Mbres. 



212 



[September, 1990- 



season and would bo required for one 

 season only. The Government should 

 pay the assessment, provide the seed, sow 

 it with the drill and do the subsequent 

 bullock-hoeing when necessary. The 

 ryot was to do the primary cultivation, 

 was to pen the land with sheep, and was 

 to do any hand-weeding, was to thinly 

 crpp as directed, and was to sell to *he 

 Department the main season Kappas, 

 well-dried, at Rs. 4 per candy of 500 lbs. 

 above the market price. It was interest- 

 ing to follow each of these seed farms, 

 as each was worked under different con- 

 ditions. The most satisfactory was at 

 Pallikkottia, a Vellala village, where 

 30 acres of cotton were grown for us. 

 The land belonged to several owners in 

 the village, each contributing three or 

 four acres. No man in the village owned 

 or rather farmed more than 15 acres, 

 and most of them had to depend on this 

 for a living. Thus, we had excellently 

 farmed land to deal with. At first the 

 ryot thought that he was risking a great 

 deal, having never seen anything but 

 his own cultivation before, but after- 

 wards, when he saw the germination 

 and subsequent growth, he looked after 

 his share of the cultivation to the best 

 of his ability. We were ingeniously 

 told when inspecting this area that next 

 year we could have our pick of the best 

 lands in the village if we wished to grow 

 cotton again, implying that this year 

 they had given us anything but their 

 best land. This village had already 

 ordered two shares of implements to be 

 made for them in Tinnevelly. The 

 trained coolie who looked to the sowing 

 of the seed-farm had also to sow land, 

 for people wished to try drill cultiva- 

 tion on their own account, but this was 

 confined to another village some ten 

 miles away, as the people of Pallikkottai 

 thought at the sowing time that they 

 were already risking enough in growing 

 seed for us. Though 30 acres of seed 

 farm are allowed for each trained coolie 

 to manage, if we had not been particular 

 about getting the seed sown in good 

 time, he could have sown a larger area. 

 Therefore, this demonstration work 

 was also added, as it was thought that 

 a man of this class would be spoilt if 

 he were allowed to idle his time. In 

 the village where the demonstration 

 blocks were, some inducement was neces- 

 sary to get people to try this. My 

 assistant offered to sow an atea of three 

 acres of land with two pairs of bullocks 

 at the same time that one of the ryots 

 who had just commenced sowing broad- 

 cast in the next field of similar area 

 would with seven pairs. This offer 

 decided the owner, and the work was 

 completed in both fields at the same time. 

 I saw the crops on inspection two months 



after sowing. No rain had fallen since 

 sowing till a few days before. In the 

 broadcasted field there were a few stray 

 plants, and the other seeds were just 

 germinating. In the drill-sown field 

 there was an excellent stand. 



In the next seed-farm at Maniyachi, 

 it was only with the Tahsildar's influeuee 

 that people unwillingly consented to 

 grow seed for us ; 20 acres belonging to 

 three owners were sown, and naturally 

 they gave their worst fields for the 

 purpose. Cattle could only be hired to 

 work the implements through the in- 

 fluence of the village headman. Sowing 

 was, however, completed on November 

 11th, having been delayed by previous 

 incessant raiu, and no more rain fell till 

 the end of January. The third seed-farm 

 at Mullakulam belongs to a retired 

 Government official, who, until now, has 

 leased out the land on a yearly lease. 

 The land here is poor and very shallow, 

 and, as a result of the system of lease, 

 very foul with weeds, but this year we 

 had to be content with what land we 

 could get. Here one of the objections to 

 locally trained coolies was met with. 

 The man had been used to sowing on 

 the fairly deep soil of Koil patty, and 

 coming here he sowed at the same 

 depth. Heavy rain soon waterlogged 

 this shallow soil, and germination was 

 spoilt. One of the owner's own servants, 

 an excellent Telugu cultivator, was 

 trained locally to assist this coolie sent 

 from Koilpatty, and he, knowing the 

 land evidently, sowed accordingly, as his 

 sowings gave an excellent stand. The 

 owner has done everything to assist 

 with his share of the work and has now 

 got the land fairly clean, so that the 

 next year his labour will not be lost. 

 Demonstration plots in the neighbouring 

 village of Telugu cultivators have given 

 excellent crops, one of the best that I 

 saw in the course of my last inspection. 



The fourth seed-farm of 30 acres is 

 at JNainapuram. Here the owner is a 

 rich man, and with the help of his son 

 and an agent attends to the cultivation 

 himself. This has not been inspected by 

 me as yet, but evidently the crop has 

 proved satisfactory, as the owner has 

 already ordered a set of implements to 

 be made for him for next season. The 

 fifth seed-farm is at Ettayapuram on 

 one of the zamindar's Home-Farm lands. 

 This is 100 acres and the largest of all, 

 but here work is not so easy as it is 

 when the land belongs to smaller ryots. 

 The land is not so well cared for, and all 

 the work has to be done through the 

 managers of the several Home Farm 

 lands, while the Home Farm coolie 

 establishments naturally follow the lead 

 of their master. This much depends on. 



