222 COTTOtf IN THE MADRAS PRESIDENCY. [CHAP. VI. 



344 Soil. — " Cotton is chiefly grown in the Western portion 

 of the Cuddapah district, in land commonly designated 

 6 Eagada ' or Black Cotton soil, which is very tenacious 

 of moisture and is almost impassable in the monsoon. 

 During the dry weather, the whole surface of the 

 ground is broken up by the deep fissures caused by the 

 drought, but is filled up during the rains. The soil is 

 very fertile in almost every part of the district, though 

 there are some exceptions ; and upon it, various kinds 

 of cereals, pulse, oil seeds, and indigo are grown, which, 

 when sown on land which are properly taken care of 

 and manured, produce large returns. 



345 Weeds. — " Black Cotton land, if not annually 

 ploughed, but left waste for several years, very soon 

 becomes clogged by an Indigenous plant called Nut- 

 grass, which penetrates into the ground from three- 

 fourths to one yard deep, and the herbage spreads 

 along the surface of the field ; and should a Ryot 

 wish to cultivate this waste land, he will require to 

 yoke six or eight pairs of large heavy bullocks to his 

 plough to force it through the roots, which also require 

 to be extirpated by manual labour with the aid of pick- 

 axes. There is also an Indigenous plant with a root 

 something resembling a Potato, commonly called by 

 the Natives ' Kudunchy ; ' the root varies from the 

 size of a small to a large Potato, is excessively bitter, 

 and cannot be eaten, and from it springs a species of 

 vine, which runs along the ground and produces a yel- 

 low flower, and a fruit of the size of a small green chilly, 

 which is gathered by the Natives and used as food. I 

 have never seen this root in any other except in the 

 Black land. A species of wild Hyacinth is also very 

 common ; several other kinds of weeds common to 

 other soils are also produced upon Black soil. 



346 Geology and Topography. — " The Black Cotton soil 

 rests chiefly upon sand, kunkur, or lime. When ex- 

 cavations are made for the purpose of obtaining water, 

 it is found to extend 20 or 30 feet ; and when resting 

 upon the lime, the water found is brackish and unfit 

 for domestic purposes ; when resting upon sand, the 

 water is generally sweet. The soil may be stated to 



