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classes have improved, the middle classes have deteriorated. Such an 

 assertion carries with it its own refutation. There is no sharp division 

 between the several classes in this country, and the gradations rise or 

 fall by imperceptible degrees, and when there is improvement in the 

 higher and lower strata it stands to reason that it extends all along 

 the line. The classes which work neither with the head nor with the 

 hands have, of course, suffered under the present regime. Persons 

 belonging to the middle classes who have .not been able to rise to the 

 requirements of the times and keep up with their fellows have also 

 had to sink relatively to a lower position, much to their chagrin and 

 discontent. Barring individual exceptions, that the middle classes as 

 a whole have risen along with the higher and lower classes, there 

 cannot be the slightest doubt. 



The question ariseSj if the condition of the country as a whole has 

 not deteriorated since 1870, but, on the contrary, has improved, and if 

 the area of cultivation has not increased in proportion to the increase 

 in population, how is the additional wealth obtained ? The sources of 

 this additional wealth are (1) improved cultivation in tracts of country 

 where the conditions admit of it ; (2) extension of cultivation of valu- 

 able commercial products ; (3) the substitution owing to extension of 

 communications of cultivation of soils in tracts hitherto inaccessible for 

 cultivation of poor soils in tracts which have had all along the 

 advantage of good communications ; (4) additional value obtained for 

 commercial produce by reduction in the cost of transport by sea 

 and land ; and (5) the saving in the cost at which imported mer- 

 chandise is obtained both on account of the reduction in the cost of 

 production in the country whence the articles are obtained, and the 

 cost of transport. That these causes have diminished the pressure of 

 population will be seen from the fact that it is in the prosperous 

 districts— Tan j ore, Trichinopoly, Malabar, Madura, Tinnevelly and 

 Coimbatore — that the increase in the area of holdings has fallen much 

 short of the increase in population. In Tanjore, though cultivation is 

 not as careful as it ought to be, it is certainly much more careful than 

 it was in times past ; manure is made use of to a greater extent than 

 formerly. In the Shiyali taluk, I understand, owing probably to the 

 example set by the late Mr. Krishnasamy Mudelliar, more efficient 

 cattle power is employed for ploughing and the cattle are better fed 

 ■ and less liable to epizootics. In the dry districts the improvement in 

 agriculture has taken the form.of extension of well cultivation, which 

 is undoubtedly advancing by rapid strides when the expense and the 

 risk involved in finding suitable sites for wells are taken into account. 

 Manures are also applied to a considerable extent to market garden 

 produce in the vicinity of towns. Mr. Benson, in his analysis of the 

 agricultural statistics of the Kurnool district, notes : " For the irri- 

 gated lands near Nandyal, the whole country is swept to find manure. 

 Indigo vat refuse is brought from as far as 20 or 30 miles for use there, 

 and prices varying from Annas 8 to Rs. 5 a cart-load are paid for it. 

 The ryot no doubt appreciates such manures as are known to him, but 

 the number he uses is limited, and above all others, he does not appear 

 to understand the conservation of them. This is perhaps not surprising 

 when it is remembered how modern is any knowledge of the subject.^' 

 The bats' dung in the Bella Surghum caves is, it appears, collected and 

 carried away by men from Cuddapah, The extensiQn pf the cultivation 



