Page:Gazetteer of the province of Oudh ... (IA cu31924073057352).pdf/431

 SUL 423 RABI CROPS. Name of crop. Wheat Gram and arbar Poppy Vegetables Oil seeds Miscellaneous 00 Area in acres. 149,092 44,500 6,111 8,205 138 48,247 40. 909 OD Total 249,286 Grand Total 488,423 Irrigation.—There is no correct information about the irrigable area of the present district. That of the old district was 77 per cent., and as that of Fyzabad, portions of which have been transferred to Sultanpur, was 72 per cont., we may say roughly that three quarters of the present district are irrigable, while none of the tahsils present any special features in this respect. This however is the often sanguine settlement estimate; it applies only to ordinary years; this year (1877) not one-twentieth of the kharif has been irrigated, and unless we have heavy rain, the wells will soon be as dry as the jbils now are, and the rabi sowings will not germinate. Food of the people. The principal food at present, September 5th, is a mixture of barley and mahua; the former is at 18 to 19 sers the rupee, the latter is at about 21 maunds the rupee, the crop having been very good, wheat is at 14 gers, gram is at 20 sors the rupce; a common food is bima or barley and gram mixed. The following quotations are from Dr. Day's "Fisherios" - “The Collector of Sultanpur observes that breeding fish and young ones are destroyed, but not to any great extent. Those taken are from tanks and marshes fed by the rain, or filled by the overflow of rivers such as the Gumti. The meshes of the nots are small enough when 80 required to catch fish about the size of a gudgeon. Interference is pot con- sidered desirable, because there would be a difficulty at first in the novelty of making regulations laying down the size of the mesh of nets, and he refrains from answering what size he considers advisable. As a rule, the fry of fish are reported not to be sold in the bazar, and he would avoid all novel regulations suitable for European countries, interfering with pro- perty and old customs. He considers no objection exists to a close season for breeding fish in hilly districts.”—Parc. 286,"Francis Day's Fresh- water Fish and Fisheries of India and Burma." " At Sultanpur the native official estimates the fishermen at from 900 to 1,000, all of whom have also other occupations; they are Mullahs, Kahars, Kewats, and Gurias. The markets are said to be fairly sup- plied with fish, the larger sorts obtaining from an anna and a quarter to two annas a ser, and the smaller from three quarters to one anna and a quarter a sor ; whilst the bazar mutton obtains from one and a quarter Three-fourths of the population are said to eat fish. The amount in the Gumti are said to have decreased of late years. to two annas a ser,