THE GREAT MILLET 



Supplementary 

 Supplies. 



SORGHUM 



VULOARE 

 Trade 



and not (as in the case of rice in Burma) as a rent-paying article of 

 export. 



The quantities of judr and bdjra conjointly shown as carried by rail and 

 river average about 4 to 5 million cwt. in normal years. In the year 1899- 

 1900 the traffic became 11 million cwt. ; in 1900-1 it stood at 9 million 

 cwt. ; in 1901-2 at 8 million cwt. ; in 1902-3 it fell to its normal condition 

 of 4 million cwt. ; in 1903-4 it was close on 4J million cwt. ; in 1904-5 it 

 again rose to 8J million cwt. ; in 1905-6, to 9 million cwt. ; and in 1906-7 

 was 1\ million cwt. During the years of scarcity and famine (1900-3), 

 Bombay Presidency imported in 1899-1900, 4 million cwt. ; in 1900-1, 

 5 million cwt. ; in 1901-2, 3 million cwt. ; in 1902-3, \\ million cwt. ; 

 while the town of Bombay itself took in addition 2, f , \, and 1 million 

 cwt. These supplementary supplies were drawn from Madras, the United 

 Provinces, Sind, etc. In 1903-4 the imports into Bombay Presidency fell 

 to less than a quarter of a million cwt., while those into Bombay town 

 stood at 2 million cwt. ; in 1904-5 they were about 2 million and 2| 

 million cwt. respectively ; in 1905-6, 2J and about If million cwt : lastly, 

 in 1906-7 they were \\ million and J million cwt. The traffic with the 

 other provinces and chief towns is hardly worthy of special comment. 



Turning now to the records of the coastwise traffic, we obtain a similar 

 indication of the interdependence of the provinces of India for this all- 

 important foodstuff, especially during abnormal years or local climatic 

 disturbances. The returns of imports show that Bombay draws on Sind, 

 Madras and Burma, and exports to Kathiawar and Kach. 



Prices. The official returns (Prices and Wages in India) afford some 

 useful particulars. The mean average price of judr for all India during 

 the years 1871-5 is taken as 100, the standard of comparison of relative 

 prices in the districts and provinces of India, also of accidental disturb- 

 ances. During the quinquennial period 1896-1900 (which includes a term 

 of scarcity and famine) the mean average for the whole of India was 153*6, 

 and in 1903, when the effect of the famine had been effaced, it stood at 

 109-23 ; but if three provinces be removed from consideration, namely 

 Berar, the Panjab and Sind, the mean average for the whole of the rest 

 of India becomes 100-6. In the three provinces named (except some 

 districts of the Panjab), judr never seems to have been procurable at the 

 price expressed by the standard of 100. As exhibiting the actual average 

 prices of this millet, it may be here stated that, expressed in seers (= 2 Ib.) 

 and decimals of seers obtainable for one rupee (or Is. 4d.), the returns of 

 Burma in 1906 show 20*07 ; Bengal, 12*51 ; Agra, 14'36 ; Oudh, 14-05 ; 

 Rajputana, 14-53 ; Central India, 15-26 ; Panjab and North- West Frontier, 

 16-24 ; Sind and Baluchistan, 16*4 ; Bombay, 13*52 ; Central Provinces, 

 15-45 ; Berar, 18-3 ; Nizam's Territory, 13-8 ; Madras, 14-24 ; Mysore, 

 14-6. 



It may thus be said that approximately in districts of chief production, 

 the number of seers obtained per rupee is higher than in localities where the 

 millet is not very largely grown. A similar series of quotations for a 

 number of years would show that railway extension has equalised the 

 price in relation to production. The most significant feature of the internal 

 trade returns is perhaps the circumstance that Bengal practically takes no 

 part in the traffic. Millets are, in fact, very little consumed in Bengal. 

 Another feature may be said to be that the great producing areas export 

 to tracts of country inhabited by simple agricultural communities or to 



1042 



Prices. 



Influence of 

 famine. 



Seers to th 

 Rupee. 



Equalisation of 

 Prices. 



