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IV. 

 RilNFALL m INDIA. 



BY 



S. HORSLEY. 



In a temperate climate such as that of the British Isles, the 

 amount of rainfall in any one year is not of extreme importance, 

 nor are the fluctuations of periodicity, and the effects of rainfall 

 on nature, of more than passing interest to any but farmers and 

 meteorological students. But in India the case is different, a few 

 inches of rain more or less at a critical time may make all the 

 difference between prosperity and famine ; and this not only 

 because of the actual effect on the vegetable kingdom, but also 

 because in that country so large a proportion of the inhabitants 

 depend upon the cultivation of the soil, vrhich cultivation can 

 only be carried on with a favorable disposition of the rainfall, 

 both as to the amount and the time during which it falls. 



It may be said with truth that Agriculture is the chief 

 occupation of the people of India, for the census of 1872 shews 

 that 56 per cent, of the whole population was directly engaged 

 in agriculture, and 12 per cent, in addition were agricultural 

 labourers, giving a total of 68 per cent. ; and the census 

 of 1882, still more carefully carried out, shewed that the 

 percentage was 72 per cent, of the whole population. 



Peeiodicitt. 



It is not enough that a given quantity of rain should fall in 

 the year, it must fall at given times, and thereby establish those 

 seasons which enable the farmer to cultivate his fields in the rainy 

 season, reap the produce in the interval between the two seasons, 

 and utilize the dry weather, after his fields have been reaped, in 

 cultivating the rich beds of rivers, many of which present the 

 appearance of miles of allotment gardens during the season when 

 the heat of the sun, and the dried up condition of the fields, 

 prevents any cultivation from being carried on, except in the 

 light, rich, sandy beds of the livers. 



Size. 



So far by way of introduction. We can now approach the 

 subject in detail, and first let me say a word or two as to the size 

 of the country, the rainfall in which it is proposed to consider. 



Extending as it does from 8° North of the Equator right 

 through the Zone of Cancer up to the 35° North Latitude, India 

 presents a large field for meteorological observation, and as 



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