PROVINCIAL RESULTS Cultivation 



tion as s staple food-grain on the hilly tract*, rack as Chota Xagpor ; and 



(3) the cultivation in Bihar, which differs in no essential from that in the. 



greater part of the United Provinces. The met i . 1 1 i vat ion described 



by Basu (Agri. Lohardaga, 1890, pt. i., 65-6) may be considered typical 



for the hilly parts of the Lower Provinces. Two varieties an there dis- TMMM. 



iii'-juished, a dull yellow and a red. It requires a rich soil and is usually safe. 



- r. .\\-n for two to three successive seasons on the same plot, followed by some 



cold-weather crop like mustard. In June-July the land is ploughed and i 



the seed sown broadcast, 4 to 5 seers per acre, and buried by a light plough* 

 ing. The field is then weeded and hoed two or three times from June 

 to August, and the cobs ripen from the middle of August to the middle 

 of September. If they are to be roasted and eaten, they are picked a 

 fortnight before ripening (Basu). According to Mukerji, " the value of 

 a 5 to 8 maunds' crop is only about Rs. 10. An acre (if ravages of Pro*. 

 jackals are prevented) may produce 20,000 green cobs. If these are sold 

 at an average price of 8 cobs per pice, the produce of one acre may come 

 up to Rs. 35 to Rs. 40." [Cf. Gnomon, Bihar Pctuemt Life, 1886, 223-4 ; 

 Banerjei, Agri. Cuttack, 1893, 77 ; Roy, Crop* of Beng., 1906, 51-4 ; 

 Sibpur Exper. Farm Repto.] 



Assam. The area in 1905-6 was 1,300 acres, chiefly in Nowgong and Assam. 

 Sylhet, but it is nowhere grown to any appreciable extent. In Caohar, 

 Darrang and Sibsagar it is said to be grown in small patches, chiefly by 

 foreigners. In the Khasia, Jaintia, Garo and Lushai hills, B. C. Allen 

 states that " it is either grown in garden ground or is sown in the potato 

 fields at the time when the tubers are earthed up. It is usually sown in 

 April and May and ripens in August and September. The maize fields 

 are well hoed and treated with manure " (Assam Dist. Got., 1906, x., 72-3). 



United Provinces. The area in Agra in 1905-6 was 1,374,267 acres, u. FTOT. 

 and in Oudh 796,976 acres. The average outturn for the provinces for the 

 years 1897-1902 is stated to have been 950 Ib. per acre. The acreage in 

 the chief districts during 1905-6 was aa follows : Agra Meerut, 121,307 ; 

 Districts Balandshahr, 120,481; Gorakhpur, 115,587; Aligarh, 97,905; 

 Jaunpur, 88,216; Saharanpur, 83,054; Bareli, 78,936; Etah, 65,745, 

 etc. In Oudh Bahraich, 255,914 ; Gonda, 206,471 ; Kheri, 96,487, etc. 



Maize is one of the crops which has for many years been systematically 

 studied at the Cawnpore Experiment Station, and much valuable informa- 

 tion relative to the varieties grown, the manures used and the seasons of 

 sowing and reaping, will be obtained by referring to the voluminous annual 

 reports. The account given by Duthie and Fuller (I.e. 22) may, however, 

 be considered typical of the ordinary Native methods. It is a kharif crop 

 sown, as a rule, when the rains break, and harvested at the end of August. 

 If the cobs are to be sold as vegetables they are pulled while green ; <> 

 wise they are left till the leafy envelopes surrounding them are dry and 

 shrivelled. Generally it is cultivated alone, but sometimes "cucumbers 

 are grown between the lines. It is not uncommon, too, to mix a certain 

 proportion of the lesser millets (kakuni and mandwa) and a little pulse 

 (urd)." The average outturn for the provinces, Duthie and Fuller estimate 

 at 10 maunds for unirrigated and 14 maunds for irrigated maize. 



With regard to the Cawnpore experiments, an interesting summary 

 of these is given by Mr. Subbiah, Principal, Cawnpore Agricultural School 

 (Dept. Land Rec. and Agri. Bull, 1901, No. 16), to which the reader U 

 referred. He there states that " since 1895 outturns ranging from 3 



1135 



