Dkc. 1, 1B93.] 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, 
395 
to the Government Agent or the Assistant Govern- 
ment Agent to decide what fields shall be abandoned ; 
and in the event of a proprietor being aggrieved by 
the decision of the majority, it shall be open to him 
to appeal to the Government Agent or the Assistant 
Government Agent, vfhose decision shall be final." 
This riTle of course can only refer to Tank lands. 
Shareholder Neglecting to Cultiv.\te. 
Rule 12. — " If a proprietor absents himself at the 
sowing season, or neglects to cultivate his share, it 
may be cultivated by the other proprietors or by one 
of them, as the majority may decide, free of rent for 
that season, all the duties required of the owner being 
performed by the person cultivating for that season. 
It must be understood that such duties do not in- 
clude services required of the proprietors by 2nd 
and 3rd clauses. In the event of the share of an 
absentee not being cultivated by the other share- 
holders, the proprietor himself shall perform all the 
duties required of a proprietor, whether he cultivates 
the land or not. The cases of proprietors unable to 
cultivate their shares for any year from ill-health 
or some unavoidable cause, will be specially con- 
sidered by the Government Agent, who may, if he 
thinks fit so to do, remit the commutation for service 
due for that year under the 2nd and 3rd clauses." 
A proprietor of manavari lands has to give due notice 
of his intention not to sow, to the adjacent share- 
holder or shareholders in the presence of the irrigation 
headman on or before the 1st of June. In other 
respects the rule is practically the same for both des- 
criptons of land, but tlie adjacent shareholder has 
the first option of cultivating the absentee's share. 
Substitute for Pkopuietoe. 
Rule 13. — " A proprietor if unable to attend per- 
sonally, may provide for the cultivation of his share 
by substitute or ' Varalludi ' in the performance of 
the duties required. No proprietor sliall employ any 
substitute or " Wuahl-uiU ' who is in the service of 
another proprietor as ' ^'al■ahkudi' without the con- 
sent of such other proprietor." 
The same for Manavari lands (Rule 11). 
Watching. 
Rule 14. — " Each proprietor shall erect a proper 
watch-hut in his share and shall watch his share 
until all the ijaddy in the field is reaped, whether 
his own paddy has been reaped or not." 
In the case of manai-ari lands the proprietor has 
to continue watching for 14 days after the whole of 
his crop has been reaped, and he has to give infor- 
mation of the completion of reaping of his crop 
without delay to the irrigation headmen. 
Fencing. 
Rule 15. — " Each proprietor shall assist in fencing 
the field in proportion to his share in the field; the 
fence shall be made sufficiently strong to keep out 
cattle, and all cultivators shall put up their fences 
before commencing to cultivate ; and each proprietor 
shall see that his portion of the fence is kept in 
proper order throughout the Kalapokam season, until 
the crop is finally reaped, whether he cultivates his 
share or not, unless his share be cultivated by some 
other proprietor. "(«) 
¥ov viaiKtrari lands, which consist of a large tract 
of fields in one enclosure, it is provided that " each 
proprietor whose share lies on the outside shall put 
up his usual share of fence in a Vcli (Rule 13). 
Proprietors of inside shares therefore are not bound 
to do any fencing except that of enclosing the Veli 
under (Rule 1). For iii(iiiaf<u-i lands also a date is 
fixed on or before which the fencing is to be com- 
pleted, viz., 15th August. Non-cultivating proprietors 
are not bound to assist in keeping up the feuce. 
TiiR-VsiiiKG Flooh. 
Rule 16. — " Each proprietor shall be allowed a 
shore in one of the thrashing floors, in which to 
« This rule, is not adhered to in Melpattu North 
where it is doubtful whether it is iu accordance with 
ancient custom. Only the proprietors of the shores 
i>u the outride uf Ihv "lickl Ihcrc put up the fcuce. 
stack his paddy till it is thrashed ; and all the share- 
ho'ders of each thrashing floor shall put up a strong 
stake fence round it, and keep up the fence till all 
the paddy is thrashed. Each proprietor shall watch 
the thrashing floor, though his own paddy shall have 
been thrashed, for at least fourteen days after hia 
paddy has been thrashed." 
In the case of manavari lands, it ia a common 
practice for each proprietor to have a separate thrash- 
ing floor and the fencing of each separate thrashing 
floor, if there are such, is therefore also required 
by the Rule 14. The common thrashing floor hag 
only to be watched for 7 days instead of 14 by each 
proprietor after threshing of his share. 
Idaippok.wi and Chirupokam. 
Rule 17. — " Whereas in these districts there id 
in general very little water available for idaippokam 
and chirupokam cultivation, when the sowing season 
for these crops arrives, a majority of the proprie- 
tors of each field shall decide on the extent and 
portion of the field to be cultivated, and all such 
proprietors as are desirous of sowing for the idaip- 
pokam or chirupokam, shall have a share in such 
extent in proportion to their shares in the field. 
But no shareholder shall be bound to cultivate for 
the iddaippokam or chirupokam, and all the duties 
regarding the watching and fencing the idaippokam 
a' d ihirupol-ain shall be performed by those proprie- 
tors alone who have undertaken to cultivate for theser 
harvests; and any shareholder sowing for the idaip- 
pokam or chirupokam shall perform all such dutiea 
until the whole of the idaipokam or chirupokam is 
reaped, whether hia own share succeed or not. 
There is no corresponding rule as regards manavari 
lands. The only manavari lands in which there ia 
chirupokam are those watered by springs as well 
as rain. What people cultivating under tanks call 
i'laippokam would be called by manavari cultivators 
chirupokam. There is no rule respecting chirupokam 
in manavari lands. 
Much damage to the .growing crops ia also done 
by cattle. («) 
The crops are also damaged by pests that no irri- 
gation rules can control. The principal of these are : 
1. A kind of fly called in Tamil by the terse 
but comprehensive name of i; i ia a general name 
for fly. 
2. Koddii/an — a sort of green and black caterpillar. 
This may have been the ''kind of green insect 
resembling a w'orm and about an inch long " which 
cuts the young plant as if with a knife and almost 
destroyed the crop of manv fields after the storm of 
November 25th 1884. 
3. Xireli, a kind of beetle. 
4. Kappiqipuht, a large green caterpillar or worm.(i) 
In January 1883 a sort of yollowish fungus or nest 
began to make its appearance on the leaves of the 
paddy plants near Mullaittivii. This was washed 
away by the heavy rain that occurred in that month. 
At the other end of the scale we have elephants 
which occasionally help themselves to the growing 
or the stacked paddy. Bird and beasts of all sorts 
do their share of pilfering and keep the occupants 
of the watch huts fully employed. 
Cultivation of Tank. 
When there is not sufficient rain in any season 
to supply the tanks or when the fields require to 
lie fallow for a time, it is the practice to cultivate 
the bed of the tank This is called ^j«?ai'!< cultiva- 
tion. The ancient customs of the country give the 
people a kind of prescriptive right to this mode of 
cultivation, and these are embodied in one of the 
irrigation rules relating to tank lands which is as 
follows : — 
Rule 9. — " At the commencement of the sowing 
season it shall be decided by a majority of the 
proprietors of any tank and fields, whether or not 
« See under "cattle." 
h To which may be added " a species ot green 
bug about the size of a large ant (with) a most dis- 
ugrecablc smoU.— Diftjy c£ ilr. Trice, 6lh ^uy 1S03. 
