August, 1909. J 



121 



Edible Products. 



so good for rice, 

 Leather's analysis 

 below :— 



being too heavy. Dr. 

 ot these soils is given 



Insoluble silicates and 



Ferric oxide ... 



Alumina 



Lime 



Magnesia 



Potash 



Soda 



Phosphoric acid 

 Sulphuric acid 

 Carbonic acid... 

 Organic matter and 

 oombined water 



Matasi. 

 sand 84-41 

 .. 412 

 .. 4-78 

 ... 0'28 

 . . 0-30 

 .. 43 

 ... 0-13 

 .. 02 

 . . very little 

 ... 0-J3 



... 2-40 



Dorsa Kanhar 

 soil. soil. 



74-68 

 8-71 



11-43 

 0-85 

 0-81 

 0-86 

 0-20 

 0-12 



69-73 

 7-64 



13-83 

 1-05 

 075 

 0-79 

 0-25 

 0-02 



0-09 0-08 

 4-35 5-86 



100-00 10000 10-00 



Total Nitrogen... 



Available phosphorio acid 

 Do do. potash 



Equivalent to calcium car- 

 bonate 



053 

 :001 

 •010 



•041 -036 

 001 -001 

 •011 -012 



■30 



•20 



•10 



The Raipur Experimental Farm is 

 fairly representative of this grading of 

 soils, ranging from bhata on the higher 

 land outside the farm limits to the 

 gently sloping fields of matasi, dorsa 

 and kanhar of the farm itself. The 

 matasi area is reserved solely for rice ; 

 the dorsa for rice followed by pulses, or 

 wheat as the sole crop of the year, and 

 the kanhar for wheat and sugarcane. 

 The farm was established mainly with 

 the view of solving problems relating to 

 the cultivation of rice, the staple crop 

 of the tract. One of the problems was 

 to find the best method of sowing and 

 after-cultivation. The methods prac- 

 tised in these provinces are transplant- 

 ing, biasi, broadcasting and lehi. As 

 practised in the Raipur Farm trans- 

 planting is carried out as follows : — 

 High lying plots, where water does not 

 collect, are selected as seed-beds, the 

 whole rice area being divided up into 

 one-tenth acre plots which are embanked 

 with bunds l\ feet high. The bunds 

 were constructed five years ago, and 

 have so far required very little repairs. 

 The area of the plots selected for seed- 

 beds is one-tenth that of the area 

 to be transplanted. The seed-beds are 

 ploughed by the country plough, soon 

 after the removal of the previous year's 

 crop, when the soil is moist after the 

 winter showers. The plots are then 

 twice harrowed in April or May, 

 manured with cattle dung at the rate of 

 about 5 tons to the acre in June, and 

 again harrowed after the first shower of 

 the rains. Seed is broadcasted at the 

 rate of 200 lbs. per acre. The seed may 

 be sown before the outbreak of the rains 

 if the land is sufficiently free from weeds. 

 The seedlings are ready in from three 

 16 



to four weeks, the time depending 

 largely on the quantity and quality of 

 the manure used. The plots to which 

 the seedlings are to be transplanted are 

 ploughed once in the dry weather. In 

 the beginning of the rains when the soil 

 is sufficiently saturated with moisture, 

 the plots are again ploughed and cross- 

 ploughed by the country plough, and 

 finally puddled by means ot the dotari, 

 i.e., a 6-feet beam fitted with harrow 

 teeth. If the field is uneven, mud is 

 dragged down from the higher to the 

 lower ground by means of the same im- 

 plement turned upside down, and then 

 called a kopar or mai. 



Buffaloes are mostly used for rice cul- 

 tivation, because they are stronger than 

 bullocks and take kindly to wet work of 

 this kind. In Chhattisgarh no nose 

 strings are used tor working cattle, but 

 by a dexterous use of the goad, and 

 cries of ar-r-r-r, hra-ha-ha-ha, etc., which 

 to the uninitiated are meaningless 

 enough, the ploughman manipulates his 

 animals with considerable skill within 

 the small area circumscribed by the 

 bunds of the rice plots. When the soil of 

 the plot has all been reduced to a creamy 

 consistency (of wet mud), the plot is con- 

 sidered ready for transplanting. The 

 seedlings, which are, when ready for 

 transplantation, about one foot high, 

 are uprooted, the worker resting on one 

 knee in the muddy water while doing 

 so. Each handful is tied into a small 

 bundle and placed on a khirri or sledge, 

 which is dragged to the plots in which 

 the seedlings are to be transplanted. 

 The khirri is so shaped so as to run easily 

 over the rice bunds. 



The bundles are scattered equally over 

 the plot to be transplanted so as to be 

 within easy reach of the labourers as 

 they move backwards. The root and 

 lower part of the stem of each seedling 

 is pushed into the soft mud to a depth 

 of one or two inches and at distances of 

 six or nine inches apart. The plants 

 take root in a week, at the end of which 

 time blanks are filled up. By planting 

 only one seedling to the hole the seed 

 rate is about 20 lbs. per acre. At this 

 rate the seed-bed will suffice to trans- 

 plant ten times its own area. In some 

 districts where transplanting is widely 

 practised, the seedlings are planted out 

 in bunches containing from two to five 

 plants, and the seed rate per acre is 80 

 lbs. One seedling per hole is the 

 standard adopted both on the Experi- 

 mental and Demonstration Farms. One 

 woman can transplant one-tenth acre in 

 one day of ten hours when seedlings are 

 brought to her. In most parts of Bhan- 

 dara and Balaghat the method of trans- 



