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Imperial Gazetteer of India, v. 21, p. 285.

in the rains, and jowdr and gram at other times, The rich eat rice and wheat. A new class of wheat has lately been introduced, known as much or safed (' white') wheat, but it is considered of inferior quality to the ordinary or kathia wheat. Advances of grain and cash are not made in ordinary years, but are freely given in times of scarcity. Tahsil. Total Cultivated. Irrigated cultivable forests. area. (acres), waste, Teonthar 816 308 36 183 20,0 Huzur . 1,201 703 1,040 167 127 Mauganj 784 256 67 198 183 Bardi 2,912 487 78 189 1,296 Ramnagar 2,775. 367 155 73 1,191 Sohagpur 3,535 273 183 303. 1,474 Raghurajnagar 977 409 208 178 161 Total i3,ooo 2,803 1,967 1,290 4,632 Water is plentiful and the country is full of large tanks and reservoirs, but these are not as a rule used for irrigation purposes; the only system of 'wet' cultivation is from small embankments of earth raised at the lower end of sloping fields, so as to retain water for some time after the monsoon has ceased. In land thus moistened seed is sown in October, producing a yield three or four times as great as that obtained from the same area of equally good ' dry' soil. The method is simple and well suited to the needs of local agriculture. Ordinary well-irrigation is little practised, being confined to the cultivation of pin, poppy, sugar-cane, and garden produce. Pasturage is ample,. but no special breeds of cattle are raised. Formerly the revenue was paid in kind called bhdg (' share')., This system has been entirely replaced by cash payments in lands directly under the State; but the holders of alienated land, which comprises about / 2 per cent. of the total area, still adhere to the old practice) Wages are paid in kind for agticultural operations, but in cash for other work. Blacksmiths, carpenters, and masons get 4 to 8 annas ' a day. The :staple food-grains, rice, wheat, jowar, and kodon, sold in 1904 at i 1, 13, 17, and 14 seers per rupee respectively. The forests are very extensive and of considerable commercial value. They cover an area of 4,632 square miles, the most important lying. south of the Kaimur range. The greater part of the forest consists of sal (Shorea robusta), tendu (Diospyras tomentosa), dhazva (Anogeissus lattfolia), and species of Termi- Forests. nalia, with much bamboo. In the upland area .stunted teak, babul (Acacia arabica), and khair (Acacia Catechu) prevail. Dohya (shifting) cultivation was formerly very common, and is still to some, rlxtent practised by jungle tribes, Trees are felled and, burnt, and the seed sown in the ashes. This practice is highly destructive to forests; and T2