In the Rojahmundry Circar, on the Delta of the Godavery, Dr. Roxburgh states, “that nothing more is done after the cane is planted, if the weather be moderately showery, till the young shoots are some two or three inches high; the earth is then loosened 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 adds, “that in January and February the canes begin to be ready to cut, which is about nine months from the time of planting.  This operation is the same as in other sugar countries—­of course I need not describe it.  Their height, when standing on the field, will be from eight to ten feet (foliage included), and the naked cane from an inch to an inch and a quarter in diameter.”