10 



The field requires no further attention. As the rains set in the land gets gradually flooded, but 

 as long as there is no very sudden increase to the depth of the water the plant continues to grow so 

 that the ear is not submerged. The usual height of the plant is from three to four feet, but the variety 

 sown where there is deep water continues growing, and the ear tops the water even when 15 to 20 feet 

 deep. In deep water the grain is harvested in boats, merely the ear being gathered. When the water 

 retires the straw is either burned on the spot, or used for cattle bedding and similar purposes, being 

 unfit for other use after its immersion. 



By far the largest number of varieties of paddy, as well as the largest quantity, are first sown in 

 nurseries and then planted out by hand. This ensures a greater regularity in the crop, is a saving of 

 seed, and also admits of some latitude in selecting the most favorable time for planting out. The 

 nursery is prepared on higher lands, which not having been flooded and then exposed to the severe 

 hot weather sun, remain friable during the whole year. 



The soil is well ploughed and harrowed, the light wooden plough and the wooden beam or light 

 frame of bamboo being invariably the only implements. The ground is haud-weeded and a fine seed- 

 bed prepared, and the seed is sown about two months before the rains set in.* In the case of some 

 varieties the seed is subjected to a germinating process before being sown, being steeped in water, 

 allowed to dry, and again moistened till they begin to swell. This practise is not universal. 



The seed-bed for a bigga of land (14,400 sq. ft.) is less than \ a cotta in extent, or say 360 feet, and 

 is sown with 2\ lbs. of seed ; for an acre of land the area of the seed-bed would approximately be 1,080 

 feet and the quantity of seed 1\ lbs. 



The field is cultivated, as in the previous instance ; witb the addition of further ploughings when 

 the water lodges on the land, provision being made to keep the water from draining off the field by 

 means of the network of embankments with which the face of the country is covered. 



The field being well puddled is ready to receive the seedlings which are by that time about a foot 

 and more high. The seedlings are uprooted with a small spud, the earth shaken off the roots, and planted 

 three or four together by hand about 9 inches apart, the roots being simply pressed by hand into the 

 puddled soil. The seedlings can be kept after being uprooted for a day or two, and in cases where seed- 

 beds have failed through want of rain or other causes, seedlings are taken considerable distances. 



As the rainy season advances, the amount of water in the field is regulated, and should it be in- 

 sufficient recourse is had to irrigation, the water lifts being of the most simple construction. Irrigation 

 is, however, only a temporary measure, as, should the rain fail altogether and more especially at the 

 season when the ear should be filling, the crop can seldom be saved by such means. Should the season 

 be favourable there will, at all times, be water in the fields varying in depth from two or three inches 

 to a foot and more. After the crop has been planted out, beyond a few hand weedings, it requires no 

 further attention. 



With the cessation of the rains and the advent of the cold weather, the water begins to dry off the 

 land and the crop ripens, it is cut with the small reaping hook of the country. In the parts of the 

 country where the paddy straw is used for thatching houses, the reaping is carefully done, the straw 

 being kept straight and orderly. In other districts where labour is scarce, or fodder for cattle plenty, 

 and straw otherwise of little account, only the ears are cut off. 



The crop is allowed to dry on the field for a day, and is then carried to the threshing floor on their 

 heads by the reapers, who are generally paid in kind, the proportion they receive varying in different 

 districts. For threshing two methods are employed. Where it is requisite to keep the straw straight 

 and unbroken, the grain is beaten out by handfuls over a block. In other places where straw is used 

 only for fodder and not for thatching, it is trodden out by cattle. 



Winnowing is done by shallow baskets of the grain being shaken out from a height, the chaff 

 flying to one side and the grain forming a heap. 



These operations are mostly conducted in the open air, the settled weather at that season obviating 

 the necessity of barns for this purpose. 



The grain is not subjected to any special drying process beyond the exposure to sun and air it re- 

 ceives during the foregoing operations. The climate even in Lower Bengal is at that season very dry, 

 and the sun remains powerful enough to drive off much of the moisture. • 



As a marketable article the paddy can be, and frequently is, sold off the threshing floor, but it is 

 considered less wholesome than old rice for immediate consumption. When threshing is completed, the 



w Properly speaking rice can be cultivated all the year round if sufficient water is available, 



operations, two each month, may be shewn as follows : — 



Month. Sown. Reaped. 



January ... ... Boro ... Marsh Anion. 



February ... ... do. ... do. 



March ... ... Aus and Marsh Aman. ... — 



April ... ... do. 



May ... ... do. 



June ... ... do. 



July ... ... Aman (transplanted) 



August ... ... do. 



Soptember ... ... — ... 



October ... ... Boro 



Novembor ... ... do. ... 



December ... ... do. 



. the 



Boro 



Boro & Aus. 

 Aus. 



do. 



do. 



do. 



Lowland Aman. 

 do. 

 do. 



T. S. U. 



