CHAPTER II 



THE RELATIONS OF THE PEASANT TO THE LAND 

 AND CROPS; CULTURE SYSTEMS, ETC. 



IN a general way it is not untrue to say that the villager is 

 the owner of his own land, or is a peasant proprietor, but there 

 is much variation in different countries, and not infrequently 

 he is only the tenant of a large landowner. Except in crowded 

 countries, he can usually obtain by purchase what land he 

 wants. 



If he is not to settle down to the very simple and primitive 

 type of agriculture described in the last chapter, proper trans- 

 port facilities must be provided, and his land made accessible 

 by roads, canals, or in other ways. Next to the financing of 

 his cultivations, this is the most important thing to be attended 

 to if he is to make any progress, and we may again draw 

 attention to the remarks under this head in Chapter IV of 

 Part I. In a country already thickly peopled, it is evident 

 that the system there suggested, of laying out road reservations 

 in two directions at right angles, and at distances of a mile 

 apart, would be impracticable, or too expensive, and in eastern 

 countries would not divide one village 1 from another. In such 

 a case the country should be carefully surveyed, and the 

 existing lines of transport and foot traffic followed as much as 

 possible, being widened where necessary. So far as practicable 

 the roads should be made to divide the villages, the boundaries 



1 The term village in India and the east corresponds more to that of parish 

 in England, the whole country being broke up into villages, which meet by 

 irregular boundaries. Each village is under a headman who is responsible to 

 higher Government officials. 



