98 Report on the Statistics of Banda. [No. 2. 



how far they differ from the Peninsular black soil. The main differ- 

 ence in description is that this soil here is not so easily pulverized as is 

 there described. It is very retentive of moisture which is the main 

 cause of its exceeding fertility ; the gradual drying of the ground pro- 

 duces cracks and fissures, which continue deepening during the conti- 

 nuance of the dry weather ; I have found however the soil quite moist 

 at 4 feet below the surface in the month of June, after seven months 

 unbroken drought. 



1 6 th. The following are the local native names of the different varie- 

 ties of soils, — Mar or Marwd, is the blackest, of a very close grain and 

 exceeding hardness, and when dry of a shining conchoidal fracture ; this 

 is generally situated in extensive patches rather lower in level than the 

 rest of the country, and consequently crops in it are liable to injury 

 from overrain. I am inclined to attribute the deepness of its color and 

 richness to the admixture of decomposed vegetable matter. 



17th. Kabur is in many respects similar to the Mar, it is of a 

 lighter color, is more mixed with sandy particles, is not quite so pro- 

 ductive as the former in its best seasons, but more uniformly to be 

 depended upon. 



18^. Gond (or Khera) is the name given to the land immediately 

 adjoining villages, these are generally highly manured and occasionally 

 even irrigated and cultivated with tobacco or vegetables. 



\§th. Dandi is more gravelly than Segon and less so than Kankur, 

 generally on highest ground whence its name, and most cultivated in 

 the rainy season. 



20th. Purwa is similar in all essential parts, but less fertile, of a red- 

 dish color, and as far as I can ascertain, the best of the three for cot- 

 ton ; it is also termed Segon. 



21 st. Kankur is very extensive in the southern parts of the dis- 

 trict, and is the worst soil, containing a great deal of sand. 



22nd. Barwd is a sandy loam, but of very partial distribution. 

 Tari and Kachar are sandy loams of very rich quality lying low by 

 the side of streams, the former is sometimes, the latter annually, sub- 

 merged by floods in the rains. These floods often leave an exceedingly 

 rich deposit termed Now lewa, which gives the finest crops of wheat ; 

 but the extent of this soil varies every year and often alternates with 

 barren sand. When the water subsides in the Jumna, and as soon as 



