APPENDIX I 221 



fragmentation of the land, but indicate also the very 

 awkward and unsuitable shapes into which the plots are 

 divided. Some of these narrow strips running the whole 

 length of the field are only 22 feet wide. Such a division 

 makes effective tillage and irrigation impossible. 



CASE No. XV. 



In the case of poorer land the amount of subdivision and 

 fragmentation is naturally less so far as the figures are con- 

 cerned, though from the economic point of view matters are 

 often at least as bad. 



The following figures are for the village of Khadki, taluka 

 Man, district Satara. The soil is of the poorest and the rain- 

 fall as capricious as anything in the Deccan. The lands of 

 this village may be taken as representing land on the very 

 margin of cultivation, indeed most of them are well below 

 the economic margin : — 



Occupied area . 

 Assessment 



Average assessment per acre 

 Number of land-holders . 

 Number of separate plots 

 Average size of holding- 

 Average size of plot . . . 2\ acres. 



In the great majority of holdings, however, the size of the 

 separate plots is much bigger than this. The patil has the 

 largest holding with 137 acres divided into 17 plots, the 

 average size of each plot being 8 acres. It is in the survey 

 numbers which contain a well that fragmentation is marked, 

 e.g.— 



Survey No. 191 : area 16 acres ; assessment Rs.4. 



There are 14 separate plots in this field, belonging to 14 

 separate persons, and each of these persons has a share in 

 the one well in the field. 



