Y1KLI' I'KK 



W.UriOf. 



...-. 



TRITICUM 

 VULOAHK 

 Ooltivation 

 almost every soil, except the lightest sands, but A rather heavy loam U **L 



len-d host. The better class of wheat-fields an manured every 

 second or third year, and the land is sometimes prepared by herding 

 sheep on it. As a rule, wheat is sown only on land that has lain (allow 

 during the preceding kharif (known as chautndt . igbly 



:namnv,l hvnds near village sites it occasionally follows maize. No par- 

 ticnlar rotation is known to be pursued, In, t where cotton is 



widely thrown, wheat is generally said to follow. In the Meerir 

 an elaborate rotation is practised in which wheat is grown only twice in 

 live years. On anaverage the hmd is ploughed a 

 sowing. The seed rate is said to vary from UK MM I to Ui. p. 

 sowing, the field is divided into irrigation beds. If the soil is sufficiently 

 moist in October to allow of the seeds germ in. it n _: pr-.p.-riv, the necessity 

 for imgation will depend on the occurrence and extent of the winter rains. 

 Should the soil be too dry for germination, a watering (called palto) is 

 given before sowing. As a rule, three or four \saterings are said to be 

 ample even in the driest localities. As regards outturn, it has been esti- 

 mated that 15 maunds per acre for wheat grown alone, as also for wheat- 

 barley, and 13 maunds for wheat-gram, are the lowest averages whi< h 

 could be taken. According to the <tics, the average 



yield for the whole province for the five years ending 1901-2 was 1,260 Ib. 

 (15 maunds) per acre for irrigated wheat, and 800 Ib. (9-75 maunds) per 

 acre for unirrigated. The largest average yields during that period were 

 obtained in Bulandshahr and Bahraich, viz., for irrigated wheat, 1,300 Ib. 

 per acre, and in Bahraich and Naini Tal, viz., for unirrigated, 1,050 Ib. 

 and 1,000 Ib. respectively. 



[Cf. Wright, Rept. on Wheat Cult, and Trade in ' 1878 ; Duthie and 



Fuller, Field and Garden Crops, 1882, i., 1-8, tt. 1-2 : Leather. Kxper. on Wheat 

 and Maize, Dept. Land Rec. and Agri. U. Prov. BuU., 1900, No. 9 ; alao Exper. 

 on Growth of \\'hmt (a) with Green Manure (b) in Rot. with Legum. Cropt, No. 10 ; 

 Moreland, Australian Methods of Test, and Impror. Wheat, in Agri. Lcdg., 1901, 

 No. 2, 11-31; Nevill, Dist. Qaz. U. Prov., 1903-6; Xumerou* Repts. of Exper. 

 conducted at Cawnpore Exper. Farm; also Repts. Qovt. Bot. Gard., Saharanpur, 

 and Hort. Gard., Lucknow.] 



Central Provinces and Berar. In these provinces wheat occupies C. Prov. 

 about one-eighth of the total cropped area, a figure that represents 11 '4 

 per cent, of the total wheat area of British India. The actual area in 

 1904-5, according to the Agricultural Statistics, was 3,070,421 acres in the 

 Central Provinces, 427,236 acres in Berar, and estimated yields 751,900 

 tons and 80,000 tons. The Final Memorandum on the crop for 1906-7 

 states the combined area and yield to have been in 1905-6, 3,443,800 

 acres and 834,400 tons ; and in 1906-7, 3,689,800 acres and 904,700 

 tons. According to the figures for 1904-5, the districts with largest 

 areas expressed in acres in the Central Provinces were Hoshangabad, 

 424,588; Jabbalpur, 362,354; Saugor, 332,788; Seoni, 261,674; Nag- 

 pur, 214,258; Chhindwara, 197,767 ; Damoh, 191,511, etc. In Berar 

 Buldana, 145,582; Bdsim, 98,862 ; Amraoti -tc. 



The system of cultivation is practically the same as that pursued 

 in the heavy black soils of Bombay (see below). I'nlike the I'nited Pro- 

 vinces and Pan jab, manure and irrigation are here unimportant. For 

 ordinary wheat cultivation, preparatory operations commence in April 

 or May and the field is ready for sowing by Octobei. The seed rate 

 varies from 80 to 120 Ib. per acre. The crop is left entirely to itself till 



1095 



\:. , 



H I ..: -:. i 



