The Seta, and Cala Bhot Mas of the Parbatiyas, are called Musa and Gya by the Newars. They are two varieties of the Dolichos soja, the one of which has yellow flowers and white seeds, and the other has black seeds, and purplish flowers. The former is ripe about the 1st of November, the latter about the 1st of September. Their seed and produce are equal to those of the mung.
The Mosuri of the Parbatiyas, and Mosu of the Newars, is the Ervum lens of botanists. About the 1st of November two manas are sown on a rupini; and about May produce twelve patis.
The same is the case with the Pea, or Pisum arvensis, called Kerao by the Parbatiyas, and Caigo by the Newars.
The mustard called Sarishi by the Parbatiyas, and Turi by the Newars is mostly cultivated as a pot-herb. It is sown about the middle of October, and is cut before it flowers. Another, which by the Newars is called Ika, is the Sinapis ramosa of Dr Roxburgh. About the 1st of February two manas are sown on a rupini, and about April produce two muris of seed. The ground is afterwards cultivated for rice.
Sesamum is called Til by the Parbatiyas, and Hamo by the Newars. It grows commonly wild as a weed, but very little of it is cultivated.
The sugar-cane is planted in considerable quantities, and seems to thrive. The Newars make a very little extract, soft sugar, and sugar-candy; but a large proportion of the cane is eaten without preparation. It is planted about the 1st of April, and is cut, from the middle of November to the
middle of May. The juice is generally expressed by a lever.
Ginger, the Puli of the Newars, is planted about the 1st of April, and dug up in October or November.
The common radishes are by the Parbatiyas called Mulu, and by the Newars Kipo, and are very much cultivated. They grow in vast abundance all the year, except from the 15th of November to the 10th of February. In order to procure a supply of this useful article, for three months of winter, a large quantity is sown about the 1st of September, and pulled about the 1st of November. The roots are then buried in a pit for six or seven days, during which they seem to undergo a kind of half putrid fermentation; as when they are taken out of the pit, and dried in the sun, they exhale a most powerful stench. These dried roots are called Sinky, keep all winter, and, although offensive to the smell, enter largely into the diet of the poorer Newars. These, owing partly to the great quantity of sinky and of garlic which they eat, and partly to the dirtiness of their linen, exhale a worse smell than any people I have ever been among.
Methi, or Fenugreek, grows at all seasons, except from the 15th of November to the 12th of January. It is used only as a pot-herb, and is the one most commonly consumed in Nepal.