A History of Agriculture in India v1.c30.s3: Growing of Crops
A History of Agriculture in India v1.c30.s3
- Language
- English
Growing of Crops
v1.c30.s3.1
According to the *Arthashastra*, rice crops and the like are the best; vegetables are of intermediate nature; and sugarcane crops are the worst, very difficult to grow, for they are subject to various pests and require much care and expenditure to reap.
v1.c30.s3.2
The seeds of grains are to be exposed to mist and heat for seven nights; the seeds of *kosi* are treated similarly for three nights; the cuttings of sugarcane and the like are plastered at the cut ends with the mixture of honey, clarified butter, the fat of hogs, and cowdung; the seeds of bulbous roots with honey and clarified butter; cotton seeds with cowdung; and water pits at the root of trees are to be burnt and manured with the bones and dung of cows on proper occasions.
v1.c30.s3.3
The sprouts of seeds, when grown, are to be manured with a fresh haul of minute fishes and irrigated with the milk of *snuhi* (*Euphorbia antiquorum*).
v1.c30.s3.4
Where there is the smoke caused by burning the essence of cotton seeds and the slough of a snake, there snakes will not stay.
Cites (1)
- Kauṭilīya Arthaśāstra — Kauṭilya, Sanskrit