Page:Gazetteer of the province of Oudh ... (IA cu31924073057345).pdf/174

166 KHE The curing is conducted in the usual rough, imperfect way. The leaves are spread on a plain--grassy if possible and exposed to the sun and dew for a period varying from four to ten days, being turned at intervals. When they have wilted they are stacked in heaps, roughly thatched, and allowed to ferment, the heaps being occasionally opened out to prevent excessive fermentation. They are thus kept for about a month, when the leaf is expected to acquire the desired colour. If this should still be wanting, it is imparted by the application of water in which the stems and refuse leaves of the plant have been steeped. This completes the curing, and the leaves, on arriving at this stage, are tied in bundles of four or five each. Experiments have been tried at various places, but not with much suc- Some of the American kinds grow very well, but the natives are said to prefer their own coarser and stronger kinds. The subjoined remarks by Dr. E. Bonavia on the hybridization of tobacco are worthy of atten- cess. tion: " In endeavouring to introduce any foreign agricultural plant into this country, the main difficulty in koeping it true, i.e., preventing it from what is commonly, though erroneously, called degenerating, is the igno- rance of natives in not knowing the power they possess to improve and modify plants by selection, and in their failing to take the precaution not to sow foreign seed, such as tobacco, in the vicinity of country plants. They have no idea that plants of the same species may be bybridized if close to each other during the flowering time, either by the agency of the wind or of insects. There is little doubt that in many parts of this pro- vince (Oudh) tobacco of good quality might be grown for exportation if sufficient care were taken, not only in the cultivation, but also in the dry- ing and packing of the plant." Agricultural operations.-The inhabitants of Kheri are employed prin- cipally in agricultural operations on their own account, 474,834, or 64 per cent of the entire population, being engaged in the cultivation of the soil as tenants. They employ in this labour 88,857 ploughs, 251,637 bullocks, and 15,297 buffaloes upop 825,630 acres of land, of which 35,249 acres are covered with mango groves. There are then 17 acres for each head of the agricultural population, or, including agricultural labourers, 1.5 acres. Cultivation is, however, very backward. North of the river Ul land is hardly ever manured and never irrigated, except the small gardens in which tobacco and vegetables are grown. South of the uſ a fair amuunt of labour is bestowed upon the crops, although less than what is usual in the rest of Oudh. Large herds of cattle and sheep are grazed in Srinagar, Kukra, Khairigarh : there are not twenty camels in the district. The agricultural implements are those described in article" Partabgarh." Irrigation of the crops. The spring crops are very generally left un- Weeded, and are rarely watered more than once. This partly arises from the difficulty and expense of getting water, there being not so many jhils as in the rest of Oudh. The soil is so friable that the wells are constantly falling in. Water is met with at from forty feet in Magdapur to ten feet in the river bottoms, the average being about 25 feet. The wicker baskets used it jhils will raise the water sixteen feet in five lifts; from the wells, as a