INTRODUCTION. 



perous in the Provinces, and the large size of holdings there would seem to bear a significant 

 relation to this. Density of population would be expected to furnish an explanation of these differ- 

 ences in the area of holdings, but it is very far from supplying a complete answer to the question. 

 The difference between the holdings of Bundelkhand and the trans-Ghagra Districts is undoubtedly 

 coincident with a great difference in population, but no satisfactory reason can be discovered from 

 this source for the differences in the holdings of the Upper, Middle and Lower Doab and Rohilkhand. 

 The proportion of urban to rural population furnishes some clue in this case, being, as a rule, greater 

 in Districts where the area of holdings are largest. The following table compares the density 

 of population per cultivated square mile and the percentage of urban to total population, in the same 

 groups of Districts as are referred to in the preceding table : — 





Upper Doab 

 Districts of 

 Saharanpur, 

 Muzaffarnagar, 



Meerut, 

 Bulanushahr 

 and Aligarh. 



Middle Do&b 

 Districts of 



Muttra, Agra, 

 Etah and 

 Maiopuri. 



Lower Doab 

 Districts of 

 Farukhabad, 

 Cawnpore and 

 Fatehpur, 



Trans-Ghagra 

 Districts of 

 Basti and 

 Gorakhpur, 



Rohilkhand 

 Districts of 



Bijnor, 

 Moradabad, 

 Bareillv, 

 Pilibhit, 

 Shahjahanpur 

 and Budaun. 



Bundelkhand 

 Districts of 



Jalaun, 

 Hamirpur 

 and Banda, 



Population per cultivated square 

 mile, 



733-1 



728-8 



848-1 



915-4 



745-0 



419-6 



Percentage of urban to total 

 population,... 



15 



13 



11 



3 



14 



9 



Ditto after deducting popula- 

 tion of the city at each Dis- 

 trict head quarters, 



11 



7 



3 



2 



8 



6 



The last line of figures has been added in order to give some indication of the distrihution of 

 the urban population, which has almost as much effect in lessening the pressure on the land as its 

 actual amount. 



The difference between the size of holdings in the Upper and Middle Dod,b may be therefore 

 partly due to the larger proportion of the population which is absorbed by towns in the former 

 tract. The decrease in the size of holdings in the Lower Doab is sufficiently accounted for by the 

 large increase in density of population, coupled with a decrease in that portion of it which derives a 

 living from trade or manufactures. Both these conditions are greatly exaggerated in the trans-Ghagra 

 Districts, without, however, leading to any further diminution in the size of holding, possibly because 

 it is already the smallest which can be made to find employment for a family. In these Districts, 

 therefore, there is a large accession to the class of labourers, a large proportion of whom are literally 

 as well as practically the bond slaves of their employers. The condition of slavery offers a refuge 

 from the pressure of competition, and the certainty of daily food may be held some compensation for 

 the loss of a liberty which only manifests itself in an insufficiency both of work and nourishment. 



It may be mentioned here that the statistics in respect to the area under the different crops which 

 are given in the following pages are reliable only in the case of the 30 N.-W. Provinces Districts, 

 which are imder settlement for a period of 30 years, and in which an elaborate system of land record 

 is maintained. In the case of 12 Oudh Districts, the 5 N.-W. Provinces Districts under permanent 

 settlement, and the hill Districts of the Kumaun Division, all figures which are given must be accepted 

 as being merely approximate. 



The agricultural year of these Provinces includes two complete seasons, the one, known as the 

 kharif, embracing the rainy months of the summer and autumn, and the other (the rabi) the cold 

 weather months from October to April. During the kharif the conditions of warmth and moisture 

 are almost if not quite tropical, and the crops grown in this season (the numerous tribe of millets, maize, 



