135 



If settlement calculations can be relied on, one acre of 

 ordinary dry land, whicli is assessed at Es. 1-12-0,^^ gives 

 an outturn of Rs. 17 taking good and bad seasons together, 

 and 8 acres of such land would give Rs. 136. Deduct- 

 ing Rs. 14, the Government tax, which is a little more 

 than 10 per cent, of the gross outturn, there, is left about 

 Rs. 122 for the subsistence of the family of the ryot and for 

 defraying the cultivation expenses, which are estimated at Rs. 

 5 per acre. Out of this, wages of labour amount to about 

 Rs. 3, and what the ryot will have to expend in cash or grain 

 is Rs. 2 per acre or Rs. 16 for 8 acres, when he cultivates 

 the land himself and does not employ hired labour. There 

 is, ^^ therefore, left for subsistence about Rs. 106 or Rs. 9 

 a month, and this sum will enable a ryot's family to subsist 

 according to the standard of living in force among the ryot 

 population. Probably, the family will make also something 

 by growing vegetables, keeping a cow for raising dairy pro- 

 duce for consumption, &c., all of which will leave a margin 

 above the cost of subsistence, but this may be neglected. 

 Eight acres, therefore, of ordinary dry land, paying Rs. 14, 

 or a proportionately larger area of inferior land, paying the 



An. acre cultivated in France produces much more than an acre here ; but the 

 standard of living there is higher in proportion than here. In France, about 90 per 

 cent, of the proprietors have 2J acres each. Here 90 per cent, pay Rs. 7-8-0 each, 

 which gives an average holding of rather more than 3| acres. The number of landed 

 estates held directly under Government in this Presidency is about 3"3 millions and the 

 number of holders including shareholders is 6'4 millions [vide statement of Varieties of 

 Tenure given in the appendix V.-F. (b). The last number dots not include the holdings 

 of ryots in zemindari and inam villages, which may be e.itimated at about another million. 

 The total number of families having landed property may roughly be taken to be about 

 6" 5 millions out of a total number of families of, say, 7 millions forming the population 

 of the whole Presidency ; or in other words, upwards of 90 per cent, of the families 

 in the Presidency have lauded properties, however small. There is no information as 

 regards the extent to which ryotwar proprietors possess zemindari and inam lauds. 

 In the dry districts many ryotwar proprietors possess inam lands ; and allowing for 

 this, the number of families possessing landed property may safely be estimated at, say, 

 80 per cent. In the South Arcot district, the number of ryotwar proprietors alone is 

 83 per cent, of the total number of families in the district, taking 5 persons to a 

 family. In European countries the extent to which landed property is diffused among 

 the population will be seen from the following figures, which represent the percentage 

 of the number of possessors of land to the total number of families taking 5 persons to 

 a family : United Kingdom 2o ; France 45 ; Germany 25 ; Russia 70 j Austria 45 ; 

 Italy 35 ; and the United States 40. 



®^ I have taken an acre of land of ordinary quality for illustration, and, in some 

 districts, land of veiy poor quality predominates ; but there the area of holding is 

 considerably larger. The average area of holding varies in each district, with refer- 

 ence to the quality of land and the standard of living in force among the agricultm-al 

 population. 



^' As some objections have been" taken to the estimate of income given in this para- 

 graph, the following remarks are made to explain clearly what is meant. The object is to 

 fend the distribution of the agricultural income among four classes of ryots, viz., 1st, 

 those who chiefly live by wages of labour but have also small holdings to supplement 

 their earnings from this source ; 2ndly, those who can subsist entirely by cultivating 

 their holdings, provided they do all the work themselves and do not employ hired labour ; 

 Srdly, those who can subsist partly by cultivating their lands and partly by employing 

 hired labour ; and 4:thly, those who can live entirely on rent, Now it is useless to classify 



