l6 FOOTE: GEOLOGY OF THE BELLARY DISTRICT. 



and in the adjoining Harapanahalli taluq, and generally on the 

 Mysore plateau, seems to indicate the desirability of trying to grow 

 the Arabian date in this part of the Deccan, as if it succeeds it would 

 be of incalculable benefit to these poor and often famine-troubled high- 

 lands. The Arabian date would take the place of the wild one and be 

 grown sedulously for the sake of the rich food-supply it yields. The 

 fruit of the wild date, though edible and much sought after by children, 

 is too small to form an important article of food and would doubtless 

 in time be replaced by the Arabian, which is too valuable as a food- 

 plant to be destructively tapped for its sap only. The eventual sub- 

 stitution of a tree yielding a rich supply of food, for one yielding only 

 an injurious intoxicant, could hardly fail in the long run to confer a 

 very genuine blessing on the people generally. 



The Harapanahalli taluq, which forms the south-west corner of 



the district, is mainly hilly and undulating in its 



Harapanahalli Taluq. ^^ and ^ Qnly a p proximately flat country 



lies alono- the left bank of the Chikka Haggari, where are the only 

 spreads of cotton soil large enough to be worth noticing. The greater 

 part of the taluq is covered by red soil and the valleys are, as a rule, 

 fertile and capable of growing large and fine fruit and timber trees. The 

 stream valleys would appear admirably adapted for the culture of the 

 Arabian date palm, as was pointed out above. Very little forest 

 remains on the majority of the hilis, but the Forest Department is at 

 work, and if duly encouraged will in a few years cause the reserved 

 tracts to make a visible show. 



Owing to the greater number of suitable valleys they contain, the 

 western taluqs show a much larger number of irrigation tanks than 

 do the much more level eastern taluqs. 



Huvina Haddagalli taluq, the next in order, is the least hilly in 



TT ,j „• the whole district, as, excepting the northern 

 Huvina Haddagalli r & 



Taluq. end of the Mallapan Betta range and the northern 



spur of the Kalhalli Gudda, there is not a single hill of any importance 

 within the taluq. The general surface of the taluq is undulating, 

 and considerable spreads of cotton soil occur in the northern and east- 

 ( 16 ) 



