LENS 



ESCULENT A 

 Masur. 



THE LENTIL 



Sheet Lead for 

 Tea Chests. 



Exports. 



in 1906-7, 102,455 cwt., valued at Rs. 15,82,550. In addition, Government 

 imported 12,301 cwt., valued at Rs. 1,58,840. The greater part of these imports 

 came from the United Kingdom. But it has to be pointed out that the chief 

 market is the supply of the tea industry with the sheet lead required for lining 

 tea chests, which is admitted free of duty. This came in 1905-6 to 82,166 cwt., 

 valued at Rs. 11,23,738, and in 1906-7, 57,307 cwt., valued at Rs. 8,76,730, 

 and was consigned from the United Kingdom almost entirely to Bengal. In 

 the year 1 906-7 the chief sources of supply for lead of all kinds were as follows : 

 United Kingdom, 76,230 cwt. ; Australia, 16,001 ; France, 4,139 ; Belgium, 2,090 ; 

 Ceylon, 2,864. The share of the Presidencies and Provinces in the imports 

 were: Bengal, 72,548 cwt.; Bombay, 10,772; Madras, 6,197 ; Sind, 4,918; 

 Burma, 3,493. 



The EXPORT trade in Indian merchandise is a negligible quantity, but a fair 

 re-export trade exists. Thus in 1906-7 it amounted to 5,293 cwt., valued 

 at Rs. 46,402. The bulk of this re-export traffic goes from Bombay, chiefly to 

 the United Kingdom, Arabia, Persia and Turkey-in-Asia. [Cf. Tavernier, 

 Travels (ed. Ball), 1889, ii., 281, 284 ; Masson, Journ. to Kalat, 1843, 462 ; 

 Minerals, Offic. Correspond. Rev. and Agri. Dept. Oovt. Ind. (Proc.), Dec. 1892 ; 

 Rev. Min. Prod. Ind., 1893, 14 ; 1894, 21-2 ; 1895, 46 ; 1896, 47 ; 1897, 46-7 ; 

 Thorpe, Diet. Appl. Chem., 1899, ii., 407-9, 411-35, 436-8, etc. ; Dutt, Mat. 

 Med. Hind., 1900, 72-5 ; Scott, Oaz. Upper Burma and Shan States, 1900, ii., 

 pt. 1, 301-4; Rawson, Gardner and Laycock, Diet. Dyes, Mordants, etc., 1901, 

 211-4; Journ. Soc. Chem. Indust., 1904, xxiii., 338-9, 624-5, 935, 1000, 1162-3 ; 

 1905, xxiv., 28, 338, 487-8 ; 1906, xxv., 32.] 



D.E.P., 

 iv., 621-5. 

 Lentil. 



Cultiva- 

 tion. 



Bengal. 



Rotation. 



Seasons. 

 Cost. 



Assam. 



Seasons. 



Crop. 



TJ. Prov. 



Area. 



LENS ESCULENTA, M oench. ; Duthie, FL Upper Gang. 

 Plain, 1903, 257 ; Prain, Beng. PL, 1903, i., 367 ; Ervum Lens, Duthie 

 & Fuller, Field and Garden Crops, 1883, ii., 13, t. xxx. ; FL Br. Ind., 

 ii., 179 ; LEGUMINOS^E. The Lentil, masur, channangi, mohr, chanching, 

 kerze, adah, misurpurpur, misur-pappu, etc. A valuable pulse, grown 

 as a winter crop all over India. According to De Candolle, it is a 

 native of western temperate Asia, Greece and Italy, and has long been 

 cultivated in Egypt, whence it was conveyed to India. As an article of 

 food it has been known from the most ancient times. 



Cultivation. At the present day the lentil is cultivated in all parts 

 of India, especially in the Central Provinces, Madras and United Provinces. 

 The following is a brief summary of the area under cultivation and the 

 methods pursued in those provinces about which trustworthy information 

 can be obtained. 



Bengal. Separate returns for this pulse are not recorded, hence an estimate 

 of the area under cultivation cannot be given. It thrives best on a clay soil, 

 since in light soils the plants wither away. In rotation following paddy (rice), 

 the land receives three or four ploughings and the seed of the lentil is then sown 

 October to December at the rate of about 5 seers per bigha (= one-third acre). 

 In some parts of the country it is mixed with barley. Harvesting takes place 

 from the middle of February to the middle of April; the crop yields about 8 

 maunds per acre. The cost of cultivation has been estimated at Rs. 2-10 per 

 acre. [Cf. Basu, Agri. Lohardaga, 1890, pt. ii., 34; Banerjei, Agri. Cuttack, 

 1893, 83.] 



Assam. Cultivation is chiefly confined to the chaparis of Kamrup, Nowgong 

 and Mangaldai. In Upper Assam it is cultivated to a small extent in the Majuli. 

 The crop prefers a light, loamy soil and an open situation, and generally follows 

 a broadcasted dhu (rice) crop, and is sown in mixture with mustard. Sowing 

 takes place within the first fortnight of November. The seed rate is 12 Ib. 

 per acre, if sown with mustard, but if sown alone, about 50 per cent, more 

 seed is required. Harvesting takes place in March and April, and the usual 

 yield is about 2 to 4 maunds per acre. [Cf. Agri. Dept. Assam Bull., 1902, 

 No. 9, 11.] 



United Provinces. The area under masur is not separately recorded, but in 

 1904-5 peas and masur together occupied an area of 2,055,879 acres, dis- 

 tributed thus: 1,437,152 acres in Agra, 618,727 acres in Oudh. According 



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