[ 6i8 ] 



of oil-cakes. Of course, for enriching fields the purchase 

 of oil-cakes is always advisable, as the dung is richer when 

 the cattle are fed on oil-cakes. But for the purpose of feed- 

 ing cattle alone the purchase of oil-cakes is not necessary, 

 if three parts of the fodder used consist of graminaceous 

 kinds and one part of leguminous kinds. 



1,058. It may be said, why not do away with cattle alto- 

 gether, if to feed a yoke of oxen on natural pasture, the cultiv- 

 ator must set apart 4 acres of land, when the average holding 

 of a cultivator is only 5 acres ? It is just possible theoretically 

 for "every rood of land to maintain its man," i e. } for one acre 

 of land to maintain a family of 4 or 5 members, also for a man 

 with the help of his wife and one or two fairly grown up 

 children, to cultivate one acre of land with such hand-tools as 

 spade, hand-hoe &c. But it is only by dint of hard and 

 steady labour distributed over the whole year that a man can 

 with hand-labour only, get sufficient food for himself and his 

 family out of one acre of land. A family of 4 or 5 members 

 may be regarded as consisting of 2\ adult units each requir- 

 ing 6 maunds of food grains for sustenance, or 15 maunds in 

 all. An acre of land produces ordinarily about 15 to 20 

 maunds of grain, partly cereals and partly pulses. At times, 

 it so happens, that cultivators are compelled owing to the 

 wholesale death of cattle caused by famine or rinderpest, to 

 have recourse to spade cultivation. They are then able, by 

 dint of hard labour, distributed throughout the year to culti- 

 vate only about i acre per family and just keep themselves 

 alive. But it so happens in this country that each family has 

 allotted to it an average quantity of 5 to 6 acres of land, and 

 it is possible with lighter labour (with the assistance of cattle) 

 for the family to earn a good deal more than bare living. 'By 

 the help of fodder crops, one can not only grow crops for 

 home consumption and sale, but also keep his cattle in good 

 condition, in which case they can render more efficient help 

 to his cultivation than they could otherwise do. The import- 



