Page:Indian Journal of Economics Volume 2.djvu/572

BOSE The agricultural holdings and ?he production is on a depends mostly on ?he there is an scarcity is scale are of. villagers small scale. character of the are small Agriculture rainfall. If excessive inevitable. Irrigation works on s absent. There are many streamlets rainfall, or a failure of rains, large but The ordinary method of aAars or small tanks. irrigation is to lever arrangement. rural operations are they are apt to dry up and are not fit for irrigation. storing up wartar, is to dig The common practice of raise water from wells by a simple The implements used in agricul- all oldfashioned. These have been in use from generations past. Plough, kodali, sickle, 1oa?gtt and jltttbttl are the most important implements. The plough is drawn by oxen, horses, and sometimes by cows. Ignorance is the foster mother of superstition. The belief in the existence of supernatural beings is universal with the villagers. Th$ .natural phenomena are considered by the people to be manifestations of the supernatural agency. Disease in men and animals is. cohsidered to be due either to the wrath of some evil spirit or to the witchcraft of some neighbor. Almost in every village a big tree is set aside as being the haunt of evil spirits. This tree is wor- shipped regularly by a village priest. "A very detestable abuse of this widespread superstition is the practice of bribing the cleo/rig (witch finder) to denounce as s witch s person whom he has ?o reason to believe to be such. For example, when other means have failed o! evicting s' man from his land, an unscrupulous landlord has been known to adopt this means of eftcoting the ruin of his tenant." I have already pointed out that the population of . s. (]hotsnsgpur village contains diverse *elements ? Omm#er of Hamribqh by R. Lifter, O. I.