PHASEOLUS ACONITIFOLIUS, Jacq.* 



[F»t^e Plate XL] 



English, none ; Vernaculae, moth, mothi. 



Natural order Lefjuminosce, sub-order Papilionaceo}, tribe Pliaseolea'. A diffuse hairy annual. 

 Root perpendicular. Stems several, extending many feet along the ground in every direction, an- 

 gular, and with a few scattered hairs. Leaves trifoliolate ; stipules cohering, ovate lanceolate ; petioles 

 a little longer than the leaflets ; stipels subulate ; leaflets deeply 3-lobed, the upper ones more finely 

 cut. Peduncles axillary, nearly as long as the petioles, ending in an oblong glandular head of small 

 yellow shortly pedicelled flowers ; bracteoles twice as long as the calyx, subulate, ciliate ; calyx-tube 

 campanulate, lowest tooth longer than the rest, the two upper connate ; keel with stamens and style 

 spirally twisted. Pod lh-2 in., straight, cylindrical, torulose, smooth. Seeds small, oblong, light 

 brown ; hilum linear, whitish. 



Moth in the kharif answers to the coarse pea, known as Icesdri, in the rabi, both 

 being grown on the worst Land which can be made to bear a crop. It is in consequence 

 grown much more commonly as a sole crop than either mun(;/ or lobia, and the area which 

 it occupies on its own account is very nearly equal to that under tird. It also forms a 

 very common mixture in millet fields, especially in the case of the spiked or bulrush 

 millet {bcijra), which it resembles in its preference for light sandy soils, and also in its 

 liability to damage from ill-timed rainfall. 



Its cultivation when grown alone is of the roughest possible description. A couple 

 or at most three ploughings are held sufficient, and the seed is sown broad-cast at the rate 

 of 4 seers to the acre. 



In a favourable season its produce is often very heavy, but taking into consideration 

 the poverty of the land on which a great portion of it is grown, and its liability to dam- 

 age from rain while in flower, the highest outturn of grain which can be taken as the 

 average is 8 maunds to the acre, Avith rather less than double this amount of fodder. 

 The grain is an article of human food, but there are many prejudices against it, the 

 most notable being that it is liable to produce worms in the bowel. On the other hand 

 it is considered a useful remedy for flatulency. But it is principally used as cattle food, 

 and is said to be a fattening diet, as are also the leaves and stalks. 



Below is shown the average area under moth as a sole crop during the last three 

 years in the 30 temporarily settled Districts, classified by Divisions : — 





Mcorut 

 Division. 



Rnhilkhand 

 Division. 



Agra 

 Division. 



Allahabad 

 Division, 



excluding 

 Jaunpnr 

 District. 



Benares 

 Division, 

 including 

 Azamgarh, 

 Basti and 

 Gorakhpur 

 Districts 

 only. 



Jliansi 

 Division. 



Kumaun 

 Division, 

 including 



Tarai 

 District 



only. 



Total. 





acres. 



acres. 



acres. 



acres. 



acres. 



acres. 



acres. 



acres. 



Irrigated, 



464 



CO 



484 



107 



4,7G2 



1 



1 



5,879 



Unirrigatcd, ... 



84,-371 



C7,917 



31,504 



9,74 G 



10,900 



578 



1,011 



2,0G,027 



Total, 



84,835 



G7,977 



31,988 



9,853 



15,CG2 



579 



1,012 



2,11,906 



* References Hook Fl. lud. ii. 202 ; Koxb. ri. Ind. iii. 209 ; W. & A. Trod. 217 ; Powell Punj. Prod. 240. 



G 



