'THE BUD-ROT OF PALMS IN INDIA. 225 



above tlie head of the Delta, and the canal aqueduct and foot- 

 way between Amalapur and Nagaram islands. In the monsoon 

 the river rises considerably, submerging the smaller islands. 

 The mainland and large islands are protected by massive bunds, 

 but much of the low-lying paddy land is flooded by the local 

 rainfall. 



The Delta area is the most densely populated' and one of the 

 richest of the Madras Presidency, north of the city of Madras. Tlie 

 bulk of the people, of course, live by agriculture, paddy being 

 the chief crop, with various millets, pulses, sesamum, sann hemp, 

 tobacco and sugar-cane as important subsidiary crops. The soil 

 is mostly a heavy dark alluvium and is very fertile, but this fertil- 

 ity has only become available for supporting a large population 

 since the completion of the irrigation system, one of the most re- 

 marka])le in India, conceived and largely carried out by Sir Arthur 

 Cotton between 1847 and 1852, as the rainfall is badly <listributed. 

 The mean temperature at Cocanada averages 82°F. with a mean 

 range of 15°. The annual rainfall averages 40 inches for the 

 Godavari District, but the first four months of the year are practically 

 rainless and the south-west monsoon, which sets in in the middle of 

 June and lasts until September, gives nearly two-thirds of the whole 

 fall. 



The natural forest vegetation of the Delta is scanty, no doubt 

 as a result of close cultivation. The commonest species in much 

 of the area is the palmyra palm, which is self-sown or planted along 

 the divisions of the fields, in the villages and in waste spaces. Three 

 other palms occur, the coconut and arecanut, which are grown as 

 garden crops and the former of which is rapidly extending, and the 



1 The area and population of some of the Taluks are given as follows in the Imperial 

 Gazetteer of India, Vol. Xll, 19U8 :— 



Taluk. Area in sq. miles. iVipuiation in 19U1. 



Ramachendrapur . . . . . . 29(i 220,:35() 



Cocanada 

 Amalapur 

 Nagaram 

 Tanaku 



294 213,758 



50(i 277,445 



1157 103,<)19 



.•!7 1 2:<8,758 



