Description. 



Varieties. 



Distribution. 



Seasons. 



Method of cultivation. 



PHASEOLUS RADIATUS, Linn. 



IVide Plate X]. 



English, none ; Veenaculae, urd, mash, 



A A'^ariety of Ph. Mungo, from which it differs in having longer and more trailing stems ; the 

 whole j^lant too is much more hairy, the reddish brown pubescence giving the foliage a lighter 

 tint ; the seeds are fewer, larger and longer than those of mung, and usually of a dark brown colour. 



The close resemblance of urd to mimg which lias induced some authorities to include 

 them both in one species has been already mentioned. Urd has, however, two distinct 

 sub-varieties of its own, one with large black seeds ripening in August and September, 

 and the other with smaller green seeds ripening in October and November. The latter 

 is sometimes giv^en the diminutive name of iirdi. 



It is grown commonly throughout the Provinces generally as a subordinate crop 

 with millet or cotton, but more often by itself than either mung or lobia. The total 

 area under urd in the 30 temporarily settled N.-W. Provinces Districts is returned 

 as 2,58,495 acres, being 1 per cent, on the total cropped area. Its cultivation as a sole 

 crop reaches the maximum in the Meerut, Rohilkhand and Benares Divisions, as is 

 shown in the appended table : — 







Meerut 

 Division. 



Rohilkhand 

 Division. 



Agra 

 Division. 



Allahabad 

 Division, 

 excluding 

 Jaunpur 

 District. 



Benares 

 Division 

 i'.icluding 

 Basti and 

 Gorakhpur 

 Districts 

 only. 



Jhansi 

 Division. 



Kumaun 

 Division, 

 including 

 Tarai 

 District 

 only. 



Percentage of area under 

 to total kliarif cropped 



tird alone 

 area, 



^•6 



4-7 



•2 



•2 



1-4 



1-2 



3'1 



The Meerut, Eohilkhand and Benares Divisions are tlie principal sugar-cane tracts 

 m the Provinces, and the comparatively large area under urd which they return may be 

 due to the fact that urd is one of the few crops v/hich can be grown before sugar-cane 

 without greatly lessening the produce. It only occupies the ground for a short time in 

 the rains, and is reported to leave the soil as rich in food substances as it found it. 



It is sown at the commencement of the rains, and ripens, one variety in August and 

 September, and another in October and November. A rare custom is reported from the 

 Cawnpore District, under which it is grown as a spring crop, being sown on damp low- 

 lying ground in February and reaped in May. 



Its cultivation is precisely similar to that of the autumn millets or cotton. When 

 grown alone it is sown broad-cast at the rate of from 4 to 6 seers per acre. It thrives 



♦ Roxb. n. Ind. iii. 296. Ph. Mungo, Linn. var. radiatiis, Hook. Fl. InJ. ii. 203. I'h, BoxburgliU, W. & A. Prod, 21G ; 

 Powell Punj. Prod. 239 ; Drury Useful PI. of Ind. 338. 



