15 
sion and then allowed to lie fallow for the same period, though in 
come few cases cultivation is carried on every alternate year. 
10. The land is prepared by ploughing and cross-ploughing it 
three times over with a light wooden plough shod with iron and 
drawn by buffaloes ; the seed is sown broadcast, about a busliei 
to the acre, and cross-ploughed in, a harrow being sometimes usea. 
The crop ripens in from 5 to 7 months producing from 2 $ to 35 
bushels per acre. 
11. Hill padi is generally grown along the sides of low hills 
but often on flat land above flood level and nearly always in 
secondary jungle. , . 
The land is prepared bv first clearing the undergrowth ; alter 
which the larger trees are felled and left lying until sufficiently 
dry, when they are fired. The branches that escape the first burn- 
ing are collected in heaps and burned, the larger tree trunks, 
which are not consumed, lying where they fell. Another clearing 
up and burning of the smaller twigs and rubbish then takes p ace, 
after which the land is marked out with stakes and the seeds sown 
several at a time in holes made with a pointed stick about a foot 
aP The crop ripens in 5 or 6 months, the yield being about the 
same as that from plough lands, namely from 25 to 35 bushels 
per acre. 
Method of 
cultivation of 
plough lan-'. 
Yield of 
plough land. 
WiMpadi la"’ 
or ladcmg. 
Cultivation o 
ladling. 
Yield of 
ladang. 
of all kinds 
jg Reaping and 
harvesting. 
12. The reaping and harvesting of rice crops 
conducted in the same manner. 
The ears of ripe grain are snipped off, one by one, with a small 
circular knife held between the fingers. . They are generally tied 
in bunches and the grain separated from the ear by treading it 
under foot. The corn is exposed for a while to the sun and the 
chaff is then got rid of by throwing the grain into the air out of a 
flat three cornered basket work dish made of rattan; the heavy 
grains fall back into the. dish while the chaff is carried away by 
the wind. I11 some cases the grain is dropped on to a mat placed 
on the ground under a high open platform erected on poles, when 
the chaff is carried away, the full grains falling on to the mat. 
The padi is then stored and when required for use is turned 
into rice with a heavy wooden pestle and mortar, an article to be 
seen outside any well appointed Malay house, and the grain parted 
from the husks by throwing it into the air from a dish in the man- 
ner already described above. 
13. The work of cultivation is shared by men and women, the Labour done 
latter planting out the young padi grown in the swamps and reap- ^ women - 
ing the crop and preparing it for use. 
14. In some parts of Ulu Pahang the crops are reaped by Reaping 
means of a sabit or reaping hook, said to have been introduced by hooK - 
Sumatran Settlers. This is a more expeditious method than that 
in common use; but the latter has the advantage of leaving longer 
straw, which manures the fields for the next crop. 
