BELLARY. Agriculture.
— Of the —
245 3,574,504 were
total area (3,762,286 acres),
in
1881-82 returned as assessed; 40,154 acres for the first crop, and 1941 for the second, total, 42,095 acres, were cultivated under irrigation and 1,365,639 were cultivated without irrigation total cultivated area, I, 407,734 acres. The cultivable area not under cultivation was returned at 2,087,995 acres; pasture and forest lands, 98,347 acres; and barren
—
or waste lands, 170,524 acres: total uncultivated area, 2,356,866 acres.
Of the total area, 815,300 acres are held in indm, or revenue free. The cultivated area is officially divided into wet and dry lands. Dry’ land is that in which there is no artificial irrigation. The chief ‘
‘
’
’
‘
crops are cholam, rdgi, and korra, and on these depends the food
supply of the masses.
Wet
‘
’
lands, or those artificially irrigated, are
On
almost exclusively devoted to rice and sugar-cane. lands
are
tobacco,
cocoa-nut,
raised
chillies,
betel
leaf,
turmeric, vegetables,
dry land, the regar, or
‘
black cotton
and
areca-nut,
plantains,
Cotton
fruits.
soil,’
other
being the
is
‘
dry
’
wheat,
grown on
always pre-
soil
on the red ferruginous or grey calcareous soils being on the average only 25 per cent, of that on the black soil. A fair crop would be 240 lbs. of uncleaned, or 60 lbs. of cleaned, cotton. Exotic varieties of cotton (Hinganghat, New Orleans, Sea Island, etc.) have been tried, and have hitherto failed. The total area under the various crops is thus estimated grain crops, 1,117,878 acres; orchard and garden produce, 9881; tobacco, 4061 hemp and other drugs, 1237; condiments and spices, 6759; sugar-cane, 8448; sugar palms, etc., 2161 oil-seeds, 50,512; cotton, 205,895; indigo, 323; jute, 715; flax and other fibres, 664 acres. Manure, wherever obtainable, is applied, and ferred, the out-turn
—
the use of green foliage for this purpose, in universal.
No
‘
wet
’
lands,
is
almost
regular rotation of crops obtains, but the principle that
two exhausting crops should not be sown successively on the same field is everywhere recognised. According to the statistics of 1881-82, there were in the District II, 757 buffaloes,
120,883 bullocks, 49,560 cows, 9022 donkeys, 89,566 694 horses, 2218 ponies, 112 mules, 77 camels,
goats, 169,122 sheep,
The prices 13,764 pigs, 56 boats, 13,264 carts, and 58,983 ploughs. of produce ruling in the District at the end of 1881-82, per maund of
—
80 lbs., were for from 2S. to 4s. 9d. and for cotton, 7s.
tO;£^io a pair
An
6s.
for salt,
The
3d.; for wheat, 4s. 4^d. 8s-.;
The
for sugar, 26s. 6d.
6s. to 7s. each.
agricultural
for other grains,
for linseed, 6s. 3d.;
all
i6s.
Buffaloes, though cheaper,
implements correspond
those in use in Europe, but are
in character
of the most primitive kind.
improvement, however, has been remarked of
Thus
price of field bullocks ranges from
and of sheep,
are seldom used. to
rice,
late in
many
points.
the old cart with solid wheels of stone or w'ood, the axle revolving
with the wheel,
is
giving place to open wheels, wuth
tire,
spokes,
and
