DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.24890#0025
( 17 )
The following statement exhibits the percentage of
defect of rainfall in each division :—
Divisions.
The period from, Lsi May to 31s£
October.
Actual
total.
Normal
total.
Percentage
of defect.
Meerut (exclusive of Dehra Dun)
• ••
...
21-38
25"85
—20
Agra
...
• * *
13-21
28-46
— 54
Rohilkhand ... ...
...
...
28-59
37-91
—25
Allahabad
...
...
19-24
3373
—43
Benares
• it
• • •
24-59
37-29
—34
Gorakhpur
...
• ••
23-37
41-68
—44
Lucknow ... ...
...
• ••
21-02
34-79
—40
Fyzabad
...
...
25-42
36-68
—31
The maximum defect recurred in the ill-fated Banda
district, which received only 31 per cent, of its average.
The abrupt termination of the monsoon a full month
before the normal time was even more injurious than its
deficiency. Excessive evaporation proved as harmful as
deficient rainfall. Six weeks of hot w~est winds at a critical
period not only destroyed much of the autumn crops which
otherwise would have given a moderate yield, but jeopardized
the prospects of the spring harvest.
The consequences of this drought, and of the critical
condition of the harvests which it entailed, were quick to
make themselves manifest.
As the rains held off and a hot wind set in which
dried up the soil and withered the crops, a feeling of grave
anxiety became apparent. It was not confined to the districts
which had already suffered, but spread to other and larger
tracts which had hitherto required no special care. The
reports which reached Government began to give most gloomy
accounts. The standing crops were drying up or being fed
down as fodder; the hot hard ground was unfavourable to the
sowings of the spring harvest, which were sadly restricted.
There was no failure of food supply as stocks were maintained
in the distressed tracts by imports which were resumed on a
brisk scale and as a great part of the produce of the early autumn
crops had been stored in their own houses by the cultivators,
who were filled with apprehension for the future. This latter
movement, useful in itself, excluded from the market much
grain which usually found its way there and so served to
enhance prices. The day-labourers soon exhausted the scanty
stores they had saved from their grain wages during the short
autumn harvest and came to the market as purchasers. Under
these influences prices everywhere steadily rose, and before the
end of September had in many places reached the famine level.
5
The following statement exhibits the percentage of
defect of rainfall in each division :—
Divisions.
The period from, Lsi May to 31s£
October.
Actual
total.
Normal
total.
Percentage
of defect.
Meerut (exclusive of Dehra Dun)
• ••
...
21-38
25"85
—20
Agra
...
• * *
13-21
28-46
— 54
Rohilkhand ... ...
...
...
28-59
37-91
—25
Allahabad
...
...
19-24
3373
—43
Benares
• it
• • •
24-59
37-29
—34
Gorakhpur
...
• ••
23-37
41-68
—44
Lucknow ... ...
...
• ••
21-02
34-79
—40
Fyzabad
...
...
25-42
36-68
—31
The maximum defect recurred in the ill-fated Banda
district, which received only 31 per cent, of its average.
The abrupt termination of the monsoon a full month
before the normal time was even more injurious than its
deficiency. Excessive evaporation proved as harmful as
deficient rainfall. Six weeks of hot w~est winds at a critical
period not only destroyed much of the autumn crops which
otherwise would have given a moderate yield, but jeopardized
the prospects of the spring harvest.
The consequences of this drought, and of the critical
condition of the harvests which it entailed, were quick to
make themselves manifest.
As the rains held off and a hot wind set in which
dried up the soil and withered the crops, a feeling of grave
anxiety became apparent. It was not confined to the districts
which had already suffered, but spread to other and larger
tracts which had hitherto required no special care. The
reports which reached Government began to give most gloomy
accounts. The standing crops were drying up or being fed
down as fodder; the hot hard ground was unfavourable to the
sowings of the spring harvest, which were sadly restricted.
There was no failure of food supply as stocks were maintained
in the distressed tracts by imports which were resumed on a
brisk scale and as a great part of the produce of the early autumn
crops had been stored in their own houses by the cultivators,
who were filled with apprehension for the future. This latter
movement, useful in itself, excluded from the market much
grain which usually found its way there and so served to
enhance prices. The day-labourers soon exhausted the scanty
stores they had saved from their grain wages during the short
autumn harvest and came to the market as purchasers. Under
these influences prices everywhere steadily rose, and before the
end of September had in many places reached the famine level.
5