451 



been mostly superseded by other arrangements, and the information is 

 but partially and superficially acquired by other methods. 



An extension and perfection of the system of irrigation-statistics is 

 demanded. The present returns give the area under irrigation, the 

 classification of soils, and the rain-fall. It is proposed, to bring these 

 side by side with the village statistics and develop their close relation; 

 ship. The sources of water-sui)ply and the depth of wells are ])oints 

 upon which regular and definite information is solicited. The modifying 

 influence of irrigation upon cultivation is illustrated by the fact that in 

 a district of Eohilcund the area under well irrigation increased between 

 1835 and the last "settlement" from 4,991 acres to 303,505. The expe- 

 diency of introducing canal-irrigation in some districts rests on consid- 

 erations which can be made obvious only by a more thorough statistical 

 inquiry. In the 0[)eu country of Mysore, for instance, the presence of 

 population depends mostly upon works of irrigation. The tanks have 

 been extended over about CO per cent, of the country by the patient 

 industry of the people. 



The question of fuel and timber supply is also assuming a very serious 

 aspect in India. Forest preservation and restoration have been com- 

 menced, but not before the pressing necessity of this movement has 

 become generally apparent. In the "ceded district" cart-wheels are 

 made of stone on account of the scarcity of wood. Other districts find 

 their agricultural operations greatly crippled by the same scarcity. The 

 destruction of forests has greatly curtailed the production of leaf and 

 other forest manures, so that in many parts of India the land is perma- 

 nently exhausted. Leaves have also been largely used for live stock 

 food, and their growing scarcity shortens the production of animal- 

 manure. The influence of forest-denudation upon the deposition of 

 atmospheric moisture also needs the collection of facts as a basis for the 

 study of distribution of rain. A survey of reserved and communal for- 

 ests has just been commenced in Northern India, but has not yet been 

 sanctioned in Madras. Information upon these points, so vital to the 

 agricultural character of the Anglo-Indian emi)ire, is very superficial, 

 and presented in a mutilated and fragmentary shape. 



The important question of internal communications also demands 

 both general and special statistical inquiry. It is certain that even in 

 famine years the crops of India would be ample for home consumption 

 if the means of intercommunication existed by which the surplus produce 

 of the productive districts could be brought in contact with the scarcity 

 of the deficient ones. The question of food^-supply, then, resolves itself 

 into one of distribution. The prices of grain, even in famine districts, 

 precludes its transportation by ordinary methods for any material 

 distances. How to secure such a distribution, then, depends upon a 

 thorough induction of original facts and a comprehensive study of their 

 significance, which demands a thorough system of statistics. The admin- 

 istration has become convinced of the necessity of raising the standard 

 of intelligence among the native officials through whom these funda- 

 mental facts are gathered. 



The leading original purpose of the government in compiling these 

 statistics was to constitute a basis for the intelligent assessment of taxes. 

 It has been found that, in many cases, these are too light, while in others 

 they press with crushing weight upon the poor cultivator, absorbing 

 nearly all his annual earnings. In some districts the squalid poverty of 

 the farmer is beyond expression. He is the slave of the usurer and of 

 the government, and lives on the verge of starvation. Improved methods 

 of inquiry and a more intelligent study of facts have already discovered 



