Page:Gódávari.djvu/101

Rh cholam, castor, and black, green and Bengal gram in the second. No regular rotations are observed. In Bhadráchalam the ryots say vaguely that they vary the crop when it begins to fail for want of a change. In Peddápuram, Tuni, Amalápuram and Pólavaram they profess to change the crop every year and say that castor and Bengal gram require intervals of three and seven years respectively before they are repeated on the same land.

The place of rotation is to some extent taken by mixing the crops, a system which is usual everywhere. Typical and common combinations are horse-gram or black gram with ragi; dhall with ragi, sámai or gingelly; black gram and beans (anumulu) with cholam; and cambu with sámai or korra. The principal advantage of the system is that it economises space, a small or slow-growing crop being raised in the intervals between spreading or quickly-maturing plants. In the delta and the Agency, manuring is rare; but it is frequent elsewhere. Ragi, tobacco and gingelly are thought to require it more than other crops. Fields are ploughed from four to six times, but twice is considered enough for horse-gram. Tobacco and onions seem to be always transplanted and cambu and ragi generally so. The seedlings are laid in a furrow and covered by ploughing another furrow alongside the first. Most of the other dry crops are sown broadcast, but castor and Bengal gram are sown seed by seed in a furrow, and in places a drill is used. The seed is covered by dragging a leafy branch across the field or ploughing again. Weeding of any kind appears to be the exception.

There appear to be four kinds of cholam in this district, namely two varieties (the mudda and the ralla) of yellow (pacha) cholam, white cholam (tella jonna or man jonna), and 'hill cholam' (konda jonna). The white variety is peculiar to Bhadráchalam and the 'hill cholam' to pódu cultivation. Yellow cholam is generally sown mixed with green gram. The seed is covered as usual. Six or eight weeks afterwards the field is lightly ploughed, which is believed to strengthen the young plants. In Pólavaram the ryots first weed the crop and loosen the soil with a gorru, a log of wood provided with iron or wooden teeth, which is drawn by bullocks. The crop is sown in October or November and is on the ground for three or four months.

There are two varieties of tobacco — lanka and pati. The former, which is much the superior, is grown on the alluvial soils of the lankas and banks of the Gódávari, which require no manure owing to their being covered with silt by the river