344 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST 
^mmratT ^griraltldsi 
New-Yorir, Wednesday, February 8, 1854. 
Ouk Correspondence and selections this week 
will be found highly valuable and interesting. 
We would call the attention of the ladies partic¬ 
ularly to a new correspondent—the fair Minnie 
Myrtle —whose sprightly, graphic pen, we 
trust will often hereafter grace our columns. 
AGRICULTURE IN INDIA. 
The following account is furnished us at our 
request, by a gentleman who has spent the past 
seven years as a missionary in the southern part 
of Hindostan, and who is now temporarily at 
home, on account of the illness of his family. 
We have learned from him many things of in¬ 
terest in regard to the state of agriculture in 
those sections of the country which are under 
the immediate control and direction of the East 
India Company. We think the English Gov¬ 
ernment has been sadly at fault in more than 
one of their colonies, in not fostering and de¬ 
veloping the agricultural interest, instead of 
retarding its growth by oppressive taxation. 
Had a colony of Yankees had the same sway in 
the East Indies, they would long ere this have 
introduced a host of improved implements of 
husbandry, and taught the natives how to live 
comfortably, instead of drawing out a miserable, 
half-starved existence. Hindostan, including 
its northern and mountainous regions, possesses 
a variety and richness of soil unsurpassed on 
the globe, and it only needs the fostering and 
developing care of the rulers of an enlightened 
nation, to make it a garden instead of a waste. 
For the American Agriculturist. 
Having had considerable experience in my 
younger days in farming operations in this 
country, my attention was often turned, during 
my residence in India, to the manner of culti¬ 
vating the soil there. The land in many parts 
is highly productive. Yet there are large tracts 
almost valueless, which are a standing proof of 
the curse pronounced in Eden, “ Thorns also 
and thistles shall it bring forth to thee.” Some 
of this waste land might, by proper enterprise, 
be brought under cultivation. The rains there 
are periodical, and do not last through the sea¬ 
son so as to give the maximum of productive¬ 
ness and failure of crops, and famines are occa¬ 
sionally caused by drought. The soil might be 
made much more productive were the proper 
fertilizers used. But the people have for ages 
taken out of the ground all it would yield with¬ 
out returning any thing to it. 
The crops are divided into two kinds, the wet 
and the dry grains. The former are those 
which require artificial irrigation. The latter 
do not. During the rainy season water is col¬ 
lected in tanks, and from them is drawn off 
when needed, upon the rice fields. These fields 
are divided into small patches by means of an 
embankment running around each. The water 
is conveyed to each division in little canals or 
gutters on these embankments. After the sur¬ 
face has been covered with water the ground is 
plowed, but as the instrument used is very rude, 
and merely makes a scratch, it is necessary to 
cross-plow many times. They then drag a few 
bushes or a board over the top in order to break 
the lumps, and the field is ready for the seed, 
which is “cast upon the waters.” When the 
young plants have grown to the height of four 
or five inches they are pulled up and trans¬ 
planted, being set about three or four inches 
from one another. Females, standing ankle 
deep in mud and water, perform this labor. 
Water covers the roots till the kernel ripens. 
Two crops can be raised during the year. 
The dry grains, which the natives call shor- 
lum, capie, &c., are sowed at the beginning of 
the rainy season, and receive during this time 
moisture enough to bring them to maturity. 
The farmers are obliged to plow their fields di¬ 
rectly after a fall of rain, while the ground is 
soft, because their oxen are not strong enough 
to draw a plow through when it is parched by 
heat. The dry-grain land is not manured, and 
nothing is done to enrich it, the desire of the 
cultivator being to get as much as possible with 
the least labor and expense, so that its capabili¬ 
ties have never been fully tested. It may be 
asked, since the people have numerous cattle, 
what becomes of their manure? In answer to 
this it may be said that most of it is collected, 
dried, and used as fuel. A small portion is 
spread upon the rice fields. A favorite method 
of enriching the rice fields is by means of 
bushes gathered from the jungle, which, being 
thrown into the water, and exposed to the pow¬ 
erful rays of a tropical sun, are soon decom¬ 
posed. 
Cotton is cultivated to a considerable extent. 
The soil on which it is grown is a black clay, 
which in wet weather adheres to the wheels of 
vehicles like wet snow. The native cotton is in¬ 
ferior to the American. Some English mer¬ 
chants have tried to improve the quality, so as 
to compete with that of this country. A gentle¬ 
man from one of our Southern States was hired 
to go and try his skill and experience for this 
purpose, but after a fair trial he told his em¬ 
ployers that it was of no use—they could not 
compete with Brother Jonathan. To show the 
superiority of machinery over manual labor, of 
civilization over barbarism, it may be stated 
that English merchants purchase the raw mate¬ 
rial, transport it 13,000 miles, make it into cloth, 
send it back the same distance, and undersell 
the native fabric, which is made entirely by 
hand. 
Tobacco is cultivated in almost every part of 
India. The people are as fond of this weed as 
their brethren in America. Wheat is raised in 
the northern part of the country, and on the 
mountains in the southern part, but is not gen¬ 
erally used by the Hindus as an article of food. 
A large revenue is derived by the government 
from the cultivation of the Poppy. Indian corn 
might be raised, but is not appreciated by the 
natives. The Irish potato is grown in the hilly 
districts in quantities sufficient for the English 
residents. The people prefer an inferior kind 
of sweet potato, which is raised on the plains. 
India might be made to produce an hundred 
fold more than it now does. Its resources have 
been but partially developed. Agriculture is in 
its infancy. The improvements brought to 
light by other nations have produced no effect 
there. The same kind of implements, and the 
same mode of tilling the land in vogue two 
thousand years ago, are still practised. The 
people abhor innovation. An English officer 
introduced some modern plows, but the natives, 
after using them for a time, threw them away. 
Their oxen are so small and poor, that our 
plows are too much for them. As no hay is 
gathered, during the season when the ground 
becomes parched and vegetation dried up from 
the intense heat, the cattle suffer for food, and 
become very lean. In the best seasons cows do 
not yield more than two quarts of milk a day. 
As the Hindus never kill their oxen and cows, 
but suffer them to die of old age, if the country 
were good for grazing they would increase to an 
unlimited extent. The Hon. East India Com¬ 
pany, which bears rule in that country, has not 
done as much to improve its agriculture as 
would be not only for the interest of the peo¬ 
ple, but even for the advantage of the govern¬ 
ment. An exhorbitant tax is levied on arable 
land, while almost all other kinds of property 
are not taxed at all, and there, as in countries 
more enlightened, the government injures itself 
by not encouraging the farmer. 
A late Resident in India. 
IMPORTATION OF STOCK. 
Dr. Arthur Watts, of Chillicothe, and Mr. 
Alexander Waddle, of Charleston, Clark Co., 
Ohio, left this city on the 4th inst. in the 
steamer Atlantic, for England, for the purpose 
of selecting a lot of Short-horn Cattle, and 
other stock. The Clark County Company have 
raised $20,000 for this purpose. Dr. Watts 
visited England two years ago for the same 
purpose. He is a veteran breeder, and excellent 
judge of stock. Mr. Waddle has also great 
experience in breeding, and knows well what a 
fine animal is. We have no doubt they will 
make as good selections as possible. 
The agents of a Kentucky Company are now 
in England selecting; and we understand an 
importing company has recently been formed 
in Livingston County, N. Y. with a capital of 
$ 8 , 000 . 
We have feared lately that the stock import¬ 
ing business would be overdone, but those 
engaged in it say not. The farmers at the 
West have at last found out the great value of 
improved stock, and are eager to become pur¬ 
chasers. Aside from this, they have grown 
rich under the high prices of produce for the 
past few years, and can well afford to gratify 
their fancy for fine animals. We know no 
reason why this taste should not be indulged, 
as well as that for showy horses, handsome 
carriages, rich dresses, and elegant furniture. 
- 9 - 
Proceedings of the Connecticut State Agricultural 
Society. 
At the meeting at Hartford, on the 11th ult., 
the following appointments of officers were 
made for the ensuing year: 
President —Samuel T. Huntington, Esq., of 
Hartford. 
Vice Presidents —The Presidents of the 
County Societies are ex-olficio Vice Presidents 
of the State Society. 
Corresponding Secretary —H. A. Dyer. 
Recording Secretary and Treasurer —Prof. 
John A. Porter, of New Haven. 
Directors —Norman Porter, of Berlin; Solo¬ 
mon Mead, of New Haven; Gideon Thompson, 
of Bridgeport; Rev. William Cliff, of Stoning- 
