( 3A ) 



plain of the centre can be clearly traced by the deepening in the 

 colour of the soil. 



In considering the subject of irrigation in this district, however, 

 it must be remembered that retention of moisture in so much of 

 the soil renders a watering in a normal year unnecessary. Besides 

 this the practice of embanking uneven ground has had the effect 

 of protecting considerable areas from the worst effect of drought, 

 especially in the broken tracts along the rivers, where direct irriga- 

 tion is ordinarily impossible. 



The principal river among these is the Non which, traversing 

 the centre of the pargana, strikes the north-east of pargana Orai. 

 The broken land round this river is on an average one-half to a 

 mile wide on either side, and is remarkable for its abrupt declivi- 

 ties and sterility; the soil has in most places been completely 

 eroded by the scour, leaving a rook-like surface of kankar exposed; 

 thsre are a few fields on the lower level, but these are thickly coated 

 with kaokar. Equally destructive is a tributary of the Melunga 

 which runs at right angles northwards through- the heart of the 

 pargana surrounded by a deep border of waste land. Smaller 

 streams draining into both are gradually widening the uncultur- 

 able areas. To the south there are two small streams, the Bayar 

 and Jondhar, which join the Jumna near Kalpi, starting in uneven 

 and undulating, but not actually unculturable, land ; they too are 

 flanked by ravines before reaching their destination. 



The Betwa valley resembles the Jumna without its fertility. 



The drainage of the central tract is supplied by two minor 

 streams, the Non and the Melunga, which flowing north-eastwards 

 unite some eight miles from the Jumna bank and join that river 

 an equal distance to the north of the town of Kalpi. Like the 

 large rivers, they have carved deep ravines which increase in extent 

 the nearer the Jumna is approached, and, as a consequence of their 

 actions, the Kalpi pargana is cut up by a tracery of ravines which 

 have scoured the greater portion of the soil. 



Extracts from the District Gazetteer of the Hamirpur district, 

 United Provinces, by D. L. DRAKE-BROCKMA.N, ESQ., c.s., 1909. 



The upper reaches of the Barma river are rocky and lie deep 

 below the level of the surrounding country, but the watersheds 

 terminate few miles from the stream and but little land suffers 

 from the erosive action of its tributaries. After it leaves pargana 

 Rath these begin to be more frequent and form extensive ravines 

 that invade the fertile plains of Muskara and Rath and hardly 

 compensate for the deterioration they cause by depositing occasional 

 patches of alluvial silts. 



