cclxxx 



24 per cent, at market rates. If they fail to do so, the contract is 

 enforced with a small additional amount calculated at a certain rate 

 per candy for the disappointment caused. Even the loss of 20 per 

 cent, on a sum expected in a few months is ruinous to a tenant. Why 

 he foregoes this amount will be explained further on. 



" Coffee. — It should not be supposed that Europeans alone have coffee 

 gardens in Wynaad. Jenmies and small farmers rear coffee plants on 

 their parambas and waste lands according to their means and circvmi- 

 stances. The soil is virgin and fertile and the climate congenial to 

 their growth. The petty jenmies and tenants are in need of money 

 like those who farm pepper gardens at the foot of the hills. The 

 middlemen first estimate coffee crops and purchase them for a price 

 which would give them not less than 20 per cent, profit on their outlay. 

 The expenses of plucking, &c., are borne by them. The wholesale mer- 

 chants in the town purchase coffee for the market price, from petty 

 traders who have received advance, in adjustment of principal and 

 interest which is generally not less than 24 per cent. The processes of 

 purchasing and selling coffee are similar to those detailed above for 

 pepper. The above method is not applicable to European planters 

 who generally borrow large sums from the bank directly for expenses 

 of cultivation and for the payment of coolies in their gardens. 



" Cocoanut. — The process is the same. But it is purchased by the 

 thousand. If 1,000 cocoanuts are expected to be sold at Es. 25 in 

 January, the pre-payment for the same quantity is Rs. 15 to Es. 17 in 

 September. In this case the petty traders' profit will be about 30 per 

 cent, on the outlay. Their risk is greater and they are almost entirely 

 at the mercy of the tenants who generally have nothing and often- 

 times not even the trees to pledge. Hence under this head advances 

 to tenants are not made for large sums. In cases of failure to fulfil 

 the engagement, legal steps are taken to enforce the contract according 

 to the penal rates stipulated therein. 



" I do not mean to say that the old practice of advancing money on 

 pepper, coffee and cocoanuts has died out entirely. It has almost gone 

 out and there may be rare occurrences in the interior parts. By the 

 new method the connection between petty traders and tenants ceases 

 and is renewed annually. While the latter are not much harassed the 

 former do not lose their profit largely. It is found convenient to both 

 parties." 



As to the question why small farmers and tenants receive advances 

 on crops on disadvantageous terms instead of harvesting the produce 

 and selling it on their own account when the price is high, the Regis- 

 trar remarks that the reason for this is not to be found in the heaviness 

 of the land tax or extravagant expenditure during the " Onam" feast as 

 suggested by Dr. Buchanan, but in the great poverty of the lower 

 classes of the cultivators due to the system of landholding under the 

 Marumakattayam law. It is not to the interest of the karnavan or 

 the head of a Malabar family who is uncontrolled in regard to the 

 disposal of the income of the property to invest money either on 

 improvements to property or in helping tenants with advances. The 

 tenants are, as a rule, rack-rented and have to pay heavy renewal fees 

 whenever kanom mortgages are renewed. The Nairs, as a class, do not 

 engage in trade which is almost entirely in the hands of the Moplahs, 



