Page:Dialogues, Intended to Facilitate the Acquiring of the Bengali Language.djvu/40



O ho you! come here. What business do you follow?

I cultivate land. What else?

How much land have you? and what rent do you pay?

Sir, my rent is fifty rupees a year; and I guess there may be about forty bighas of land.

Cannot you tell exactly how much land you cultivate?

How should I do that? The Mundul of the village can tell.

Well, when you cultivate the whole what crops do you get?

If we have rain in Bysakh, we sow Bhadooi rice, and indigo, and hemp.

After that we plant the cold season rice in Ashar and Shrabuna; and after that we sow wheat, barley, and pulse.

Are there no sugar-cane fields here?

There is no sugar-manufactory here, but here and there a person plants a bigha or two for molasses. It is very expensive to cultivate the sugar-cane.

How many ploughing bullocks have you?

I had one very excellent bullock died, otherwise I had six ploughs.

Can you cultivate all your land with six ploughs?

There are two bullocks to a plough; and if the ground is in proper order to work, one plough will manage six bighas well, and somewhat more with hard working.

I suppose the cultivation of indigo is very profitable.