2 CATTLE SURVEY OF THE AMRITSAR DISTRICT. 



district a reputation for being abnormally malarious. The only available 

 figures show a range from 126 F. in May to 29 F. in December. 



3 The district has a fairly constant rainfall which varies inversely 

 with the distance from the hills, ranging between 

 16 and 24 inches. The monsoon rains of 1908 



were exceptionally heavy and brought up the total for the year at Amritsar 

 City to 46-88. The average of previous ye.ars was 24 29. The district is for 

 the most part secure against any serious failure of either summer or win- 

 ter rains and it is further protected by ample irrigation from both canals 

 and wells. 



4. The prevailing soil is a level alluvial loam varied by occasional 



small tracts of stiffer clay which are almost invari- 

 ably fringed by uneven land more sandy in charac- 

 ter tlian the average loam. The clay lands are formed in strips running 

 down the ' Doab ' along the natural depressions and in these tracts ' knlar J 

 wastes (lands impregnated with salts) abound. 



5. The land is held almost entirely by small peasant proprietors, 

 . large estates covering only about 15,000 acres. In 



1908-09 the cultivated area was 903,380 acres of 

 which 500,318 were irrigated. 



6. Of the irrigated area in 1908-09, 174,056 acres were irrigated 



from wells, 297,683 from canals and 2,990 from 



Irrigation. 



other sources. The district is traversed by the 



Lahore Main, Kasur and Sabraon branches of the Bari Doab Canal from 

 which 486 square miles or 31 1,0 iO acres can be irrigated annually. In 

 1908-09 there were 10,894 masonry wells worked with Persian wheels by 

 cattle, besides 207 unbrioked wells, water-lifts and lever wells. In the 

 Amritsar Tahsil the usual depth down to the water is about 20 feet ex- 

 cept in the highlands on the bank of the Beas where it may be as much as 

 50. In Tarn Tarau the depth is ordinarily from 20 to 30 feet except in 

 the " Bet/' where it falls to some 12 or 13 feet. In the Ajnala Tahsil the 

 ordinary depth is from 1.0 to 20 feet, but under 16 feet in the " Sailab " and 



