44 
On the Conditions of Wlieat-Ch'owincj in India. 
greater effectiveness of manure on shallow than on deep lands. 
On the former it makes all the difference between a fair crop 
and no crop at all, while on the latter it would merely add in 
some degree to a fertility which is as yet very far from being 
exhausted. 
Methods of Ctdtivation. — The system to which we have al- 
luded as practised in the heavy black soils of Bombay is prac- 
tically that pursued in these provinces. It differs materially 
from the system followed in the North-West Provinces and the 
Panjab ; but it is probable that, while improvement is possible, 
the two countries, even in the hands of European farmers, would 
be tilled by widely different methods. 
" For ordinary wheat-cultivation, operations commence in April or May, 
when the surface of the ground is scarified with a hoe-ploug-h. After the 
setting in of the monsoons the surface is again scarified, once in July and 
once in August, if, as is hoped, there is a long enough break in the rains 
to allow the ground to become sufficiently dry to bear the plough-cattle. A 
fourth hoeing — the most necessary of all — is given in September, towards 
the end of the rains, the importance of which arises from the fact that loss 
of moisture by evaporation is much checked if the surface of the ground be 
in a loose condition. A final hoeing is given at the beginning of October, 
after which the field is ready for sowing. This represents the preparation 
which a careful cultivator will give his land under favourable circumstances, 
and, as a rule, land seldom receives more than two or three hoeings before it 
is sown." 
" The seed is occasionally sown broadcast and ploughed in, but is more 
generally drilled in, the implement used for the purpose being an ordinary 
plough, or, more properlj^, 'grubber,' fitted with a bamboo-tube alongside of 
the stilt, down which the seed is dropped." 
Irrigation is almost confined to the sugar-cane and garden 
crops. It is impossible, however, to say whether, with a greater 
press of population, irrigation may not be gradually extended to 
wheat. 
Quantiti/ of Seed and Yield. — From about 80 to 120 lbs. of 
seed to the acre prevails in these provinces. In connection with 
the seed required in the North-West Provinces we have already 
alluded to the confirmation that by experiment has been arrived 
at regarding the quantity necessary. The idea that 120 lbs. an 
acre is high arises from a comparison with other Indian crops. 
It is, in fact, very nearly that emjiloyed by the English farmer 
— two bushels to the acre. AVe have, however, seen that in 
Nasik only 24 to 80 lbs. are used to the acre. 
The question of yield has now in many provinces of India 
been put to a final test. From the supposed deterioration of 
the soil in the Central Provinces it was observed that, if this 
had actually occurred, the richest districts would long before this 
time have endured the utmost dejirivation . The Deputy Com- 
missioner of llaipur, for example, showed that if the rice crop of 
