THE 



PHILOSOPHICAL MAGAZINE. 



I. On the present State of Huslamlnj in Ben sal. By a 

 Gentleman noiv residing in that Cuiintnj*. 



X HE regular succession of periodical rains, followed by a 

 mild winter, which exempt fronj frost, is almost as free from 

 rain ; and this succeeded bv great heat, refreshened oeca- 

 sionallv bv showers of rair, and hail, aflbrds its proper sea- 

 son for every production of tropical and temperate climates. 

 Few are altogether unknown in Beny:al. Those which ac- 

 tually engage the industry of the liusbandmen are numerous 

 and varied. Of these, rice is the most important. Corn in 

 every country is the first object of agriculture, as the prin- 

 cipal food of the inhabitants ; in this, where anima) food is 

 seldom used, it is especially important. 



Tlic natural seasons of rice are ascertained from the pro- 

 gress of wild rice. It sows itself in the first month of the 

 winter ; vegetates with the early moisture at the approach 

 «)fthe rains; ripens during that period; and drops its seed 

 with the couuncncement of the winter. 



A culture calculated to conform to this progress is prac- 

 tised in some districts. The rice is sown in low situations- 

 when nearly desiccated; the soil hardening above the seed 

 gives no passage to early showers ; the grain vegetates at 

 the aj)proach of the rains, and ripens in that season, earlier 

 or later, according as the field is overflown to a less or greater 

 depth. 



'i'his nRthod is bad, as it exposes the seed to injury 

 during a long period in which it should remain inert : the 

 practice is not frequent. Common husbandry sows the 

 rice at the season when it should naturullv viretate, to 

 gather a crop in the rains; it also withholds seed till the 

 second month of that season, and reaps the harvest in the 



* From the Asiatic Annual Rr^i/tn for 1S02. 

 Vol, 21. No. SI. Feb. 1805. A ^2 bc'iiiiunt; 



