Miftcel laneous. 



344 



[October, 1909. 



damp, cool climates, but require water 

 to mature them. Contrary to general 

 opinion, it is in these climates that Irri- 

 gation Projects pay best. Proof may 

 be given by quoting the following ex- 

 tract from page 87 of the Sarda Canal 

 Project of 19 OB. 



"Hence the annual value of a eusec 

 is much higher in the moist doabs of 

 the Eastern Jumna Canal than in that 

 of the drier and hotter country, watered 

 by the Lower Ganges Canal. For the 

 last five years they stand thus :— 



Value of Cusecs. 



Eastern Jumna Lower Ganges 

 Canal. Canal. 



Us. Es. 



1898 99 ... 1,172 ... 571 



1899- 00 ... 1,215 ... 704 



1900- 01 ... 1.029 ... 558 



1901- 02 ... 1,187 ... 636 



1902- 03 ... 1,232 ... 705 



It is also urged that the revenue will 

 not develop as rapidly as is anticipated 

 on account of the slow progress of the 

 Agra Canal. Here, again, it may be 

 pointed out that the great dryness of 

 the country watered by the latter work 

 has been a bar to the cultivation ot first 

 class crops." 



Maintenance op Cultivation, and 

 Demand for Labour throughout the 

 Season. 



5. These results of irrigation are very 

 important, and are well understood by 

 Collectors who have held charge of pro- 

 tected and unprotected districts. In 

 the former, they know that agricultural 

 operations never cease throughout the 

 year ; the labourers never have a slack 

 time and are continually ploughing, 

 sowing, weeding, reaping, or threshing. 

 Crime is greatly reduced, and in seasons 

 of drought, the demand for labour is 

 all the greater. Examining the oper- 

 ations of the year, we find that in Janu- 

 ary and February the ground is being 

 prepared for sugar sowings, whilst the 

 matured cane is being harvested and 

 the juice expressed. The rabi crop re- 

 quires great attention. Weeding, water- 

 ing, fencing, and keeping off marauding 

 animals occupy a number of hands. 

 Harvesting of the rape or mustard is 

 carried out in P ebruary ; picking the 

 plants and expressing the oil absorb a 

 good deal of labour. In March and April 

 the cutting, carrying, and threshing of 

 the rabi is in full swing, and labourers 

 are at a premium. Much difficulty is ex- 

 perienced in finding hands to hoe and 

 tend young sugar. Moreover, the fallow 

 land has to be irrigated for maize, cot- 

 ton, juar, or hot weather rice. In May 

 the threshing out is still often in- 

 complete, and the young irrigated crops 



require much attention, In June, July, 

 August and September, if the monsoon 

 is good, ploughing, sowing, and weeding 

 occupy many people ; early crops of 

 maize and rice are cut and garnered. 

 If on the other hand the monsoon is 

 a failure, labour is in strong request 

 to push on irrigation for sowing food 

 crops, and for saving standing crops. 

 October, November and December are 

 absorbed in sowing the rabi, in irri- 

 gating it, and in completing the kharif 

 harvest. Thus it is easy to see that in 

 a well-protected country, labour is in 

 demand throughout the year, peasants 

 have little time to indulge in lawless- 

 ness, or in following out the freebooting 

 instincts of their ancestors. For 31 years 

 I served on the Ganges and Jumna Canal 

 system ; and though many famines 

 and scarcities visited Upper India 

 during that long period, I never saw a 

 famine, and never saw famine labourers 

 at work. Indeed, my great difficulty 

 was to find hands to carry out the 

 many sanctioned projects for new canal 

 branches and drainage works. But 

 during the short period in which I toured 

 iu Central India, I was brought face to 

 face with grim star vation, and aimless 

 wandering in two seasons out of three, 

 This is strong testimony to the policy of 

 pushing on protective works. It is sure- 

 ly better to spend money in constructing 

 canals, tanks and wells, even though 

 a productive return is not expected 

 than to await famine, distress, epidemics, 

 etc., and spend large uneconomic sums 

 in relieving them. In the latter case the 

 outlay is often greater, the country is 

 pauperized, officials are over-worked, 

 and seldom do we find any permanent 

 result arising from all the harassing 

 trouble and strain on State resources. 



Presence of Fodder, Pasturage, 

 and Water for Cattle. 



6. Those who have experienced a 

 severe drought can hardly have for- 

 gotten the terrible mortality amongst 

 cattle. I have seen thousands of the 

 weary emaciated beasts, driven along 

 the Bombay road towards Malwa in 

 1905 and 1906. Rain seldom fails in that 

 country, and hence it has earned a great 

 reputation as a place of refuge in times 

 of famine. Similarly, in 1899-1900 I have 

 seen large herds driven from Rajpu- 

 tana and the Punjab to the Ganges 

 khadir, and the Kumaun Terai. In all 

 these disastrous trekkings, many losses 

 were incurred, and bones of the wretched 

 animals, lying along the roads, were 

 silent witnesses to the fact. Independent 

 of these casualties, wholesale butchering 

 was practised in tome localities. At 

 Kuucii in Jalaun, thousands were dis- 



