GON
526
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the kharif, the henwat, and the rati of which relative importance varies in diiferent parts of the
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H ests district. In the centre table-land the rabi, and in the north the henwat,. are most depended upon. In the south thejkharif, when the rains are moderate, yields a magnificent out-turn of Indian-corn; and excessive rains, while they are fatal to that particular crop, leave a fair crop of rice, and secure an abundant wheat harvest in the rabi.
There are three harvests
Ploughing for the kharif begins at the end of May, and continues throughout June ; in the beginning of July the seed is sown, and cutting commences with September in the case of rice even earlier. By the middle of October all the autumn crops are off the ground. Land for the henwat or Christmas crop, is ploughed at the commencement of the rains and the sowing continues during the growth of the kharif. If it is jarhan ( transplanted rice ), the planting out is done at the beginning of August, and the cutting continues throughout November. In the middle of December the cutting of the oil-seeds commences, and it is all over by the end of the first week of January. Preparations for the spring crop commence before the rains set in, and in the case of wheat, the careful cultivator will give his field a ploughing in June, At the end of August the field is again ploughed two or three times over, and the final ploughing takes place in September. In October and November the land is sown, and after the Holi, in the beginning of March, the fields are cut. April is occupied in threshing and winnowing, and during the first half of May the labourer gets his only holiday. At the end of May he manures his fields against the coming rains. If there are exceptionally late rains, the plough will be often run lightly over fallow and land just cleared from the kharif, and wheat and barley sown broadcast. This method of sowinois known as chhitti bona, in contradistinction to kunr bona, or sowing in the furrow. Even with this slight preparation a moderate return is often
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secured. It is difficult to give any precise limit, but an ordinary two-bullock plough will suffice for the cultivation of about thirty kachcha bighas, or between five and six acres. The area denoted conventionally as a plough of land is about 50 kachcha bighas, but there can be no doubt that the calculation has been based on ploughs of exceptional capabilities. About a maund of seed is required for wheat, and from 25 to 30 sers for gram and
ordinary
rice.
The average return
is somewhat difficult to get vdth any accuracy, but on old cultivated land the farmer is not disappointed, with ten maunds of wheat, and eight maunds of gram or rice to the bigha. In the case of transplanted rice twelve to fifteen sers of seed are sown, and the out-turn is both heavier and more valuable in proportion to its weight than the common kind. The labour is of course much greater, and the land so used available for only one crop in the year. Five to eight sers will sow a bigha of lahi, and five or six maunds is not above an average crop. This, too, is a highly-priced grain, and its cultivation is very remunerative but it occupies the field for the whole year, excluding a second crop. Urd also IS very remunerative, and five sers of seed will yield a harvest of as many maunds.
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