72 MUZAFFARNAGAR. inhabitants of the khúdar tract, while Urdu is commonly spoken by the people of the uplands. As regards occupation, the Census of 1881 returned the male population of Muzaffarnagar District under the following six headings :-(1) Professional class, including military and officials, 5319 ; (2) domestic class, including inn and lodging-house keepers, 1404; (3) commercial class, including bankers, merchants, traders, carriers, etc., 8597; (4) agricultural and pastoral class, including gardeners, 161,945; (5) manufacturing and industrial class, including artisans, 78,291; (6) indefinite and non-productive class, comprising general labourers and male children, 153,880. Agriculture. — Muzaffarnagar is essentially an agricultural District, but tillage has not yet been carried to so high a pitch as in some other portions of the Doáb. In 1871, out of a total area amounting to 1,033,468 acres, 629,735 acres were under cultivation. In 1883-84, out of a total area of 1,060,561 acres, 707,380 acres, or 66'7 per cent., were under cultivation, of which 166,806 acres were irrigated from the Government canals, and 93,470 acres by private irrigation from wells, while 447,104 acres were unirrigated. Of the uncultivated area, 200,663 acres were returned as grazing lands, or cultivable, while 152,518 acres were uncultivable waste. In the rabí harvest, the chief crops are wheat, barley, millet, and pulse. The kharif harvest includes some of these grains, besides sugar-cane, cotton, and indigo; it is the most important both as regards the extent of cultivation and the value of crops. The best lands produce two harvests in the year. In 1871 there were 224,812 acres under wheat and barley, 54,154 under joir and bájra, 44,757 under rice, 32,781 under cotton; and 42,829 acres were planted with sugar - cane. The corresponding figures for 1883-84 show a considerable advance in cultivation. In that year, wheat and barley occupied 299,926 acres; joír and bájra, 65,104 acres; rice, 40,765 acres; cotton, 29,296 acres; sugar-cane, 54,645; and indigo, 5727 acres. The use of manure is increasing. Irrigation is widely practised both from wells and canals. In 1883-84, no fewer than 166,806 acres were watered from one or other of the great canals. Under their influence there has been a steady increase in the cultivation of the superior crops, such as cereals, sugar-cane, and cotton, to the exclusion of the poorer pulses and millets. Some harm has been done by over-saturation and the efflorescence of the destructive reh salt; but this is now being remedied by a Government drainage system. The condition of the peasantry is comfortable, and the village communities are prosperous and intelligent, especially among the Játs and Gújars. Most of the land is cultivated by husbandmen having rights of occupancy; while the number of tenants-at-will is rapidly
