6 ^ On the present State 



The hook (for the scythe is unknown) reaps every har- 

 vest. In tliis also much unnecessary labour is employed ; 

 not merelv from the want of a more expeditious implement, 

 but from the practice of selecting the ripest plants, which, 

 taught bv tiw har\est of different plants ripening succes- 

 sively, the Indian extends to the harvest of a simple crop. 

 Yet such is the contradictions of custom, that while the 

 peasant returns frequentlv to one field to gather the plants 

 as thcv ripen, he suflcrs another to stand long after the 

 greatest part ox. the crop has passed the point of maturity. 

 He justifies his practice upon circumstances which render 

 it impracticable to enter these fields to select the ripe plants 

 without damaging the rest; and upon the inferiority of crops 

 which mix with ripe corn a considerable proportion not 

 fully ripened. Though his excuse be not groundless, his 

 loss is considerable, bv the grain which drops before tha 

 harvest in so great a quantity, that if the field reniain un- 

 sown it will afford a crop by no means contemptible*. 



The practice of stacking corn intended to be reserved for 

 seed, or for a late sale, is very unusual. The husk which 

 covers rice preserves it so perfectly, that, for this grain, the 

 practice would be sujx;rtiuous : and the management of rice 

 serving for the type of their whole husbandry, it is neglected 

 by the peasants for other corn. A careless stack which waits 

 the peasant's leisure to thrash it out serves for a convenient 

 disposition, rather than as a defence from the inclemencies 

 of weather. With the first opportunity his cattle tread 

 out the corn, or his staff thrashes the smaller seeds. The 

 grain is winnowed in the wind, and stored in jars of un- 

 baked earth, in baskets, or in twisted grass formed into the 

 shape of baskets. 



The want of roads, which, indeed, could not possibly be 

 provided to eive access to every field, in every season, does 

 not leave it in the option of the farmer to bring home all 

 his harvests by cattle ; but the general disuse of cattle in 

 circumstances which would permit this mode of transport, 

 is among the facts which show a great disproportion be- 

 tween the population and the husbandry. 



• Of this, instances are frequent : the remarkable result of one instance 

 dcstivcs to be mcnticned. An enrly inundation covered a very extensive 

 tTAci. before the rice had been sown : the landlord remitted the rents, but 

 cliinicd the spontaneous crop; and he profited by the accommodHtion, 

 realising from this harvest a greater amount tlian the rents he remitted ; 

 alriuiiy,h, m addition to the common expenses, he was at considerable 

 con to watch the crop, and was probably defiaudtd of a large proponion 

 of tli^ liarvcit. 



Irrijraiioii 



