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it grows in bushy tufts, and not in gracefully pending ears, as kodo does. It is a staple crop in Gya and in the Chota Nagpore division. Barley (jao) is generally eaten in the form of sattoo, with some salt and chillies or other condiment. In Barley. Tirhoot, Gya, and elsewhere it is said to be the cheapest of all the food crops. What is called sattoo is made from many grains, from wheat, peas, maize, gram, pulses, as well as barley; the seeds are parched and then ground between coarsely ribbed grindstones. It is eaten in the same state as it comes from the grindstone, having been cooked in the drying; a little water is merely mixed with it. Barley is also ground with keroo, khesaree, or other dál, and baked into chupatties or bread. It is sometimes boiled like rice.

Maize.

Makai, maize, or Indian-corn, can, when it is in season, be purchased as cheap as barley, but not so all the year round. It is prepared and eaten like barley. From Patna and Shahabad it is reported that maize is even more consumed than barley by the labouring classes. Generally speaking, however, the makai crop is not nearly such an important item in the districts north of the Ganges as it is in the south.

The pulses, condiments, and vegetables of Behar, are much the same as those consumed in Bengal.

Cheena and kaon.

In Bengal Proper the millets cheena and kaon are cultivated and consumed especially in the eastern districts. They are raised in the low lands after the rains, and reaped in March and April. Bhoora is a coarse grain seed which is eaten by the poorer classes.

Although boiled rice forms the principal article of diet (and among Bengalees is often the only food eaten), dâl, fish, vegetables, oil, salt, spices, and other condiments, are added to give it a relish.

Dâl.

The principal pulses or dál, which enter most largely of these into the consumption of food, are known as muttur, khesari, mashuri, maskolai, moog, boot or chola, and arhur. All these except the last are sown after the subsidence of the rains and reaped in the cold weather, and are extensively cultivated. Muttur or peas, in particular, is in great demand, as its dál is much relished by the people. The well known arhur is sown with the aoos dhan, usually in the same field, and is reaped in Pous. It will grow almost on any soil; the wood is sold as fuel. Pulses or leguminous grains are largely exported eastwards from the western districts of Behar and elsewhere.

Either in a cooked or raw state, vegetables, turkari of some sort, form an invariable part of the food of Vegetables. the people of these provinces. The most common and important is the egg-plant or brinjal. It yields two crops in the year. This vegetable is daily used by every man, high or low, in the Lower Provinces, and is cultivated in almost every garden. Ryots, such as the caste of Pooras, who earn a livelihood by the sale of vegetables, set apart whole plots of land for its cultivation. Koomra, or the Belattee koomra, as it is called, comes next in order. The ryots

are so fond of raising these gourds that their creepers may be found in every house, either climbing on the thatched roofs of the houses or trailing on bamboo stages made for the purpose. There are an infinite variety of gourds, tuberous roots, and other vegetables consumed by the natives under the general denomination of turkari. Cauliflower (phool kobi), cabbage (kobi), are common; garlic (roshun), radish (moola), sag, of sorts, and onions (piyaj), are universal. For many there is no English equivalent. The ryot's vegetable garden is always near and about his homestead.

The cultivation of potatoes (Belattee aloo) in these provinces is yet very inconsiderable. They are grown to some extent in the district of Hooghly, but are not of a very good quality. From the north-west parts of Dacca they are procurable. In most parts of Bengal, however, although yams and some sorts of sweet tubers are not uncommon, the cultivation of the potato is unknown. In Assam and Darjeeling the introduction of this staple has been more successful. It is found in the Khasi Hills that the potato is the most remunerative of the staples there cultivated, and there is a tendency to increase the cultivation. From recent inquiries it appears that the outturn of potatoes in these hills is about 185,000 maunds, of which about 155,000 maunds are exported, and the remainder retained for seed and local consumption. Cherrapoonjee potatoes always command a ready sale at the larger stations in Bengal.

Condiments.

Great also is the variety of condiments with which the ryot seasons his food. Amongst a community addicted to fish, turmeric (huldee) is extensively used in curries and in all sort of vegetable and animal food : ginger (adruk) is also eaten in animal food, and is sold as medicine. Coriander (dhania), black cummin (randhooni), and aniseed (joan, mouri), are grown in small quantities for local consumption. Chillies (lanka morich or jhal) are cultivated in the western districts of the province, and in large quantities in Dacca. They are the principal cold weather crop also in the Chooadangah sub-division of the Nuddea district, where the whole country from the railway will be seen covered with the red ripening fields, and are largely exported to Calcutta. The peepool or black pepper is a condiment under careful cultivation. The creeper is planted in the beginning of the rains, and as it grows in shade the seeds of the stout dhonicha hemp plant are sown near the lines, which, as they grow, afford shelter to the creeper.

The annual exports of turmeric from Calcutta are about 50,000 cwts., and of ginger 10 to 20,000 cwts. The export of turmeric last year was very much below the average.

Pân.

The cultivation of pân, or the betel leaf, is extensive everywhere. It is a creeper and cultivated in gardens under cover, which are styled boroz. The caste of Barooes have the exclusive monopoly in the cultivation of the plant. The crop is sown on high land, which must be free from inundation. Each garden lasts for a few years only, and the first green leaves, especially those plucked in the early spring, are said to be preferred by those who indulge in the luxury.

The supari, or betel-nut, is also common in Eastern Bengal, especially in Tipperah, Backergunge Supari. and Dacca, and is very profitable to the proprietors of land. It bears fruit in the eighth year, and is most productive from that time to the sixteenth year, when the produce falls off. The nuts are gathered in November.

It is not necessary to do more than allude to the fruit produce of the country. Plantains and mangoes. are to be found everywhere; the jack tree is abundant.

Fruits.

Many parts of Eastern Bengal are studded with cocoanut plantations. Maldah has acquired a special pre-eminence for its mangoes, Sylhet for its oranges.

COMMERCIAL STAPLES.

Jute.

The most important commercial staple in the country is jute (Corchorus olitorius and C. capsularis), known in Bengal as pát or kosta, the two words being used indiscriminately to denote the same thing,-sometimes together (kosta pat), sometimes separately. The plants attain a size that allows fibres of 12 feet in length to be separated from them. The fibre is long, soft, and silky, and attention has been called to it as a substitute for flax; but the great trade and principal employ of jute is for the manufacture of gunny for bags, bedding, cordage, &c. The wonderfully rapid increase in the quantities exported sufficiently indicates the extension of the cultivation from year to year.

Twenty years ago the jute cultivation in Eastern Bengal was just what the tobacco cultivation is at the present day; that is, if the ryot had any spare land he grew a small quantity for his own use. He was ignorant of the suitability of the soil to the crop, and as the demand was very small, he did not think it worth his while to make experiments on any large scale. By-and-bye the large churs thrown up by the great rivers, and the increased demand for jute in Calcutta, opened his eyes, and the plant now forms the staple produce of the country next to the paddy.

Not only high, but also low lands, are adapted to the growth of the jute; the only thing for consideration being that there may be no water when the plant is very young, but after it has once risen to about 1 feet high no quantity of water can injure it. The crop is sown in April and cut in August. The jute cultivation has been a great relief to the ryot. It is his resource during a calamitous year for paddy, and enables him to lay up something annually for bad times. The cultivators, after clearing and drying the jute, sell the fibre to the faria or paikar, who frequents the local hâts and villages for the purpose of making purchases. Then he takes to the mahajun or wholesale dealer, who has either advanced to him money for the purchase or gives him a profit on the quantity he has brought in. Then the small bundles are broken up and the fibre is again dried and rolled into huge circular bales, in which form it finds its way to Calcutta before transhipment. By steamers alone 1,508,900 maunds of jute were exported from Serajgunge, the principal mart in Eastern Bengal. It is probable also that at least twice this amount was exported in country boats.

In Eastern Bengal, which is the great territory of jute cultivation, the increase and progress of the cultivation have been steady up to the past year. Last year's crop was by far the largest that had ever been known. The area under cultivation was greater than in any previous year, and it was estimated that in the district of Mymensingh alone the outturn exceeded two millions of maunds. Unfortunately this excessive cultivation made necessary the employment of hired labour to assist in preparing the fibre, and the prices of the market fell at the same time so low that the fibre in many places cost the producer more than could be got from the produce. It is said that in some places the prices that were obtainable would not have covered the expense of preparation and transport, and the plants were allowed to rot and die where they grew, but it is probable that such cases were exceptional and peculiar. A much smaller area has been sown with jute in the present season of 1873. It may also be added that the local consumption of jute where there is or is not export is everywhere large. The ryots will always grow as much as is required for their domestic purposes, for keeping their huts in repair and tying their cattle; while if there is a surplus it will always find a ready sale at the nearest market, where there must be considerable demand in a country which abounds in mat and bamboo houses that have to be tied together. Where jute is not grown for export, it is cultivated in a little plot about the ryot's own homes, like tobacco or vegetables, or on a deserted homestead, or, it may be, for the convenience of steeping it, on the neighbouring bank of a dull, sluggish stream.

The districts in Bengal which grow jute most largely are Rungpore, Mymensingh, Bogra, Dacca, Pubna, Dinagepore, Hooghly, 24-Pergunnahs, and a portion of Goalparah. The jute of very best quality is grown in Rungpore, Goalparah, and some parts of Mymensingh. The staple is also grown, more or less, over most parts of Bengal Proper, but not at all in the frontier hills or the dry districts of Behar. In Orissa the cultivation is very slight, and hardly sufficient to meet the demands of local consumption.

The export of jute, including cuttings and rejections, has increased from 25,13,690 cwts. in 1863-64 to 70,61,937 cwts. in 1871-72. The export of gunny cloth amounted in 1872 to 106,624 pieces, though this was far below the average of previous years. In addition to this there remains the very large quantity of jute kept for local consumption. In the sub-division of Atteah, in the district of Mymensingh, it is said that jute is manufactured into paper, so that would seem to be no new discovery after all. It is well known that mesta, a sub-order of the jute plant, has long been used for the manufacture of native paper.

Sunn (crotalaria juncea).—This is not the true hemp, though it is known in the trade and is exported Sunn hemp. under the name of sunn hemp. It is cultivated and raised principally by the fishermen caste, and its chief local use is in the manufacture of nets and cordage for boats, &c. A considerable quantity of this fibre is made into lines and shipped to Australia. The cultivation of this plant has considerably increased within the last few years.

Dhunecha.

The Jubbulpore hemp (crotalaria tenuifolia) is suited to dry and hilly tracts, but in Bengal it has been found that the fibre loses strength. Dhunchee or dhunecha (sesbania aculeata) grows in low. wet soils, to the height of from 10 to 12 feet, yielding fibres from 6 to 8 feet in length, but they are coarser and more harsh than those of hemp. It is considered, however, to be more durable in water than either pát or sunn, and is much used by fishermen for drag-ropes to their nets. It is a hardier plant than jute. It is believed that the fibre of this plant is never exported, although reports of its sample have been very favorable.

Ganjah (cannabis sativa), the true hemp, is not cultivated in this country for its fibre, though it is largely Ganjah, or hemp. cultivated for the sake of the intoxicating drug manufactured therefrom, and for the sake of the leaves, which are smoked and cause intoxication. Experiments have frequently been made to ascertain whether the cultivation of this plant for its fibre would answer in this country, and not without success. In fact superior fibre, deserving of the first attention, has been produced. But the preparation requires great care, and the cultivators, while they can make a certain profit by cultivating the plant for the drug, will not take the necessary trouble for the sake of the fibre. To produce the drug the seed is sown thin, whereas for fibre it should be sown thiakly, as sunn and jute are sown. It is doubted, however, whether country seed would produce a staple of any length.

As an exciseable product ganjah is of the very greatest importance. Its cultivation is at present confined to a single tract of land lying on the north of Rajshabye, to the south of Dinagepore, and to the southwest of Bogra. The reason of this has not been explained, but the fact of its continually spreading to the north and east is an indication that it is not necessarily limited to this narrow space. Ganjah is also grown in the Tributary Mehals of Orissa, but it is of an inferior description, and finds no favour with the smokers of Bengal. The seeds of ganjah are sown in August, and the harvest is reaped in January.

The value of ganjah exports from Rajshahye is now estimated at two lakhs of rupees. Thirty years ago the value of the export was only Rs. 40,000. The weight of ganjah exported from the district in 1871-72 amounted to 12,308 maunds.

Mushina, af (linum usitatissimum), the teesee and ulsee of the North-West and Behar, is the common Mushina, flax or linseed. flax, but is never grown in this country for fibre, but only for the seed for making oil. The experiments, however, that have been made show that the culture for fibre is not only possible, but likely to be most successful. The damper districts of Bengal are not well suited to this plant, but south Bhaugulpore, Monghyr, Patna, and Shahabad, are all districts in which the flax plant might be successfully cultivated for the fibre, and is extensively cultivated for its oil.

Oil-seeds indeed are very largely grown over the whole of Bengal and poured from all parts of the country into Calcutta. The largest cultivation is along the banks of the Ganges, and especially in the

Oil-seeds.

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