HAPPY INDIA 53 



cattle, cows, bulls and buffaloes, sheep, goats, horses, 

 donkeys, mules, camels. This dung contains phos- 

 phates, potash and nitrates, humus, and other 

 things of great value, and without these things the 

 soil cannot give a good return for cultivation. 



Therefore we have the extraordinary fact that 

 in India the wheat crop is frequently only one-fifth 

 of the average wheat crop in Great Britain. A crop 

 in India is often only 400 Ib. of grain per acre, as 

 compared with the average British crop of 2,000 Ib. 

 of grain per acre. There are mighty forests in the 

 Himalayas, and in other parts, from which small 

 wood might be cut without destroying the forests, 

 and which might be sent in trucks over a great part 

 of India to supply the needs of the people. Coal 

 might also be sent to the towns, instead of the 

 towns buying cowdung from the agriculturalists. Of 

 course the necessary arrangements mean a lot of 

 bother, but if the Government is going to govern 

 at all it had better try to govern well. One would 

 like to feel proud of one's nation, and it is to be 

 hoped that the nation will stir itself and put things 

 right in India without delay. 



