118 Sotne Account, Historical, Geographical [July 



and greater abundance of springs in the limestone and sandstone, ren« 

 ders it favourable for the cultivation of indigo, there carried on to a con- 

 siderable extent. The trap dykes decompose into a deep red or coffee- 

 coloured soil, which appears to be more fertile than that resulting from 

 the decomposition of granite and gneiss. The term mvssvb is often in-* 

 discriminately applied to all reddish soils, but native agriculturists con- 

 fine the word to the mixed black and red soils. Of all soils, the most 

 sterile are those where saline efflorescences are observed ; and those re- 

 sulting from the decomposition of beds of unmixed quartz. 



Agriculture. — Cultivation may be classed under two heads, viz. the 

 dry and wet, the khushki and tari of the Moguls. The former depends 

 on the heavens for a supply of water ; the latter, the extent of which is 

 estimated at about one-seventh of the total stiperfices of cultivation, on 

 wells, tanks, anicuts, acqueducts and streams. Dry cultivation is divid- 

 ed into two seasons, viz. the crops usually sown in June.termed mungari, 

 including the staple articles of produce, viz. red and yellow juari {An- 

 dropogon Sorghum), bajra {Hclcus Spic.atus), culti {Glycine tomentosa), 

 and dal ; and the crops sown after the ruins in Sept. or October, called 

 hitigari, embracing cotton, white juari, when, Find chenna, tobacco, 

 rice, sugar-cane, &c. are articles of wet cultivation or artificial irrigation ; 

 the first is sown in September. Rice is generally sown in June and 

 July, and also in October and November. Indigo is a triennial plant, pro- 

 ducing two and sometimes three crops in the year, and requires much 

 care. 



The expense of bringing waste regur lands into cultivation falls heavy 

 on the raver,. The surface is first cleared of the kikar, turwer, and other 

 bushes and thorns. The next process to disencumber the soil from 

 roots, weeds and superfluous stones, by ploughing it three times succes- 

 sively ; the second time at right angles with the first and the third in 

 an oblique direction. This is a most laborious process, lasling often 

 nearly two months, and is done by means of the large plough drawn by 

 from ten to sixteen bullocks. It is however absolutely necessary, in 

 order to break up the roots of that bane of Hindu cultivators the nuth 

 grass, particularly that partially choked by the gurraka nuth, for 

 which no remission is made by government, except when it comp-etely 

 covers the land and requires the great plough to eradicate it. ; A remis- 

 sion of rent is allowed for regur lands which have lain waste six years 

 or more, and for ground encumbered with patches of the kandai nuth. 

 After the first clearing, the great plough is laid by for the next 12 or 20 

 years. All that is necessary, preparatory to sowing the succeeding crops, 

 is to run the soil over with the light common plough. After the ground 



