BAST/. the southern than in the middle
in
There are two
in the northern.
21
and
belt,
middle than
the
in
autumn crop,
harvests, the kharif or
The kharif
crops are sown and are harvested
I
May
or June, as soon as October and November, and some of the rice in September, or even as early as the end of August ; cotton, of which very little is grown in the District, is not ripe
and the
the
rab't.
first
rain has fallen,
for picking
till
mainly sown April
in
Besides cotton and
February.
include jodr, locally
in
known
the kharif crops
rice,
The
as joudhri, moth., etc.
rabi crops are
October and November, and reaped in March and
in
they consist of wheat, barley, oats, vetch, and peas, and ddl or
arhar. the minute sub-division of the land, and the absence of large
From
towns, the population maintains
mile
throughout
the
its
villages the average of inhabitants cent,
average density of 592 to the square over nearly two-thirds of the
and
District,
is
Of
under 200.
the houses, 99 per
mud, and the average value of an ordinary
are built of
agricul-
His annual expenditure is about p^'9, 7s. Rice and the cheaper grains form the staple of food, with, in some places, fish. As the cold is never severe, clothing and shelter do not cost so much as in many other Districts. Among Hindus, the cost of living for a family of four persons (man, woman, and two children) would be approximately (i) for those in the first class, or having incomes over
- ^ioo a year, ^^90 to ;^i8o; (2) for those in the second class, or
having incomes between £,20 and £100 a year, about £20 to ;^6o ; and (3) for those in the third class, or with incomes under £20 a year, from £6 to ;^i2. For the Musalmans the cost would be rather more,
turist’s
personal effects
is
los.
—
as their habits are
The
buffaloes from
more expensive. to
14s.
^3, and of cows from
rates of interest in force are
personal only,
ranges from
bullocks for agriculture
price of
—
from 16 to 37 per cent.
valuables, from 6 to
1
to to
£^.
£4, of The
on the security of and on personal security transactions, on the security of
in small transactions,
from 10 to 12 per cent.
effects,
los.
in large
2 per cent.
on personal security (banker lending
to banker), from 6 to 9 per cent. ; and on the security of land, from Coolies and 9 to 18 per cent. The rates of wages are as follows
unskilled town labourers, 2^d. to 3fd. a day
—
agricultural labourers,
bricklayers and carpenters, 6d. to 2s. a day. 2^d. to 3d. a day Female labourers are paid about one-fifth less than men. The ordinary Wheat, 20 lbs. for prices of the chief food grains average as follows and dd/, 26 lbs. Prices have been rather less affected rice, 15 lbs. IS. in this District than in others more centrally situated, and nearer the main line of railway ; but even in Basti they are rising steadily.
Land
—
Tenures
.
—None
of the District
is
permanently
settled.
The
tenures of land are the usual zaminddri, pattiddri, and bhaydchdrd.
