112 



NATURE 



[June 3, 1897 



tribution of the rainfall in two respects : it diminished the 

 rainfall in Bengal and the Gangetic Plain, and distributed it 

 more largely and copiously in cyclonic downpours over the areas 

 traversed by these storms, viz, Orissa, the southern districts of 

 Chota Nagpur, the Central Provinces, Berar, the south-western 

 districts of Central India and Rajputana, Gujarat, and Kathia- 

 war. 



The following comparative statement indicates roughly but 

 clearly the distribution of the rainfall during this period from 

 the commencement of the rains to the end of August : — 



The data establish that over the broad belt of country between 

 Orissa and the North Bombay coast, including Orissa, the 

 Central Provinces, the Bombay Deccan, Gujarat, and Kathiawar, 

 the rainfall of the monsoon up to the end of August was in 

 large excess, by amounts averaging from 30 to 50 per cent. It 

 was, on the other hand, in defect by nearly equal percentage 

 amounts over the whole of India to the north of that belt, i.e., 

 in Bengal, Bihar, the North-western Provinces, Central India, 

 Rajputana, and the Punjab. It is assumed in the rainfall maps 

 prepared weekly for the Government of India that a seasonal 

 deficiency in a meteorological district or province of 20 per cent, 

 or upwards is large, and that the crops in such an area will 

 be seriously affected unless the rainfall is very favourably dis- 

 tributed throughout the whole season. The data hence show 

 that the rainfall during the period June to August 1896 in 

 Bengal, Bihar, and the Madras Deccan was in serious de- 

 ficiency, and that it was also in marked defect in the provinces 

 of Assam, the North-western Provinces, the Punjab, Central 

 India (east), and Rajputana, by amounts verging on what 

 may be termed the danger line. It should, however, be noted 

 that, although the rains over the greater part of Northern 

 India were scanty, they had been on the whole favourably 

 distributed (more especially in Bihar and Bengal), and the 

 chief food crops in these districts only required moderate and 

 seasonable rain during the next six or eight weeks in order 

 to give a fair to satisfactory outturn. The rice crop in Bihar, 

 the eastern districts of the North-western Provinces, the 

 Central Provinces, and Bengal especially, requires fair rain in 

 September to complete its growth. Unfortunately, the rains 

 at this critical period, in September 1896, failed almost 

 entirely in Northern and Central India in consequence of the 

 abnormally early retreat of the humid monsoon currents and 

 the prevalence of dry, clear, and much warmer weather than 

 usual in September and October, at a time when occasional 

 rain is essential. 



The monsoon currents withdrew from the whole of Northern 

 and Central India from four to seven weeks earlier than usual, 

 in August and September 1896, as shown in the following 

 table. The conditions and features of the withdrawal and re- 

 treat of the current were practically normal in all other respects. 

 The table gives data showing the very early termination of the 

 rains. 



East Punjab ... 



North-Western "l 

 Provinces and j- 

 Oudh ... J 



Bihar 



Bengal 



Rajputana 



Central India ... 



Central Provinces 



Bombay 



Normal or aver- 

 age date of ter- 

 mination of 

 south-west mon- 

 soon rains 



September 15 



30 

 October 15 



., 31 



September 20 



30 

 October 15 



o 15 



Mean date of 

 termination of 

 South-west mon- 

 soon rains, 1896 



August 22 



September i{ 

 „ 21 



August 18 

 „ 28 

 ., 31 

 >. 31 



Monsoon 



closed 



earlier than 



usual by 



24 days 



The preceding data establish that the monsoon rains ceased 

 from three to six weeks earlier than usual, and also that this 

 acceleration was greatest in the rice-growing districts of Bengal, 

 the Central Provinces and Bombay, where it was most 

 prejudicial in its effect on the staple crops. 



The general failure of the rains in September and October 

 1896, is shown most fully by the data of the following table : — 



The preceding data show clearly the very serious deficiency 

 of rain in September and October. Thus in the month of 

 September, the rainfall over the whole of India north of lat. 12°, 

 with the exception of Assam, Bengal, Bihar, Chota Nagpur 

 and North Madras, was only one-seventh or 14 per cent, of the 

 normal amount, and in the month of October the rainfall over 

 the whole of India north of lat. 14° was less than one-twelfth 

 of the normal, and over the greater part of the area, including 

 Bihar, Chota Nagpur, North-western Provinces, Oudh, Berar, 

 the Central Provinces, Central and North Madras, Gujarat and 

 Kathiawar, the rainfall of the month was practically or absolutely 



Hi/. 



It will thus be seen that in the large area including Bengal, 

 Bihar, the North-western Provinces, Punjab, Rajputana, 

 Central India (east), the wet or south-west, monsoon crops 

 (usually called the kharif) failed to a more or less serious extent: 

 (i) from deficient rainfall throughout the season ; (2) from the 

 abnormally early and abrupt termination of the monsoon rain- 

 fall three to seven weeks earlier than usual. In another large 

 area including Berar, the Central Provinces, and the greater 

 part of the Deccan and North Madras, although the rainfall 

 during the first three months of the monsoon was more abundant 

 than usual, the early termination of the monsoon, about six 

 weeks earlier than usual, affected the crops almost as seriously 

 as in the first area, including the greater part of Northern and 

 Central India. 



NO. 1440, VOL. 56] 



