THE ANNALS 



AND 



MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY, 



[SECOND SERIES.] 

 No. 34. OCTOBER 1850. 



XXI. — On the Hedge Plants of India y and the conditions which 

 adapt them for special purposes and particular localities. By 

 Dr. Hugh F. C. Cleghorn, Hon. E.I.C.S.* 



It is my purpose to notice the hedge-plants observed in the 

 Peninsula, as well as a few indigenous species of frequent occur- 

 rence, from the employment of which advantages may be derived. 

 My intention is to glance at them under their botanical and 

 agricultural characters, and to allude to some which deserve to 

 be generally diffused with a view to their oeconomical properties 

 and practical utility. 



Since my admission on the Madras establishment in 1842, 

 I have traversed a considerable portion of that Presidency in 

 the execution of duty, including the Southern Division, the 

 territories of Mysore, with parts of Canara, and the Southern 

 Mahratta country. Along the line of march, and in the course 

 of botanical rambles, I made rough camp notes as to the vege- 

 tation and genera] appearance of the country. From want of 

 leisure, these were unavoidably very imperfect, yet they may 

 serve to attract attention to a subject which seems to me of no 

 small importance; and I trust some little advantage may be 

 derived from my observations. 



The system of Indian husbandry continues much in the rude 

 state our fathers found it a century ago. In the day of rapid 

 progress at home, agriculture in Hindostan evinces few signs of 

 improvement. The farming utensils are simple and wretched ; 

 the most abject utilitarianism characterizes field operations. 

 With the Ryot no motive seems to exist beyond providing the 

 means of immediate subsistence : he scratches the soil with his 

 black-wood plough, tipped with iron, and made light with the 

 pole of bamboo, so as to be carried on the shoulder ; he drops 



* Read to the British Association, August 1, 1850. An abstract was 

 previously laid before the Botanical Society of Edinburgh. 

 Ann. ^ Mag. N. Hist. Ser.2. VolVi. 16 



