DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.2375#0280
£74
A JOURNEY FROM MADRAS THROUGH
CHAPTER most. Of this grain a Candaca of land of the first quality, culti-
^J^iL/ vated by transplanting, produces eleven or twelve Candacas; land
March 25. 0f ^he second quality produces eight Candacas; and land of the
third quality produces six Candacas. The same ground, cultivated
with dry-seed, would produce from one half a Candaca to one Caw-
daca more.
Seed and Having taken the Skanaboga, or accomptant, and the farmers who
produce for ffave me the foregoing account, to a man's fields, who was rated in
an acre. » ° ° ' 7
the public books as possessed of fourteen Candacas of land, I found
that they contained 308,024 square feet, or that the Candaca was
equal nearly to 22,000 square feet; so that the seed required for
one acre, in the transplanted cultivation, would at this rate be
3toVo bushels, which in Indian farming appears to be an excessive
quantity. The owner would give no account of the quantity ac-
tually sown, nor of the usual produce; and I observed some con-
tiguous plots, which he called Ragy land, and which of course paid
no land-tax : but they appeared to have been cultivated with rice,
and there was no observable difference between their soil or situa-
tion, and those of the neighbouring plots of Gudday land, The ac-
comptant pretended ignorance; but from circumstances I am in-
clined to believe, that there was a collusion between him and the
farmer to impose upon the government. At present, from the con-
fused manner in which all native accompts are kept, this is too much
in the accomptant's power.
I afterwards sent to discover some farmer who would be more
communicative, and at length found a respectable looking Gauda,
who declared his willingness to tell me the real quantity of seed
|eq'«iired to sow his fields, and the quantity that he usually reaped
from them. I first measured two plots, each said to require one
Colaga in the transplanted cultivation, and two thirds of a Colaga
when sown with dry-seed; the produce in both cases was stated
to be one Candaca and a half; that is, 30 seeds in the former, and
45 in the latter. The first plot measured 3836 square feet; the
A JOURNEY FROM MADRAS THROUGH
CHAPTER most. Of this grain a Candaca of land of the first quality, culti-
^J^iL/ vated by transplanting, produces eleven or twelve Candacas; land
March 25. 0f ^he second quality produces eight Candacas; and land of the
third quality produces six Candacas. The same ground, cultivated
with dry-seed, would produce from one half a Candaca to one Caw-
daca more.
Seed and Having taken the Skanaboga, or accomptant, and the farmers who
produce for ffave me the foregoing account, to a man's fields, who was rated in
an acre. » ° ° ' 7
the public books as possessed of fourteen Candacas of land, I found
that they contained 308,024 square feet, or that the Candaca was
equal nearly to 22,000 square feet; so that the seed required for
one acre, in the transplanted cultivation, would at this rate be
3toVo bushels, which in Indian farming appears to be an excessive
quantity. The owner would give no account of the quantity ac-
tually sown, nor of the usual produce; and I observed some con-
tiguous plots, which he called Ragy land, and which of course paid
no land-tax : but they appeared to have been cultivated with rice,
and there was no observable difference between their soil or situa-
tion, and those of the neighbouring plots of Gudday land, The ac-
comptant pretended ignorance; but from circumstances I am in-
clined to believe, that there was a collusion between him and the
farmer to impose upon the government. At present, from the con-
fused manner in which all native accompts are kept, this is too much
in the accomptant's power.
I afterwards sent to discover some farmer who would be more
communicative, and at length found a respectable looking Gauda,
who declared his willingness to tell me the real quantity of seed
|eq'«iired to sow his fields, and the quantity that he usually reaped
from them. I first measured two plots, each said to require one
Colaga in the transplanted cultivation, and two thirds of a Colaga
when sown with dry-seed; the produce in both cases was stated
to be one Candaca and a half; that is, 30 seeds in the former, and
45 in the latter. The first plot measured 3836 square feet; the