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Imperial Gazetteer of India, v. 3, p. 476.

476 THE INDIAX EMAPIRE [CHAP. Off the land, but dependent on it, are millions of agricultural labourers, the vast majority of whom have only casual employ- ment and are thrown out of work when harvests fail. Thus, the masses of the Indian people depend upon the harvests, and these depend upon a periodic, but by no means regular, rainfall. The two The two rain-bearing currents are (r) the south-west mon- monsoons. soon, commonly called the monsoon or the rains, and (2) the so-called north-east monsoon, the period of which is marked in North-Western India by what are commonly called 'the winter rains.' The agricultural year commences with the former, which is the more important of the two. South-west For a month or two before the rains the land has rest over monsoon the greater part of India. The heat is intense, the soil is and the autumn baked, ploughing is impossible, and the people sit in their harvest. villages literally gasping for rain. The monsoon bursts in June, and dies away at the end of September or beginning of October. After the first heavy shower, ploughing begins, and the autumn harvest (kharif), which provides the year's food for the poorer classes, viz. millets and rice, is sown. It occupies the ground for from two to four months, during which period the distribution of the rainfall is even more im- portant agriculturally than its amount. A long break in the rains and hot dry winds cause serious loss; excessive rain produces floods; and continuous rain interrupts work in the fields. On fine days the people are very busy: the autumn harvest requires two or three weedings, and the land reserved for the spring harvest is ploughed many times. Weeding, ploughing, and harvesting employ millions of labourers. North-east In October or November, the spring harvest (rabi) is sown. monsoon Wheat, barley, pulses, and the more valuable non-food crops' and the spring are grown in the north; the larger millets predominate in the harvest. south of India. The so-called north-east monsoon breaks on the east coast in November or December2, while the winter rains fall in the north from Christmas on to February. The spring are less precarious than the autumn crops. But heavy or prolonged rain, accompanied by east winds, causes rust in the wheat and barley; and premature hot west winds shrivel up the swelling grain. Harvesting begins in March and April, Opium, tobacco, oilseeds, &c. 2 As will be seen from the Meteorology chapter (Vol. I, chap. iii), the rainfall which is so important in Eastern Madras in November and December is really due to the retreat of the south-west monsoon current. The north- east monsoon proper is not established till the end of December.