52 Cultivation, Manuring, Measuring, etc. 



left of the preceding one set ploughing, say, from 

 north to south, and another set working at right angles 

 across their furrow from east to west. 



After the land has been well turned over and the 

 size of the clods somewhat reduced, a roller is passed 

 over the ground to further pulverize the earth. These 

 rollers are either large blocks of wood carved or cut 

 with a thread like a screw, or smooth cylinders of 

 stone, and are drawn by a pair or two of bullocks or 

 buffaloes, usually the oldest and most worn-out ani- 

 mals in the factory, which not being smart and active 

 enough for ploughing, are put to this slow and ardu- 

 ous work, in which dead weight tells more than 

 strength' and activity. After rolling down the clods, 

 the ground is again ploughed up, perhaps three or 

 four times, according to the dryness, stubbornness, or 

 clayiness of the soil. The smaller clods which remain 

 are then finally broken by hand by gangs of, from 

 50 to 100 women and children, boys and girls, in one 

 long row, who keep up a perpetual din, beating time 

 on the clods with thick short sticks amidst clouds of 

 dust. until there is not a lump left bigger than an or- 

 dinary walnut. In February the sowings commence, 

 and seed drills are busily at work. After the drill 

 follows an instrument, drawn by bullocks, like a long 

 bamboo ladder, which smooths the earth over the 

 seeds, and then the lands are left. In from four to five 



