( 33A ) 



absence of any reserve of fodder in the shape of cut and stacked 

 grass renders it impossible for the people of this precarious tract to 

 maintain the cattle on which they so largely depend. 



6. There is evidence that, though cultivation has on the- whole 

 remained steady in the ravine tract from settlement to settlement, 

 there has been a material and important extension of erosion at the 

 top of the ravines. The extent to which arable land has suffered 

 varies widely in different localities, but there is ample proof of very 

 serious loss in the changed position of the old Mughal road, 

 traces of the former alignment being visible in the middle of 

 the Auraiya ravines, and elsewhere in the altered condition of 

 the cultivated area noticeable on a comparison of the maps of 

 the past and present settlement. Loss has been balanced by 

 possibly a small increase in cultivation on the river banks below 

 the ravines and by an extension of tillage, due to pressure of 

 population, in the less favourable parts of the uplands which border 

 on the ravines. It was recognised that the land lost was generally 

 of the best quality obtainable in the tract, whereas the land newly 

 reclaimed was on the margin of cultivation and more than ordinarily 

 precarious and unproductive. 



7. An examination of the figures available show for the tract 

 as a whole no very material changes in the population. The 

 returns of 1872 were rejected by the Committee as being probably 

 unreliable ; but a comparison of the statistics obtained at the 

 census of 1891 and at the two following enumerations reveal a 

 gain in certain parts, such as Patti Kamet, but a noteworthy de- 

 crease in the areas beyond the Chambal. The cattle census shows 

 a general decrease in the number of animals, but possibly this is 

 due to temporary causes. The latest figures are those of 1909, and 

 the enumeration was made after a succession of dry years. The 

 Committee consider that the returns of 1904 showed a normal 

 strength of cattle, as there is no reason to believe that the ravine 

 tract ever yielded more pasture or was materially more prosperous 

 than at the present time. 



8. The returns exhibit a marked increase in the exports of ghi 

 from the various railway stations of the district. It is not clear, 

 however, to what extent thislncrease has been derived from the tract 

 now in question, inasmuch as the collecting trade has undergone 

 an extenAve development and the area served by Auraiya and 

 other distributing centres is indeterminate. Large quantities of ghi 

 are imported from G-walior and Jalaun to stations in the Etawah 

 district ; but there is no reason to believe that the produce of ghi in 

 the Etawah ravine country has diminished. On the contrary, it has 

 probably increased owing to the rise in the number of buffaloes 



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