§4 REMARKS ON AGRICULTURE 



The remedy for these evils is obvious to every one, 

 and the application of it would fully reward any per- 

 son who would engage heartily in it. 



In this district several obstacles to agriculture pre- 

 sent themselves to the farmer. Large numbers of 

 wild buffaloes and hogs infest the fields, and make 

 it necessary for the farmer to watch his crop, from 

 the time it appears above ground, till the harvest is 

 gathered in : as this watching is impracticable beyond 

 a certain extent, is attended with much danger, and 

 often ineffectual, the cultivation carried on by an in- 

 dividual must be proportionably limited. 



The inundations which are occasioned by the sud-^ 

 den overflowing of the rivers, frequently destroy the 

 crop through a large extent of country, or so much 

 injure it, that by this alone, the laborious husbandman 

 is often so reduced in his circumstances, as to be un- 

 able, or so discouraged as to be afraid, to carry on the 

 cultivation of the soil with any degree of spirit. The 

 beasts might be destroyed, or their ravages pre- 

 vented, in various w^ays ; but it is difficult to provide 

 sufficiently againt the effects of inundations. 



Perhaps the encouragement of cold season crops 

 would be the best remedy for both : for the long 

 grass being destroyed by the cultivation of the low 

 lands, the wild animals would find no shelter, and in- 

 deed no sustenance, when the crop was off, which 

 might occasion them to desert the country, and the 

 cold season crop, though often less valuable than a 

 crop of rice, might prove a remuneration for the la- 

 bours of the cultivator, and by some improvements 

 might be brought to such a state as to become a source 

 of considerable profit. 



