A JOURNEY FROM MADRAS THROUGH 
66 
CHAPTER 
II. 
May 20, &c. 
Hainu, crop 
of rice. 
Selection of 
modes of cul- 
tivation. 
Dry seed. 
distinct as the different kinds of barley, or Hordeum> that are cul- 
tivated in Europe. 
The Hainu cultivation of rice, being here the principal crop, 
shall engage the chief part of our attention. 
The higher fields are cultivated after the dry seed manner of sow- 
ing; the lower grounds are reserved for the sprouted and trans- 
planted cultivations. By far the most common seed used is the Doda 
butta f a coarse grain, like that which, in Bengal , is by the English 
called cargo rice. 
In the Hainu crop the following is the management. of the dry 
seed cultivation. During the months Phalguna , Ckaitra, and 
Vaisakha , that is, from the 14th of February till the 23d of May, 
plough twice a month ; having, three days previous to the first 
ploughing in Phalguna, , softened the soil by giving the field water. 
After the fourth ploughing, the field must be manured with dung, 
procured either from the city or cow-house. After the fifth plough- 
ing, the field must be watered, either by rain, or from the canal; 
and three days afterwards the seed must be sown broad-cast, and 
then covered by the sixth ploughing. Any rain, that happens to 
fall for the first thirty days after sowing the seed, must be allowed 
to run off by a breach in the bank which surrounds the field; and 
should much rain fall at this season, the crop is considerably injured. 
Should there have been no rain for the first thirty days, the field 
must be kept constantly inundated, till the crop be ripe ; but if 
there have been occasional showers, the inundation should not 
commence till the 45th day. Weeding, and loosening the soil 
about the roots of the young plants with the hand, and placing 
them at proper distances, where sown too close, or too far apart, 
must be performed'three times ; 1st, on the 45th or 50th day ; 2dly, 
20 days afterwards; and Sdly, 15 days after the second weeding. 
These periods refer to the crops that require seven months to ripen. 
In rice which ripens in months, the field must be inundated on 
the 20th h day; and the weedings are on the 20th, 30th, and 40th 
days. 
