22 



Range. In tho cis-Sutlej districts it covers an enormous area. The acreage 

 sown in the rabi of 1911 was by divisions 



Acres. 

 Delhi ... ... ... 1,960,438 



Jullundur ... ... ... 1,203,864, including 710,966 



in Ferozepore. 



Lahore ... ... ... 617,038 



Rawalpindi ... ... ... 354,068 



Multan ... ... 358,636 



Total ... 4,494,044 



This was 26 per cent, of the rabi area and 16 per cent, of the area 

 of both harvests. 



Gram grows in all kinds of soil from stiff clay to light sand. In sandy 

 soil it has a more feathery habit and the leaves are of a lighter colour than 

 when growing in a clayey soil. The yield of gram is said to be greater when 

 the soil is stiff (Field and Garden Crops, page 34). In medium or light soils it is 

 very often sown mixed with wheat (gochni) or barley (jauchana, lejhdr, 

 or berra). The discovery that it can be grown with a fair prospect of 

 success in very light sandy soils has led to a considerable extension of rabi 

 cultivation in some of the western districts. The cultivation is very rough, 

 and in heavy soils one sees gram growing among the clods of a field which 

 has been ploughed once and in which no attempt has been made to pulverise 

 the soil or. root out the coarse dab grass. 



A good proverb on the subject is quoted on page 100 of the Ferozepore 

 Gazetteer, edition of 1888-89, page 100 



" Chhola ki jane van, 

 Man ki jane gha, 

 Jatt ki jane rah/' 



which means that gram needs little ploughing, mash does without weed- 

 ing, and a Jat can travel without roads. If the land contains sufficient 

 moisture when it is sown it requires little rain afterwards. But it is a delicate 

 crop in some ways, and when in flower, suffers much from night frosts. Cold 

 westerly winds shrivel up the young grain. It is also said that lightning 

 injures the crop. 



We are not concerned with its great use as human food. Of all the 

 pulses it has the least claim to be considered a fodder crop, for its 

 grain is of much more importance as food for horses and cattle than 

 its straw. When bullocks in hard work get a grain ration, gram is 

 usually selected. It is given half-ground and is usually mixed with 

 Ihiisa. The grain is also given to camels. It is stated in Field and 

 Garden Crops, page 35, that " gram Ihusa is considered a most excellent food for 

 cattle, but is seldom given alone, being generally used to give a flavour to 

 more unpalatable fodders." In the Punjab it is much less esteemed as fodder. 

 Hissar and Ferozepore are the districts with the largest gram area according 

 to the crop returns of 1910-11. It is noted on page 174 of the Hissar Gazetteer 

 that " the straw and leaves make an inferior kind of fodder, which is given to 

 camels.'' In Shahpur gram bhiisa is only given to camels except in seasons 

 of scarcity, and is considered bad for horses and milch kine. In Ferozepore 

 it is given to horned cattle, mixed with turi, but not to cows or buffaloes 

 when they are in milk. In Attock sheep and goats, and in Jhang cows and 

 horses, are allowed to graze on the young crop, and the outturn is probably 

 little, if at all, injured thereby. In Ferozepore cattle are allowed to graze in 

 irrigated fields of young gram, and the practice is said to improve the ultimate 

 outturn. A wild species of Cicer, C. Soongaricum, grows in Spiti and 

 Lahul. It is said to fatten cattle quickly (Dictionary of Economic Products, 

 volume II, page 284). 



