Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 10.djvu/607

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. ^- ^- ti • ,«pa_ • tic.- ^.AajQjt-Sa'r^- 0) ■ 3 3 O C. S m.r; o "3 RS, S 2 ! C 0) c whole crop is used for domestic consumption, whereas rice is exported in large quantities. The plantinjr and harvesting periods vary with dilTer- ent sections ; in some regions two crops are raised, and in others, especially in the nortliwest. but one crop is produced, (he rainfall being the controllinfr factor. The acrcafre shown in the table is somewhat less than the average for the decade. After rice and millet pulse is the most important food product. In the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh it constitutes the largest crop. The figures in the table under the heading "Other food grains, including pulse," include gram, maize, and barlej' ; the average each for the decade being approximately ten, five and one-half, and six million acres respectively. Wheat is confined largely to the northwestern part of India, being the chief crop in the Pun- jab. It is a vcrj' important factor in the agri- culture of the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh, and is produced to a less extent in the Cen- tral Provinces and Sindh. While there was for- merly much apprehension in the United States that the wheat crop of India would drive that of the former from the world market, recent develop- ments have not justified such fears, since the in- crease in area devoted to wheat in India was much less in the last fifteen years of the nine- teenth century than in the preceding fifteen-year period. The wheat-producing area varies widely from year to year, the figures given in the table being over si.x million acres less than those for 189.5. The average for the 'decade was a little less than 20,000,000 acres, about half of which is sub- ject to irrigation. The average yield per acre varies with climatic conditions^in the Punjab it is about 1.3 bushels. The harvest occurs during April and Hay. Potatoes and other root crops are grawn successfully, but they are not as favor- ite a food in India as in European countries. A large variety of tropical or semi-tropical fruits are grown for local consumption. The cocoanut is the most important export from the south- west coast. There are several kinds of dates hav- ing a local and commercial importance. Through- out India the raising of oil-seeds receives much attention, an average of about 12,000,000 acres being devoted to their cultivation. The product has been long an important item in local con- sumption, and in the last half of the nineteenth century large quantities were exported to Europe — the foreign demand giving an increased impetus to its cultivation. Sugarcane is grown in most provinces, but only in the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh and Bengal is it important. The crop requires irriga- tion and cultivation on a capitalistic scale, which tends to limit the development of the industry. The product has also to compete with the bounty- fed sugars from .Austria-Hungary and other Eu- ropean countries, and although contravening du- ties are placed upon imports from these countries, they failed to prevent their importation. But the local product supplies much the greater part of the home consumption. In Southern India coffee is raised in Coorg, and southward in Mad- ras. The industry enjoyed a period of develop- ment following ISOO, but during recent years it has remained stationary. The culture of tea and that of opium owe their development to the fostering efforts of the Government. Tea culture was introduced about the middle of the nine- teenth century, and has continued to increase to the present time. Reqtiiring an abundance of water, it is best adapted to .Assam and Lower Bengal, and is largely confined to these two re- gions, being grown for foreign markets rather than home con.sumption. Opium is a Government monopoly, and its growth is restricted to certain regions, princi- pally Behar, the countrj' around Benares, and