HEPORT OF THE STATISTICIAN. 521 



Estimated yield of wheat per acre. 



Provinces. 



Class I. 



Class EL 



Class III. 









20 



11 



7* 



10 





do.... 



22 



15 



9 



13 





do.... 



18 



10 



6 



a 







16 



10 



6 



8 





do.... 



12 



8 



5 



7 



The highest provincial average is assigned to the Northwest Prov- 

 inces and Oudh, where "a greater area of land is believed to fall into 

 the first category than in even the fertile plains and river valleys of 

 the Punjab." In the Central Provinces the physical conditions are 

 highly favorable, but the cultivation is inferior. "In Berar the best 

 land is given up to cotton, and wheat is a secondary crop, to which com- 

 parative^ little labor or care is given. In Bombay the yield of the 

 richest lands in Guzerat is probably unsurpassed in India, but in the 

 Deccan there is a large amount of poor land, which greatly reduces the 

 average outrun of the presidency." 



The estimate of total production based upon the areas and average 

 yields above given is "between 5,500,000 and 6,000,000 tons for British 

 India, and 1,250,000 tons for the native states, making a total of be- 

 tween 6,750,000 and 7,250,000 tons for all India; or, taking the lower 

 figure, 252,000,000 bushels of 60 pounds to the bushel." The distribu- 

 tion of this total may be approximately stated as follows : 



Bushels of 60 pounds. 



Northwest Provinces and Oudh 80, 600, 000 



Punjab 70,000,000 



Central Provinces - 32, 000, 000 



Bombay 14, 400, 000 



Berar 4,900,000 



Other British provinces 3, 433, 334 



Total for British India 205, 333, 334 



Native states 46,666,666 



Total for all Ind i a 252, 000, 000 



Of this total it is roughly estimated in the document from which the 

 above estimates are taken that about one-fourth may be available for 

 export. 



PROBABLE EXTENSION OF WHEAT CULTURE. 



The lands of British India, now lying waste, but assumed to be cult- 

 urabie, are reported as 182,069 square miles in the preceding table ; and 

 of this area only 83,600 are found in wheat-growing provinces, mostly 

 in the Punjab, Oudh, Northwestern, and Central Provinces. Should 

 this area come into cultivation in the proportion of the present distri- 

 bution of crops, it would add about twelve million acres, or a breadth 

 somewhat larger than our own spring wheat area of the Northwest. Of 

 course it would be possible to give a larger proportion to wheat. In a 

 country so conservative as India, so slow in industrial progress, the 

 requisite changes to produce such results, the improvement of imple- 

 ments of cultivation, selection of seed, care in preparing for market, and 

 the extension of railway facilities, cannot be expected to occur very 

 rapidly. 



The country roads and bridges are poor, and the railroad mileage in 



