INTRODUCTION. 



six 



Cost of cultivation. 



The low cost of canal irrigation as compared with other methods is very striking, and yet it 

 appears very doubtful whether the rates would bear much raising. The value of canal water to a 

 cultivator is much lessened by the uncertainty of its supply. Water can only be legally taken 

 during certain periods which are fixed for each village, and should there be a great demand for 

 water higher iip the distributary, or the cultivator's field be situated at some distance from the 

 supply channel, it not unfrequently happens that water is only obtainable at very irregular periods. 

 And even with a regular or continuous water supply irrigation can often only be effected at irregu- 

 lar intervals, owing either to the rapacity or caprice of under-ofiicials, who to a great extent control 

 distribution, or to the enmity or requirements of a more powerful neighbour, who is enabled hy 

 the position of his fields to engross more than his share of the water allowance. The importance 

 of timely irrigation to crops can be hardly over-estimated, and hence it is no uncommon thing to see 

 cultivators working their wells for the more valuable crops within a stone's throw of a canal dis- 

 tributary, since in the one case, the water supply is certain even if costly, while in the other a 

 sudden failure of Avater may entail the absolute ruin of the crop. The difference between the cost 

 of canal and that of well water may be taken therefore as the measure of loss which the cultiva- 

 tor considers it possible that he may suffer from the supply not being timed to suit his crops. Of 

 the numerous objections which are from time to time urged against canal irrigation, this ajjpears 

 to be the only one which is founded on a solid basis of truth. 



The average size of farms is so small, ranging from 8'6 acres in the Meerut Division to 3 acres 

 in the Eastern Districts, that a large share of the cultivation is borne by " home " labour — the 

 labour of the cultivator himself, his wife and his children. The actual cash expenditure incurred is 

 therefore generally insignificant, except in those localities where very high farming is practised, and 

 the production of crops such as sugar-cane or potatoes necessitates the employment of a good deal 

 of hired labour. Still, however, it may be said that it is fair to ajipraise home labour at the I'ates at 

 which it could obtain remuneration if let out to hire, but under any circumstances it would be diffi- 

 cult, if not impossible, to value the care and attention which an industrious cultivator and his family 

 apply to their land out of hours, and which often serves to extract a profit under circumstances which 

 otherwise would allow of none. The amount of this extra labour varies of course with the interest of 

 the tenant in his land, and reaches its maximum in the case of those who have acquired under the law 

 a right of occupancy at a fair rent. No allowance for extra labour is made in the following calcula- 

 tions, which show the cost of each operation if labour be valued at rates prevailing in the Cawnpore 

 District, which are rather higher than those of most other parts of the Provinces. These calculations 

 form the data on Avhich the cost of cultivation given under the head of each crop is deduced. 



Operation, 



Cost per acre each time 

 practised. 



Remarks. 



Ploughing, 



Harrowing (or clod crushing), . 

 Seed, 



Sowing, ... 

 Weeding, 



Watching, 



variable. 

 -/13/- or -/14/- 



-/12|- to 1/8/- 



A pair of plough bullocks with ploiigliman 

 can be hired for Ee, 0-8-0, and will plough an 

 acre in a day and a half. 



If sown broad-cast Re. 0-13-0, if drilled Re. 

 0-14-0. 



Re. 1-8-0 for kharif weeding. Re. 0-12-0 for 

 rabi. 



For kharif crops only. Two watchers for 20 

 days at Re. 0-1-6 each per diem will watch, 

 day and night, 5 acres. 



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