100 
A JOURNEY FROM MADRAS THROUGH 
CPIAPTER The estimate of seed, and produce of an acre, I obtained 
taking three sensible farmers to a small field, and asking them 
May 20, &c. how much seed it would require, and how much it would produce. 
No revenue officer was present, nor did the field belong to any of 
the farmers. I then measured the field, and reduced the measures 
to the English statute acre and the Winchester bushel. Not having 
been entirely satisfied with this manner of ascertaining the produce, 
on my return to Seringapatam I questioned the same persons on this 
subject, that I had interrogated respecting the wet crops. I made 
them show me what they considered as a Wocula of dry field; that 
is to say, the land, on which a Wocula or Colaga of Ragy should be 
sown. On measuring it, I found that it was 1 T Vo acre ; and they 
said that the produce ought to be two Candacas, besides the Amray 
and Tovary. This makes the seed required for an acre to be 3 yotto 
gallons, the produce 19^ bushels, and the increase on the seed 
forty fold. All these numbers are less than those stated in the 
table, and may be taken as the average produce ; the other calcu- 
lation implying a favourable season and soil, with good manage- 
ment. 
The Ragy , by Linnasus, is named Cynosurus Corocanus. The De- 
cany Mussulmans call it Ragy. In the Tamul language, it is call.ed 
Kevir. The farmers reckon three kinds of it, which, however, are 
only varieties ; the Cart, Ke?npu, and Huluparia : all are equally 
productive; but the third, when nearly ripe, is very apt to shake 
the seed. In the vicinity of Seringapatam , it is not customary to 
keep the kinds separate ; in the same field all the three are sown 
intermixed ; but in some places, at no great distance,, more attention 
is paid to the quality of the grain* 
The ploughing commences whenever the first occasional showers 
in spring have softened the soil sufficiently to receive the plough. 
From that period till the 13th of Iyaishtha , or 5th of June, the field 
is ploughed from four to six times, according as it may be found 
clean or foul. The dung is then given, and ploughed into the 
Ragy, or the 
Cynosurus 
Corocanus , 
kinds. 
Cultivation. 
