38 LABOUR 



Extracting fibre— Agave fibre. — One man and one 

 woman will extract 50 lb. of dry fibre in a day from fresh 

 leaves. 



Coir fibre. — A woman can beat out 25 lb. of coir fibre 

 per day. 



Gogu. — Cutting or pulling crop, 10 women or 10 men. 

 Bundling, 6 women per acre. Betting, 2 men will arrange 

 the bundles and weight them off one acre (20,000 lb.), while 

 in stripping, 3 men will supply stalks to 30 women or boys 

 who will strip the above amount and produce 800 lb. of dry 

 fibre per acre. 



Sunnhemp. — The fibre is obtained by beating the 

 retted stalks in water. Forty men will cut and beat the 

 produce of one acre (15,000 lb. of green stalks) and obtain 

 600 lb. of dry fibre per day. 



In Tinnevelly reaping the crop and bundling Rs. 4 per 

 acre. 



Grinding — Cotton seed. — This may be done wet as in 

 Coimbatore where a woman or boy will do 7 lb. per hour, 

 i.e., 50 lb. per day, enough for 17 animals, or dry as in Ceded 

 districts where two boys sitting on either side of large stone 

 will crush 100 lb. per day. 



Harrowing — Brush harrow.— A number of branches 

 (weighted) drawn by a pair ; covers an area of 5 to 6 acres of 

 a sown field. 



The Sampson harrow works 2^ to 3 acres a day in open 

 fields or if the crop is not too high. 



Seed harrow covers about 5 to 6 acres a day. 



Harvesting— Bengal gram.— This is pulled out of the 

 ground and needs 5 to 6 women per acre. 



Cholam. — Three women will cut the crop off an acre 

 and 5 women will remove the heads. The heads (850 lb.) of 

 an acre will fill 1 or \\ carts, and 1 man and 2 boys will be 

 needed to load and remove to the floor. Bundling and 

 stooking is generally done by men and needs per acre 4 men. 

 The straw [4,000 lb.] off an acre will fill four carts. 



Fodder Cholam. — One woman will cut and bundle 

 1,000 lb. a day. 



In Tinnevelly, on black soils, 2 men and 8 women will 

 cut and bundle 1 acre of fodder cholam, i.e., about 1 ton. 



Cotton picking. — In a heavy crop 1 woman will pick 

 25 to 30 lb., but in a poor crop the quantity may be as low 

 as 10 lb. 



In Cambodia cotton, as much as 100 lb. per day may 

 be picked by a woman in a good season. 



