28 



" For sailal lands tbe process Is different. The land is ploughed twice or three times 

 and rolled. The seed is sown broadcast and ploughed in with very shallow furrows. * 



" The crop ripens in three months. Zamindars say turnips are not ready till the first 



frosts. It is watered five or six times. No weedings or hoeings are given. A turnip crop 



should not be too thick, or it runs to leaf, and the bulbs suffer. A first class crop is that 

 which yields a good fodder crop of leaves first, and a heavy root crop afterwards. 



" The turnip leaves are cut once, sometimes twice on the very best lands, and then the 

 bulbs are pulled up. On sailab land the leaves are not cut, but the whole plant is pulled up. 

 The bulbs grow very large on sailab lands. I have also seen them eaten on the ground, but 

 this is of course very different from what is meant by the process at home. The great 

 difficultv about the turnip crop is to sow the seeds early and yet to get it to germinate 

 well." " 



In crop returns turnips and carrots are clubbed together, but in districts 

 where turnips are important carrots form an insignificant part of the total. In 

 rabi 1911, the districts returning the largest acreage were 



Multan ... ... ... -. 5 



Montgomery ... ... 43,210 



Shahpur ... ... ... ... 41,707 



Gujranwala ... ... 23,698 



Muzaffargarh ... ... 2,791 



Lahore ... ... ... H990 



Gujrat ... ... ... ... 10,584 



The total acreage given in statement II is 280,652 acres. 



60. -Brassica ju-ncea : natural order, Grnciferce. For botanical descrip- 



tion of the mustard plant see Field and 



Ahu r, synonyms arhu, arhion. -nil r\ oo i ^ j. -VT T 



Fodder Crops, page 33, and plate XLI. 



Mustard is not much grown in the Punjab. It is stated on page 34 of 

 the Field and Garden Crops that in the United Provinces " it is not uncommonly 

 cut green in January and February and given to cattle, should the supply of 

 cattle fodder have run short." 



61. JEruca sativa : natural order, Cruciferce. For botanical description 

 _, . see Field and Garden Crops, page 20, 



Taramira, synonyms tira ussun (S.-W districts), , , , _ 



jamian and jan'dli (X.-VV. districts). and plate JLXX V I. 



Tdramira is the oil-seed par excellence of the districts of the Rawalpindi 

 division lying to the north of the Salt Range and of Mianwali. It is there an 

 uiiirrigated crop. The description given in the Attock Gazetteer (page 152\ 

 which would also apply to Jhelum, Gujrat, Rawalpindi and Mianwali, may be 

 quoted : 



" Taramira is one of the three important rabi crops, and in Fattehjang and the 



Attock Nala ranks after wheat alone. It needs no cultivation, the seed is cheap, and the 



crop will grow on any land. It is grown almost exclusively on the most inferior kinds of 



unirrigated land, much of the poorest rakar being able to produce nothing more than a light 



taramira crop, unless it be a very poor cotton. Taramira is sown along the edges of paths, 



over the ridges between fields, is dribbled in among the lajra, and is scattered broadcast 



about the fields whenever rain falls in November. The seed is cheap, and the zamindar 



who cannot afford wheat seed can always afford taramira. If the crop fails there is little 



loss, and if it succeeds the profit is large. It is a most useful crop. Like gram it is used as 



a vegetable when green. A good deal is also consumed for fodder. It is the favourite food 



of camels. But the bulk of the crop is allowed to ripen, and a valuable oil extracted. The 



only objection to taramira is that it is an exhausting crop, and is considered the most 



exhausting of all rabi crops. In a good year the taramira pays the revenue of the whole 



year, and great quantities are exported. In Fattehjang itself there are a great many oil- 



presses, and the oil stored in kerosine tins is sent into Rawalpindi and Gujar Khan for 



export. The oil for lighting purposes has now been superseded by kerosine, but it is considered 



very strengthening and healthy as an article of food, and in many ways takes the place of ghi 



for frying, &c. The outward application in plague and other cases is said to be very beneficial. 



The Kot estate makes a large income annually from this crop. A remarkable characterstic of 



taramira is its vitality. It is often self-sown. In years of good rainfall it springs up 



everywhere, even on the house tops, in the Kala Chitta forest, aad among the ballast on the 



