m 
fnk TROPICAL AoktCULtURiST. [Dec. i, 1893- 
choke the paddy and take all the nouriHhment from 
the soil, so that the crop ii ,\th what it ought to 
have b^en/'Ca) Nothing isdore in the way of maouring 
or weeding (h) and the Mudaliyars iieriodically fend in 
reports to tLe Kachcheri that " tbe crop is being 
much damaged by weeds," but it never occu's to 
the cultivator that they and thtir fauiiliea mii;ht 
weed the fields. The 8pecta<Ie of a t umber of 
womea w^eiing a paddy field, which is so common 
ft sight in tbe Kandyau district', is never seen in 
the V'auni.(c) 
Buifaloes arc u«ed f .r ploughing, genera ly in paTs, 
but sometimei as many as 3,4, or Obd u ed. At 
Chundiiiulam where t^ c foit is sandy, bullocks are 
used as in Jatfba insttad of buffalo s. The Vanni 
plough Is of the Jiiffua pattern but larg r. 
The hire for a pair of buffaloes lot the BOwing 
seawn, i.e., from th i beginning of the month of 
August to tbe middle or end of Septemb r in t'le 
case of mandvari lands, and later in t'jecase of tink 
laud?, is 15 marahkal.i.(d) It is understool that the 
pair are to plouiih for this hire not more than 30 
tnarakkals sowing extent of »irt)!o ia/» 1 .nd, if tank 
land, rather les?. An owner can hire out his pair 
twice in the feason — one pair of buffaloes can plough 
About 3 marakhal's fowing exte jt a day. 
The paddy sown for Kalapohum is oue of the kinds 
that ripen in 5 mon'hs ; for idaippokam h or 4 month* 
piddy is used, and fjT (Jhinipnkam'pxdLAy that ripens 
iri 3 months. 
The different kinds of paddy sown are as f jllows : — 
Kalapoliim ptdtly. 
1. KuUaValai—5 months — more productive — requires 
mach water. 
2. Vellamellu — 5 months. 
3. Karattai/ilankalai/an I ^ months Fandv soil 
These are the kinds usually sown. There are 
besides varieties of C'/ta)/i./>a. ripeoing in 4 mtntha 
5. Kainukampii. Champa — " arekanut flo *er Cli'ivipo." 
This "gives a very fine kind of rice, the grain (f rica 
being in size nearly that of Bengal table-rice although 
not quite so white. This kind is not generally sown." 
6. Cliempavala Champa. 
7. Ikku Champa 
Chiiupokam paddy. 
8. Pachchapiperumal — 3 mouths, email »nd reddish. 
!). Cliinaddi—'d mouths, Booall and black. 
10. VcUaichchiiiaddl. 
" There is a larger kind of paddy called Peruiiellu 
taking six months to ripen, which is sown in the beiis 
of tanks. It is considered inferior to the smaller 
paddy taking from 3 to 6 months, the best paddy 
being that which comes to maturity in 3 months. ' (e) 
Experiments were made by Gjvernmeat in lH(J9-70 
*ith foreign variotiea of paddy, < 'arjliui pjddy was 
tried as Marai-adittahulam and KumanxpuraoD, the 
red variety at Maraatodai in Odduchchuddau, 
Otiyamalai and Karaippadd murippu, China paddj 
white and black at thise places and at Marulodai, 
Paliyanhulam, Melpattu south and Putukkudiyiruppn. 
a Diary of BIr. Pr'ce, 
h Except in Knmilamunai where people from Jaffna 
feave introduced Jaffn* methods. 
c I have however seen women using the mamoty 
at Otiyamalai, but that was unusual. 
d The hire of buffaloes in 1807 was 10 maiakkals 
for a season. For some time previous to 1842 the 
hire of a pair was said to have been '24 muraJckals. 
in 1845 it had risen to 30 mara/c/cals. See Diary of 
Dth October 1849. 
c Other kitds of paddy are; — 
Oddaivalan Va^duppiMan 
Charali Cbori Karampi 
Kadaikkaluttau Moruukan 
Alakiyavan^n Manalvari 
Panankaliyan Malaiyalakan 
Ghiruvellai Ear Nellu 
Muppankan MuUi Ne'lu 
Chavarakkuran AdubkuYellai 
Karonkuruvai 
,^ee Diary lotU M^y im-, 
In some pltcca traoeplaaliDg whiek wu dlveeted 
was not carried out " b,:cau«e it i<> not the castoru. ' 
C'ouiplaibt* were ma-'e that the red Caiolina paddy 
was difficult to thrash, while the other varieiy maa 
rasy to thrasb but gave a great deal of chafi Tbe 
China pa'dv, even where <raiisplautiug was carried 
out, wiiB not nnarly bo |>rolitic as the country pM,ddy, 
of the Cnii'a bla«k paddy euwn at Oddachehuddao, 
the ears b'ing haxd were entirely destroyed by flits 
before they ripened. 
The practice to be followed by the caltivators with 
respect t'j ettent to be caltirated in a given seaAon, 
kind of paddy to be aown, rights and dnties of 
Fhareholders, erections of watch hats and fencing, 
care of cattle, Ac, is embodied in tbe Irrigation 
Rules, there being a separate net of rules for t&uk 
and iitanavari landf^ («) respectively thouKh many of 
tbi' provisions io each set are identical. As these 
rules represent tbe customs of the country i}>) with 
rogard to paddy cultiva tion, no account of this Bubject 
could be complete which omitted tbein, and I there- 
fore give such of the rules for Tank lands as sj-e 
nior^ particularly concerned with paddy cultif atioii, 
at the same time indicating where the rules to 
iinavdi i lands dififer from tbero. The tirst 7 of these 
rules regarding tank lands provide for the upkeep 
of the tanks. 
Extent to be Culttvatbd. 
Rule 10. — Before the commencement of the sowing 
season, the proprietors of each tract of field intend- 
ing to cultivate for the season shall decide on the 
description of paddy that shall be sown for that 
season, and any proprietor sowing any other dcbcrip- 
tion of paddy than that agreed on by the majority 
shall do so on bis own responsibility and risk, and 
shall continue to watch, fence and perform all the 
duties as hereinafter mentioned until all tbe paddy 
in the field is reaped. For instance, if it be decided 
to sow five months paddy, and a proprietor chooses to 
sow three months' paddy, he shall nevertheless con- 
tinue to watch the fields till the whole of the five 
months' paddy is reaped- But whereas in some fields 
it is not possible to sow the same description of 
paddy over the whole extent, in consequence of the 
varieties of the soil, a majority of the proprietors 
intending to cultivate for the seajion shall decide on 
the description of paddy that shall be sown, and 
all the proprietors shall watch, keep up the fence, 
Ac, until all the paddy is reaped. 
This is identical with Kule 'J mauavari, but instead 
of tract of field, paddy fields of each Veli is sub- 
stituted, and there is a special rule (No. 1 ) explaining 
what is intended by a Veli, and providing for the 
separate enclosure of each Veli. This rule is aa 
follows: — 
No. 1. — "For the purpose of effectively carrying 
out the following rules, each tract of paddy fiela 
(Veli) in a village shall be separately enclosed by 
itself with the customary fence of stakes or thorns. 
In cases where a Veli is not easily defineable, the 
majority of proprietors and headmen shall decide 
what extent of tract is to be called a Veli for these 
purposes." 
coukse to be followed whehb there is 
Insufficiency of "Water. 
Rule 11. — " Whereas in these districts the sowing 
season for the Kalapokam commences long before 
the tanks are full, and it cannot possibly be known 
until after the heavy rains how much water will be 
available, and whether there will be sufficient for 
the full extent of the fields sown, if, after the rains, 
it be found that the supply of water is insufficient 
for all the fields sown, a majority of the proprietors 
of the fields sown for the season shall decide on 
what fields shall be abandoned. In the event of the 
proprietors not coming to a decision, it shall be open 
a L^nds irrigate 1 by epringsare classed as nianavari 
lands, 
b There is no reason to suppose that the customs of 
the Vanni as regards paddy cultivation have changed 
I in any materiail lespeet wHbia the memory ()i iaaia« 
