476 



Sketches of the Meteorology, Sfc, 



[Oct, 



14. Ervum lens, Lin. ; Mussoor, Duk.— This is cultivated only in 

 small quantity, and principally in the western part of the district. 



III. Articles of cultivation, which are sown towards the end of the 

 rains in September and October.— These are ready for reaping at the 

 end of four or five months. Except at the commencement of this 

 season, the moisture which these crops receive is principally derived 

 from the dews, which are deposited in considerable abundance during 

 these months. 



1. Andropogon Sorghum (variety), Flor. Ind.; Holcus Sorghum, 

 Lin.; White Juwary. " It differs," says Marshall, " from the red 

 jooaree in the case of the seed being white, which in the other is 

 brownish ; in the stalk not growing to half the height, and containing 

 much more of the saccharine principle." It is cultivated on the regur 

 soil. 



2. Cicer arietinum, Lin. ; Chinna, Duk. Bengal Gram, or Chick 

 Pea. — This is cultivated on good regur land all over the district, except 

 in the most westerly parts. It is generally employed as food for horses. 

 In many places, also, the natives use it as a common article of diet. 

 An acid exudes from all parts of the plant, and is often collected in the 

 following manner by the ryuts. The dew which is deposited on the 

 plant over-night, is found in the morning to be strongly impregnated 

 with the acid. Long pieces of cloth are then dragged over the plants 

 until they become quite wet with the acid liquor, which is then wrung 

 out; and this process is renewed until the whole field has been gone 

 over in the same manner. The liquor is of a brown colour, is slightly 

 acid, contains a large quantity of saccharine matter, which gives it a 

 sweet taste, and when allowed to evaporate very slowly, the acid is 

 deposited in cubical crystals. It is sometimes used by the natives in 

 their curries, instead of vinegar ; and is also employed by the native 

 doctors in medicine. 



3. Gossypium herbaceum, Lin. ; Kupas, Dak. Cotton. — India has 

 been celebrated from the earliest times for her fine fabrics of cotton ; 

 and although now excelled in the manufacture of cotton-cloths by 

 western nations, the raw material still continues to be one of her most 

 important productions. But even in the quality of the raw material, 

 she has of late years been excelled in several other countries ; and it 

 therefore becomes an object of the first importance that the best 

 methods of cultivating and preparing the cotton should be ascertained. 

 These considerations will serve, I hope, as an apology for the length 

 of the following observations on the cotton of the Darwar district, 



The cotton in this, as well as in other parts of the Deccan, is only 

 cultivated on the regur land ; and I am not aware whether it is ever 

 cultivated on other kinds of land-, in other parts of India. There is 



