22 RECENT FOREIGN EXPLORATIONS. 



wooden drill, shod with iron and drawn by oxen or water buffaloes, is 

 used. Two crops are produced, of which the principal or maha crop 

 is sown in July, just in time to catch the late summer rains, and is 

 harvested in December or January. The small or yala crop is planted 

 in February and harvested in June. About 15 bushels per acre is 

 considered a fair crop on the west coast, but in Anuradapura Province 

 30 to 50 bushels per acre are frequently obtained, depending on con- 

 ditions. The Cej'lon rice is rather inferior in qualit3\ 



IMPORTS. 



The imports of cleaned rice at Colombo, Ceylon, from January 1 to 

 November 10, 1900, were 486,652,390 pounds; from January 1 to 

 November 1, 1901, 459,229,540 pounds. This shows that Ceylon, with 

 a population of about 3,500,000, imports more rice than the entire 

 product and annual imports of the United States. 



FARMHOUSES. 



The farmhouses are one story generally, with about three rooms, 

 and are commonly built of brick or sun-dried clay, with mud-plastered 

 walls. Some houses are built of poles, lathed with bamboo or bamboo 

 matting, and are plastered with clay outside and inside. The floors 

 are of tile or clav, and the roof is covered with grass, palm leaf, or 

 tile. The usual cost of a house is 850 gold. Farm laborers receive 

 about 8 cents (gold) per daj-*, without board, but generally prefer to 

 work for a share of the crop. One-half is given to the laborer. (PI. 

 m, figs. 1. 2.) 



INDIA. 



India (including Burma) has an area of 1,800,258 square miles and a 

 population a little short of 300,000,000. This population is not uni- 

 formly distributed. It is very dense in the valleys of the Gauges, the 

 Brahmaputra, and the Indus and its tributaries. Bengal, with an area 

 of 151,543 square miles (less than three-fifths of Texas), has a popula- 

 tion of about 75,000,000. 



TIMBER. 



The absence of timber in India strongly impresses the traveler. No 

 fences, rarely woodlands, and no barns in a country almost exclusively 

 devoted to agriculture indicate a peculiar people. In the government 

 reports considerable forest lands are mentioned. The\' are, however, 

 in remote sections and quite inaccessible as a source of supply of wood 

 and timber for the centers of a dense population. The price of wood 

 for fuel is from ^16 to $40 per cord and not very good wood at that; 

 hence the masses must live without fire, except the little that is used 

 for cooking. 



