162 



On the Statistics of Didhun, 



[Jan. 



mango is in fruit, and seldom fails an abundant crop, at a time when the 

 earth is parched up by the heats of May and beginning of June. 



Jgricultiiral Products. — A brief notice only of the agricultural pro- 

 ducts can be given. '1 he harvests are of two distinct kinds ; one is the 

 Khurreef, or rainy season harvest; the other is the Rubee, or dry, or cold, 

 or spring season, harvest. 



Wet Season Harvest. —This harvest produces twenty-t\Y0 kinds, of 

 grain and pulse ; but the products of the Desh, or open country, are dif- 

 ferent from those of the Mavimls, or hilly tracts along the Ghats. The 

 following are the products of the monsoon crop in the Desh: Jondla, 

 Andropogon Sorghum, and of these there are many varieties ; Sujgoora, 

 Panicum spicatum ; Rahleh, Panicum Italicum ; Bhadlee, Paspalum 

 pilosum ; Kodroo, Paspalum frumentaceum ; Mukka, Zea Mays ^ ; 

 Moog, PJiaseolus Mungo , Ooreed, Phaseohis radiatus ; Tooree, Cy- 

 tisus caj'an ; Muht, Phaseolus aconit'ifolius ; Teel, Sesamum 

 orient ale, two kinds ; Ambaree, Hibiscus Cannahinus ; Oolgeea, 

 Dolichos hifloris; Waal, Polichos spicatus ; Rajgeeiah, Jmoranthns 

 oleraccus candidus ; Chuwluya, Dolichos cat'-ar.g ; andGowarya, Dolichos 

 fahcBformis : there are thus seventeen products of the monsoon harvest 

 of the Desh. The first six are bread grains, and are reduced to flour; 

 Teel and Rajgeerah are eaten unground ; Ambaree is a cordage plant, 

 the rest are pulse, and are cooked in a variety of ways. Tooree is the 

 universal substitute for the split pea of Europe ; it is much more agree- 

 able than the pea, and is more commonly used. 



The produce of the rainy season harvest in the hilly tracts is Dhan, 

 Orgzasativa, ^ seventeen or eighteen kinds :Natchnee, Elevsine coracanot 

 or Cynosurus coracanus ; Saw^a, Panicum miliaceum ; Wuree, Panicum 

 miliare : and, finally, Karleh, Verhesina soJiva. AU these require a su- 

 perabundance of water. The rice, which is the chief support of the peo- 

 ple of the hilly tracts, is sow n in the valleys, because it can be constantly 

 flooded. Karleh is an oil plant only ; the others are sown on the sides 

 of the mountains, in places inaccessible to the plough. They are either 

 used whole, or are reduced to flour for bread. Rice is never reduced to 

 flour. 



It is not to be understood, that the above products, as separated into 

 those of the hilly tracts and Desh, are rigidly confined to those tracts ; 

 where the physical circumstances permit of it, they are indiscriminately 

 cultivated in both tracts. The returns of some of the above plants are 

 prodigiously great. I have seen a plant of Paspalum frumentaceum 



a Indian corn. 



b Rice. 



