22 



ZEA MAYS. 



where the green cobs are likely to command a sale as vegetables, sowing often takes place 

 in May, after the ground has been irrigated, since in this case it is of great importance 

 to be early in the market. In the beginning of July a single cob will fetch a pice, while 

 at the end of August a maund of them can be purchased for eight annas. If sown 

 when the rains commence, the ordinary small cobbed varieties are ready for cutting at 

 the end of August, and leave therefore ample time for preparation of the ground for a 

 rabi crop. Hence maize is almost invariably followed by either wheat or barley, and 

 very nearly the whole of the area under maize may be presumed to bear two crops in 

 the year. 



Mixtures. As a rule it is grown alone since few other crops would keep pace with it in ma- 



turing; occasionally cucumbers are grown between the lines. It is not uncommon 

 too to mix a certain proportion of the lesser millets {/caJcuni and mandwd) and a little 

 pulse {urd), since these require but little more time to ripen and secure some measure 

 of return in the not uncommon case of the maize completely failing. 



Soils and manuring. The land selected is almost invariably that lying immediately under the village 



site, and fertilized as much by the daily visits of the villagers as by the direct applica- 

 tion of manure. From two to four tons of cattle dung and ashes are commonly applied, 

 but this is less to stimulate the maize than the rabi crop which is to follow it. It is 

 reported that in the Bareilly District the use of manure depends on whether the rent 

 is levied in cash or as a fixed proportion of the produce. In the former case the maize 

 is well manured, and is followed by a valuable crop, such as wheat or barley, while in 

 the latter case no manure is used, and the succeeding crop is one of the coarser spring 

 pulses. It would be difficult, however, to decide whether the levy of the rent in kind 

 is the cause or eflFect of the inferior cultivation. 



Tillage and sowing. The ground is ploughed from three to six times, and the clods are broken by the 



log clod crusher being drawn over the field. The seed is sown by being either scattered 

 broad-cast and ploughed in, dropped into the furrow behind the plough, — every other 

 furrow being left blank, — or (rarely) dibbled in by hand. As a rule about 6 seers of 

 seed are used to an acre. 



Irrigation. Maize requires a constant but moderate supply of moisture, and sufiers very greatly 



from any lengthened break in the rains. Accordingly in 1S81, a year in which the 

 rainfall was abnormally light, fths of the total area is returned as irrigated, and in 

 ordinary years the irrigated area amounts to ^rd of the total, although the crop only 

 occupies the ground for 2^ months in the height of the rainy season. Maize, which is 

 sown before the commencement of the rains in order to secure an early market, requires 

 of course constant watering, but this constitutes a small proportion of the total crop, 

 and adds but little to the area under irrigation. In ordinary years one, or at the most 

 two, waterings are sufficient to carry the crop over the break in the rains which usually 

 occurs during a fortnight in August. 



Weeding. The Crop is alwa^'s weeded, generally twice, and the earth is carefully banked up 



round the roots, so that each plant appears to be standing on a little mound of its own. 

 This forms one of the most expensive items in the cultivation. 



Harvesting. ^obs are to be sold as vegetables they are pulled while green, and the stalks 



in this case are of some use as cattle fodder. Otherwise the crop is not harvested until 



