1»20] RURAL ECONOMICS. 293 



Land and lalxu- in a Dcccan village, II. 11. M.VNX kt al. {London: Hum- 

 phrey Milfurd, Oxford Univ. Press, Wll, pp. V+18.'t, pis. 10).— The villat,'e 

 .selected for the Invest ifxation reported here was chosen as being near enough 

 to Poona to be accessible and yet as being hugely out of the immediate influ- 

 ence of a large town, as being typical of a large tract in the districts of the 

 Deccan where the " kharif," or rains crop, is the most important, and hence 

 where the rains are more certain than they are farther east, and as being one 

 where the influence of irrigation, whether from canals or wells, was all but 

 negligible. The area of the village land comprises l.OG.j acres. Certain 

 physical characteristics, such as geographical features, soils, waters, and 

 drainage, the land and its divisions and maimer of holding, and the vegetation, 

 principal crops, cultivation, and live stock, are described in some detail. 



A chapter on the people of the village covers the characteristics of the 

 population, labor supply, total village income, village expenditures and debts, 

 and the standard of living. This examination shows three groups, one solvent, 

 supporting itself from the land alone, one entirely supporting itself but by 

 land income supplemented by that from outside labor, and a third insolvent. 

 Estimates are made of the value of land, houses, live stock, and improvements. 

 It is said that debts are a crushing load on the people. 



Conclusions are drawn that since the coming of British rule the population 

 of the village has increased, and along with it the subdivision of the land, 

 but also that there are various indications that the standard of cultivation has 

 deteriorated. It is becoming more and more necessary for villagers to seek 

 employment outside the village. Appendixes give an analysis of river water at 

 the village, certain decisions of the Inam Commission, and a list of herbaceous 

 plants. 



The rural life of Chotanagpur, P. C. Bose (Indian Jour. Econ., 2 {1919), 

 No. ff, pp. 551-563). — A descriptive account is given of village life in the divi- 

 sion of Chotanagpur in the Province of Bihar and Orissa, covering housing, 

 agriculture, and additional means of livelihood, classes o'r castes, village 

 customs, and economic status of the villagers. 



First investigations on the efficiency of agricultural labor in western 

 India, H. H. Mann {Indian Jour. Econ., 2 {1919), No. 4, pp. 456-Jf61).— The 

 author briefly outlines the method by which he has arrived at figures for the 

 average day's plowing accomplished by one man with plows of various types 

 and on different soils. It is indicated that the plowman in America is 50 

 per cent more ellicient than the Indian workman using equipment which he has 

 at hand. 



Cooperation in India, H. H. Wolff {London: ^V. Thacker & Co., 1919, pp. 

 y II +352). — Some of the peculiar difficulties of obtaining credit to peasant 

 farmers and early attempts at establishing agricultural credit in India are 

 discussed, citing frequently also the experience of the Agricultural Bank of 

 Egypt with the reluctance of natives to take advantage of opportunities offered 

 them. The introduction of coopei-ative credit in India and important results 

 obtained during the last 25 years are described. Developments in various coun- 

 tries and certain ?]uropean precedents, especially as to government subsidy 

 and the antagonism between production and distribution, are noted as being 

 Justified or not in India. 



The organization and working of the village society and its importance as 

 the foundation of cooperative credit, as well as its affiliation with the larger na- 

 tional organization, are described. One chapter is devoted to non-agricultural 

 credit, mainly in the form of clerks', employees', and small tradesmen's so- 

 cieties, and another to grain banks in comparison with which the Spanish 

 " positoes " are noted. 



