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



The carts used for bringing home crops from distant fields are termed 

 Sudaha and are of the very rudest description, but very light and able 

 to go over very rough ground without injury. 



Production. 30th. — I divide the productions of the district under 

 the heads of the two seasons — 1st, the kharif or autumn crops which 

 are sown in June and August ; 2nd, the rabbi or spring harvest the 

 sowing for which takes place in November and December. 



31 st. The main kharif crop in value is cotton. This is sown as 

 soon as the rains commence in June or July, if the rains are late, a less 

 breadth is sown, as a fine crop cannot be expected. It is generally 

 mixed with some other plant, such as the Hibiscus cannabinus, Joar, 

 Indian corn very thinly scattered and cut down before the cotton has 

 attained its full growth, or Arhar (Cajanus bicolor), which succeeds the 

 cotton in the end of the cold weather. The cotton begins to ripen in 

 October, and is collected till January when the plant withers away. 



32nd. Joar (Sorghun) is the most extensive crop as well as the 

 cotton, it is very carefully weeded in the earlier part of the season, and 

 a plough is lightly run through it to loosen the soil about the roots, 

 the plant grows to a great height, — whole fields from 1 2 to 15 feet 

 high, — the stalks are good fodder for cattle ; they are chopped small and 

 sold in the Bazar under the name of Kutya. The heads are cut off 

 and brought to the thrashing floor when ripe, which is seldom till the 

 end of November or beginning of December. 



33rd. Bajra (Pennicillaria spicata) is likewise very extensively cul- 

 tivated in all repects similarly to Joar. They are not ripe till the latter 

 end of October or November, nor are the stalks all cut till February. 

 In Pergannah Chibu, the stalks are used for thatching, a purpose to 

 which I have not seen it applied elsewhere. 



34th. Sun (Crotolaria juncea : country hemp) is a frequent crop. 

 The practice of leaving it to wither and ripen its seeds before cutting 

 is a universal system and most injurious to the strength of the fibre 

 produced. It is cut in January, and soaked in the rivers and ponds 

 for some days, the outer bark is then taken off and the inner fibres 

 pulled off by hand, the residue termed Silowa is used for basket making, 

 and coarse mats to protect mud walls from the rain, &c. &c. 



35th. Sun (Hibiscus cannabinus) is grown along the edges of 

 fields, and mixed with cotton or Arhar, and is treated in a similar man-? 

 ner to the Crotolaria. 



