Page:The Imperial Gazetteer of India - Volume 10 (2nd edition).pdf/279

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NELLORE. 267 Ibs, were — rice, 4$. ; wheat, 6s. ; inferior food-grains, 2s. ; indigo, £15, Ss. ; cotton, £1, Ss. ; salt, 6s; and sugar, £1, 1os. The daily rates of wages were for skilled labour, is. ; for unskilled labour, ad. Of recent years there has been an upward tendency in the rate of wages. The irrigation of Nellore District is not comprehended under a single system. The chief work is the anicut (anakatte) across the Penner river near Nellore town, constructed in 1854 to provide irrigation for the lands lying on the south bank. This anicut is 677 yards in length, and during the flood of 30th November 1882, the highest on record, had 19 feet 2 inches of water, in depth, passing over its crest. Up to 1880-81, the total amount of capital expended on this undertaking has been £174,174; the gross income in that year was £14,592, which, after deducting cost of repairs, etc., and interest on capital at the rate of 5 per cent., left a net profit of £4000. The total net income from this work up to 1881-82 was £27,509. Another anicut is now (188+) being constructed higher up the Penner, which will provide irrigation for lands north of the river. The other Government irrigation works comprise 665 tanks, 84 river channels, 25 spring channels, 83 anicuts, and 671 wells. Among first-class tanks in the District, Kanigiri and Allúr in the Nellore hiluk, and Anantaságaram and Kalavya in the Atmákúr túluk, deserve mention. In 1881-82, the total irrigated area was returned at 199,193 acres, yielding an assessment of £73,918, the total amount expended by Government on irrigation being £8239. In addition, irrigation is everywhere conducted on private account, chiefly from wells, tanks, and spring channels. Cattle.- The live-stock returns in 1882-83 were as follows:-Cattle, 252,110; goats, 121,227; sheep, 216,934; donkeys, 14,850; horses and ponies, 1015; and pigs, 12,859. Dead-stock-ploughs, 66,047; carts, 13,614; and boats, 78. Nellore is famous for its breed of cattle, which are largely exported to neighbouring Districts. Historically, it is said that the farmers devoted themselves to cattle-breeding, in despair of obtaining remunerative returns from agriculture. The Nellore bullocks are found in greatest perfection in the northern tiluks bordering on Kistna District. The value of a good bull ranges from £7 to £20. An annual cattle show is held at the village of Addanki in January. Sheep and goats are chiefly found in the barren táluks in the west. Forests. — The chief range of forest country in Nellore District lies along the Veligonda Hills, on the eastern slopes of the range in the táluks of Rápúr, Atmakúr, Udayagiri, and Kanigiri. In these forests the red sanders tree (Pterocarpus santalinus) occurs, as well as Hardwickia binata, Pterocarpus marsupium, and teak, with other valuable kinds. It is proposed to bring them into the class of reserved