setting in of the monsoons. Under normal conditions they 

 begin in Ceylon between the I4th and 2Oth of May, at the 

 Andamans and Rangoon a few days later, and at the head of 

 the Bay during the first or second week of June. To obtain 

 telegraphic information regarding the monsoon currents from 

 various stations in Southern India, from Ceylon and from 

 the Andamans, is therefore of very great importance, special- 

 ly at the time of transplanting paddy. 



1 02. The amount and distribution of rainfall which 

 a particular locality receives, usually determine its produc- 

 tiveness, especially in the tropics. In the Malabar coast of 

 India and in parts of Assam the largest quantity of rainfall 

 occurs and these are the most productive tracts in India. The 

 regions of heavy rainfall, z. e. of 70 to 100 inches or more, 

 are Assam, parts of Eastern Bengal, the Cis-Himalayan region 

 of Northern Bengal and the Eastern and Western Ghauts. 



103. Elevation, which mainly determines the amount 

 of ammonia and nitric acid which come down by rain ; 

 latitude which determines temperature, and longitude which 

 determines directions of wind, are all potent meteorological 

 agencies influencing fertility. At low elevations a com- 

 paratively higher proportion of ammonia is obtained by 

 means of rainfall, but somewhat less of nitric acid, the 

 formation of which in the higher regions of the atmosphere 

 is due to electrical action in the clouds. Elevation also is 

 an evidence of the texture and composition of soils, also of 

 temperature and humidity, when the elevation is above 1000 

 feet. Calcutta is about 21 feet above the sea-level ; Dacca 35 

 feet; Sylhet 53 feet; Cuttack 80 feet ; Chittagong 86 feet ; 

 Burdwan 99 feet; Durbhanga 166 feet; Patna 182 feet, and 

 Darjiling 7,000 feet, above the sea-level. It can be inferred from 

 these figures, that the soil near Calcutta is finer and better 

 mixed than the soils of the other stations mentioned, while the 

 soil of Darjiling is the coarsest and rockiest, the fertility of 

 each portion depending on the kind of rock on which it rests. 



