132 KUMARI CULTIVATION. 



without the soil being touched by implement of any kind, but in 

 the taluk of Bekul the land is ploughed* The only further opera- 

 tions are weeding and fencing. The crop is gathered towards 

 the end of the year, and the produce is stated to be at least 

 double that which could be obtained under the ordinary modes 

 of cultivation (par. 10). A small crop is taken off the ground 

 in the second year, and sometimes in the third, after which the 

 spot is deserted until the jungle is sufficiently high to tempt the 

 kumari cutter to renew the process. In the south, where land 

 is more scarce compared with the population, the same land is 

 cultivated with kumari once in 12, 10, or 7 year's ; but in N. 

 Oanara, the virgin forest, or old kumari not cultivated within 

 the memory of man, are generally often selected. 



" 5. In some parts of Bekal (par. 13), which is the most southerly 

 of the taluks of Canara, kumari cutting forms part of the busi- 

 ness of the ordinary ryots, and as many as 25,746, or one-sixth 

 of the population, are supposed to be engaged in it ; but to the 

 north of that taluk (par. 15), it is carried on by the jungle tribes 

 of Malai Kaders and Mahratais to the number of 59,500. 



" 6. In Fasli 1266, the area under kumari cultivation through- 

 out the whole district was 17,084 acres, of which 8556 acres 

 were Sarkar kumari, that is, kumari carried on in forests not 

 claimed by the owners of estates, and 8528 acres, of which 5983 

 acres were within the limits of the Bekal taluk, were attached to 

 wargs or holdings of proprietors. 



" 7. The question of whether it is expedient to allow this species 

 of cultivation, first came under discussion in reference to the 

 report of Dr Gibson to the Government of Bombay, which was 

 referred to Mr Blane, collector of Canara, for his observations. 

 In accounting for a growing scarcity of timber, Mr Blane noticed, 

 among the most influential causes, the increase in the kumari 

 cultivation, which bid fair, he then considered, to destroy the 

 whole of the large virgin forests within a short time. He ex- 

 pressed his opinion that it should either be placed under con- 

 siderable check and regulation, or entirely prohibited, as had 

 been done in Mysore (par. 14). Mr Blair, a former collector, he 



* From Collector, 30th August ; in Con., 13th October 1858, par. 4. 



