowers and seed, for the appearance of these flowers they consider as one of the greatest misfortunes that can befall them.
They unanimously assert, that if the proprietor of a plantation happens to view even a single cane therein which is in flower, the greatest calamities will befall himself, his parents, his children, and his
property; in short, that death will sweep away most of the members,
or indeed the whole of his family, within a short period of time after
his having seen the cane thus in flower. If the proprietor's servant
happens to see the flower, and immediately pulls it from the stalk,
buries it in the earth, and never reveals the circumstance to his master, in this case they believe that it will not be productive of any evil
consequences. But should the matter reach the proprietor's knowledge, tile calamities before stated must, accordillng to their ideas,
infallibly happen.
" I am informed," said a late resident at Benares, " that there is a
species of cane called Kutharee, cultivated in or near the district of
ChLurnparun, and upon the banks of the Gagra, which is not cut down
by the cultivators thereof until the canes are in flower. Having
mentioned this circumstance to some of the lRyots of Benares, to COilvince them of the absurdity of ascribing the common misfortunes.
incident to human existence and exertion, to the evil influence of
a cane-flower, they only replied that the Kutharce cane might perhaps be an exception to what they had stated as the sumi of their
faith on this head; such ftithl being, however, invariably corrobl)orated by the result of long observation and experience in this Zemin —
dary.
Soil.-The soil best suiting the sugar-cane is aluminous rather
than the contrary, tenacious without being heavy, readily allowin(,t
excessive moisture to drain away, yet not light. One gentleman,
Mr. Ballard, has endeavored to make this point clear by describi(ng
thie most favorable soils about Gazepore as "li4ght clays," called(
there Mootdarde or doanzsa, according as there is more or less sand(
in their composition.
Mr. Piddington seems to think that calcareous matter, and iron in
the state of peroxide, are essential to be present in a soil for the production of a superior sugar-cane. There can be no doubt that the
calcareous matter is necessary, but experience is opposed to his
opinion relative to the peroxide.
The soil preferred at Radnagere is there distinguished as the soil
of " two qualities," being a mixture of rich clay aned sand, and whiclI
Mr. Touchet believed to be known in Eng,land as a light brick mould.
In other districts this soil is described as Dobrussah, or two-juiced.
About Rungpore, Dinajpoor. and other places where the ground is
low, they raise the beds where the cane is to be planted, four or five
feet above the level of the land( a(ljacent.
The experience of Dr. Roxburghl agrees with the preceding statemnents. He says, "The soil that suits the cane best in this climate is
a rich vegetable earth, which on exposure to the air readily crumbles
dowh into very fine mould. It is also necessary for it to be of such
a level as allows of its being watered from the river by simply draining it up (which almost the whole of the land adjoining to this river,