sened for a few inches round
them with the weeding iron. Should the season prove dry, the field is
occasionally watered from the river, continuing to weed and to keep
the ground loose round the stools. In August, two or three months from
the time of planting, small trenches are cut through the field at
short distances, and so contrived as to serve to drain off the water,
should the season prove too wet for the canes, which is often the
case, and would render their juices weak and unprofitable. The farmer,
therefore, never fails to have his field plentifully and judiciously
intersected with drains while the cane is small, and before the usual
time for the violent rains. Immediately after the field is trenched,
the canes are all propped; this is an operation which seems peculiar
to these parts.

In Dinajpoor, in about a month after planting, "the young plants are
two or three inches high; the earth is then raised from the cuttings
by means of a spade, and the dry leaves by which they are surrounded
are removed. For a day or two they remain exposed to the air, and are
then manured with ashes and oil-cake, and covered with earth. Weeds
must be removed as they spring; and when the plants are about a cubit
high, the field must be ploughed. When they have grown a cubit higher,
which is between the 13th of June and 14th of July, they are tied
together in bundles of three or four, by wrapping them round with
their own leaves. This is done partly to prevent them from being laid
down by the wind, and partly to prevent them from being eaten by
jackals. During the next month three or four of these bunches are tied
together; and about the end of September, when the canes grow rank,
they are supported by bamboo stakes driven in the ground. They are cut
between the middle of December and the end of March."

If the canes grow too vigorously, developing a superabundance of
leaves, it is a good practice to remove those leaves which are
decayed, that the stems may be exposed fully to the sun. In the West
Indies, this is called _trashing_ the canes. It requires discretion;
for in dry soils or seasons, or if the leaves are removed before
sufficiently dead, more injury than benefit will be occasioned.

_Harvesting_.--The season in which the canes become ripe in various
districts has already been noticed when considering their cultivation.
In addition I may state, that in the Rajahmundry Circar, about the
mouth of the Godavery, Dr. Roxburgh