Page:The Imperial Gazetteer of India - Volume 10 (2nd edition).pdf/74



62 JIUZAFFARGARH. oil-seeds (til), 9901; cotton, 20,708 ; indigo, 29,740 ; sugar.cane, 5540 ; vegetables, 245; and miscellaneous crops, 2256 acres. Of non-food crops, indigo forms the most lucrative staple. The average out-turn per acre of the principal products was returned as follows in 1883–84:wheat, 727 lbs. ; rice, 506 lbs. ; inferior grains, 420 lbs.; cotton, 293 lbs. ; indigo, 23 lbs. ; unrefined sugar (gur), 1520 lbs. The agricultural stock of Muzaffargarh District in 1883–84 was returned as under-Cows and bullocks, 163,164; horses, 2319; ponies, 1594; donkeys, 7241 ; sheep and goats, 100,505; camels, 5260 ; ploughs, 42,120. Horse and donkey stallions were introduced into the District in 1880, to encourage breeding, which had been previously neglected; and horse fairs are now held annually at Muzaffargarh station. Most of the land is cultivated by the proprietors in person ; and rents, where they exist, are almost universally payable in kind. No material difference in welfare exists between tenants with occupancy rights and tenants-at-will. Land is still so abundant, that occupancy rights have no attraction, and tenants prefer not to be tied to the land, but to be able to change their cultivation when they like. At the time of the settlement in Sanáwán tahsil, applications were common by tenants not to be recorded as having rights of occupancy, though they were by custom entitled to permanent possession. Tenants are eagerly sought after, and, as a rule, are free from any attempts at extortion on the part of the landlords, although some proprietors study to get their tenants into their debt in order to obtain a hold over them. Indebtedness is common, both among proprietors and tenants, but to a much greater extent among the Muhammadans than the Hindus. This difference in indebtedness is due to the difference in the habits of each class, the Muhammadans being often spendthrift and improvident, and without any other source of income beyond agriculture ; while the Hindus are a thrifty class, and those who own and cultivate land almost always combine trade and money-lending with the cultivation of their fields. The class of day-labourers consists mainly of wandering families froin Khorasan (Khurasan), who immigrate temporarily for the winter, and leave for their own homes as soon as spring sets in. They receive their wages in grain at rates returned at 20 to 2.4 lbs. per diem; and these rates do not appear to have risen of late years. Skilled labour in the towns is paid at the rate of about is., and unskilled labour at from 3d. to 4 d. a day. Prices of food-grains ruled as follows in January 1884:-- Wheat, 18 sers per rupee, or 6s. 3d. per cwt. ; barley, 29 sers per rupee, or 35. rod. per cwt. ; gram, 23 sers per rupee, or 4s. rod. per cwt. ; joár, 25 sers per rupee, or 4s. 6d. per cwt. Commerce and Trade, etc.--The mercantile classes of Muzaffargarh display great apathy with regard to distant trade. The carrying business