46 THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



of rape and mustard for making oil from; these being- sown from 

 September to November and reaped in March and April. The regur 

 lar hot weather crops, beside cotton and sugar cane are sown from' 

 May to July, and reaped from August to November; such as maize, 

 the millets and fodder crops like kaffir corn; and rice where water is- 

 to be had in abundance; again in some parts, indigo is grown, sown 

 from March to May, and cut in August and September. The sesame 

 or gingelly oil seed is a somewhat later crop, often sown as a last re- 

 source when the season for the other crops has gone by. 



The the perennial canals the irrigation is continuous throughout 

 the year; water is not taken for land on which cold weather crops are 

 to be sown, until the time of sowing approaches, and when it is no- 

 longer required for the hot weather crops, which by that time have 

 matured. But on the inundation canals the system is different. Here 

 a supply of water cannot be depended on after the middle of Septem- 

 ber, and what there is, is small and daily" diminishing, and would be 

 quite insufficient to do much irrigation. Hence the people utilize the 

 superfluous water received in times of high flood in the river, to irri- 

 gate the lands destined for their cold weather crops. The regular 

 ordinary full supply in a canal, having a depth of five or six feet of 

 water is all required for the hot weather crops; but whenever the 

 supply rises above this amount, as it continually does during the 

 rainy season, this additional water is not required for the existing 

 crops, and therefore is turned out on to the lands kept for the cold 

 weather crops; a heavy flooding is given in order to thoroughly satu- 

 rate the ground, and allow water to sink down in the soil, so that the 

 subsoil may remain moist for a long time. This land is then thor- 

 oughly ploughed up to prevent weeds and grass from growing, and 

 the moisture below considered by a careful smoothening of the top 

 soil; what is called in America "cultivation." One good watering in 

 August is usually sufficient in clayey soils to keep the subsoil moist 

 until October or November when the seed is sown; though two or 

 three are commonly given where water is plentiful; the soil is 

 ploughed up and " cultivated " after each watering. The earlier and 

 oftener that the ground can be thus watered and ploughed, the better 

 will be the subsequent wheat or barley or pea crop. 



As the inundation canals are dry during the cold weather, the 

 further irrigation for the maturing of the crops, chiefly wheat, is car- 

 ried on from wells by bullock power. One well, with a lift of about 

 twenty feet, worked day and night by four to six pairs of bullocks,, 

 will supply sufficient water to mature sixty or seventy acres of crops, 

 sown on canal irrigated land; while it would only be able to supply 

 sufficient water for the ploughing and sowing of twenty to twenty-five^ 

 acres where no canal irrigation was available. 



