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BAR

233

CHAPTER

II.

AGRICULTURE.

— Crops —Irrigation —Tlie oustomof well digging —Wages — The people — Condition of the people— Land improvem^ts— Reasons why progress made — Embarrassments of the landlords Prices — Famine — Fisheries — Railway —Manufactures —Weights and measures

Agricultural classes and operations

—Rents — Size

thebigha

of

little

—Principal

is

traffic

castes.

—

Agricultural classes or operations. The principal agricultural caste is that of the Kurmis, who are very numerous in this district, nunihering 149,460; but cultivators belong to all castes. The area under cultivation in the year of survey amounted to 703,360 acres. Nor has this area largely increased. According to the of3Bcial returns, the crops covered in 1871 an average of 678,000 acres, which must be wrong, as the dofasli (two cropped land) lands should raise the area to at least 800,000 acres. Wheat is the principal crop, the average is about 200,000 acres rice about 130,000 acres. The staples are the same as those described in the Lucknow account.*

Of the 534,000

acres of cultivation in the old district, 156,000, or only

were irrigated mostly from wells. The jhlls are not utilised for purposes of irrigation so much as they might be. Sub-division of property and want of energy hinder the landlords from making the most obvious improvements. A great jhil and swamp near Dewa covers about five square miles an easily made and repaired embankment would reclaim three, besides rendering the water available for irrigation at a higher

28 per

cent.,



level.

The Settlement Department supplied the statistics in the accompanying table they are similarly deficient because the double crops are not

entered.

One fact, however, may be gathered from them, which is, that the irrigated area must be considerably larger than that which is given above. There are in this return 191,000 acres of crops which are always

irrigated.

Besides, there will be about 20,000 acres of peas which are always irrigated, and barley is sometimes watered probably the generally irrigated area of the district will be 220,000 acres, or 41 per cent., instead of 28 per cent, the official estimate, and the area which can be irrigated is always This view is conlarger than what is irrigated in any particular year. firmed by comparison with the adjoining district of Fyzabad, the irrigated area is 58 per cent, in the latter district, it is a mere continuation of the

same plateau running south-west between the Gumti and the Gogra which forms the district of Bara Banki, the tillage, the water level, the strata of the subsoil are similar in the two districts, and such a variation in their areas of irrigation as 28 and 58 per cent, is impossible.

The above

are from the annual statistical returns.