1840.] Account of Khyrpoor and the Fortress of Bukur, 1 11 1 



and five and six times over puJco land. A square beam of heavy wood 

 serves for a harrow, and is drawn over the last as often as the plough, but 

 hosee is only harrowed twice. The farmers of Moghulee purgunnah never 

 manure land, but weed it when the sprout is a span high, and again when 

 it has reached the height of four feet, at the same time they move the soil 

 with a hoe, and throw it up round the roots to nourish and give them 

 vigour. The seed is so^n in April, and the produce gathered in July. 

 The plant is often left in wet land till the following year, and yields a 

 second crop in May. It is generally of inferior quality to the produce of 

 India, but better than that of lower Sind. The gathering season lasts alto- 

 gether three months, but reapers attend only once or twice a week, as the 

 pods do not open in sufficient numbers to require their presence oftener. 

 The crop depends on the swell of the river. A jureb of hosee land yields 

 five muns of clean cotton, and a return of forty rupees after paying all 

 expenses : after deducting from this the government tax, amounting to a 

 fourth, it reduces the net profit of the cultivator to thirty rupees. Dry land 

 yields two and a half muns of cotton per jureb, and return of thirty rupees 

 after deducting the cost of labour, but government take a fifth, and leave 

 the cultivator twenty-five rupees. Black soil is scarce, and considered 

 rather better for cotton than puko land. It requires to be constantly 

 watered, and yields about two muns of clean cotton per jureb, seldom three 

 muns. Bosee cotton with seeds in it loses two parts in cleaning, and puko 

 cotton one-third, but their quality and price are the same. Three and 

 three and half seers were sold in 1838 for a rupee, and three seers in 1839, 

 but a sixth less if a purchaser took the pick of the warehouse. From twenty 

 to twenty-five seers of seed (wounuh) sold for the same money. Labourers 

 in cotton fields get an eighth or ninth of what they collect, which is a good 

 plan to stimulate their exertions. Some farmers give them only a sixth 

 of the harvest after the first gathering. 



There are a great variety of greens and spinach, and among the herbs 

 eaten as vegetables that grow spontaneously, are purslain, and a species of 

 aiparanthus. The gardens produce carrots, turnips, radishes, onions, 

 cucumbers, and several kinds of pumpkins, the egg-plant (bangun,) three 

 kinds of bean, pease, kurela (Momordica,) turnee, and mujoon, or dil 

 pusund. The leaves of the carrot, mustard, and pea (until the pulse forms) 

 are eaten, and the root of the lotus (Neerapur), which covers the lakes and 

 marshes. Sesamum, capsicum, garlic, and turmeric abound, and the last is 

 used as a dye. Among the varieties of spinach are chooka, puUee, thoon, 

 mohra, loonuk, mureera, methee, paluk, and the leaves of the ekra tree. 



The fruits are — the date, mangoe, plantain, pomegranate, apple, grape, 

 lime, citron, fig, apricot, water and musk melon, pistachio, and keora 



. 7c 



