Page:Gazetteer of the province of Oudh ... (IA cu31924073057352).pdf/112

 104 PAR "He gives the revenue derived from salt in 1856 as Rs. 61,496. In 1859 the revenue from salt was, as reported by the Chief Commissioner to the Government of India, Rs. 68,022 for Partabgarh. I fancy that in peither year was the revenue what it should have been, and there can be no doubt that, as experience was gained, the salt department would have been enabled to collect a cousiderably higher figure than Rs. 72,000, which, under the native government, were paid by the landowners on account of salt lands. I will not digress into the question of salt mannfacture, whether it should or should not be allowed in Oudh, nor, indeed, say more than that I have from the first held the belief, that it is on the whole impoli- tic to stop the trade." Saltpetre.-The manufacture of this substance was carried on in this district until about a year and a half ago. The manufacture was put a stop to, because it was discovered that it afforded too many facilities for engaging in the illicit preparation of edible salt. Usar.---This earth is to be found principally in the Rámpur pargana of the Kunda tahsil. It has been generally regarded as unproductive, but in later times it has in some places been made to yield a crop of rice by filtration of the top soil. This is effected by confining the water in the rainy season in low-lying localities means of an embankment. After two or three years of this process, the earth becomes freed from the presence of its deleterious components, and rice can be sown in it. Such lands may be then regarded as permanently reclaimed, and in a very few years come up to the standard of average rice lands. The analysis of the different úsar soils, which are met with in Oudh, will be found at length in Mr. Maconochie's report on the settlement of the Unao district. Reh -Regarding reh, I cannot do better than transcribe Mr. King's remarks "In many places that efflorescence of the earth known as reh is to be found. I give the results of a chemical analysis of it, which appeared in the Times of India in 1864 :- “Sods 28 parte. “Sulphuric acid 17 parts. "Potass, lime, magnesia, carbonic acid, and silica form the rest of the It is used by dholis in Washing, and by makers of cheap lac bargles." Kankar.---The conglomerate known as "kankar," and which is com- posed principally of carbonate of lime, with a variable proportion of silica, is common enough in this part of the country. It is mainly used for metalling roads, and for this purpose it is extensively quarried in this district. I have been informed by Dr. Whishaw, Officiating Sanitary Commissioner of Oudh, that the presence of reh efflorescence on the surface of the ground is a sure indication of the existence of kankar formation below. Animal products (wool).--The animal products of the district may be said to consist entirely of wool, hides, horns, and ghí. There is an excellent breed of sheep in the Kunda Tahsil, which furnishes the best wool 404 mass.