Gazetteer Lahore 1893

· 1893 · Public domain (published pre-1930) · archive.org ↗

1{ Punjab Gazetteer,

2144 CHAP. IV.—PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION.

3made up by the owners themselves if they have the wood

4which need not necessarily be of kikar. Generally for such

5purposes the trees growing round the village wells supply

6material. Wells are for the most part owned and also cultivat-

7ed in shares ; the shareholders have their turns, usually lasting

8three hours each, fixed by lot, but the shareholder who takes

9the trouble to put on the rope ladder and water pots is allowed

10to take first turn. When once the order is fixed it is strictly

11adhered to. Itis very seldom that any dispute arises among

12the shareholders on this account.

13The course of cropping on wells varies in different parts of

14the district. In the sweet water wells of the Manjha, out of a «

15total well area of 28 acres, between 4 and 5 acres would be

16sown for the kharif harvest and about 22 acres for the rabi.

17The reason for less land being sown in the former than the

18latter is that there is much less time for preparing the land in

19the summer than in the winter months. The kharif area would

20be distributed roughly as follows: 2 acres maize, } acre

21cotton, a little sugareane or rice and the balance would be

22fodder. In the rabi 17 acres would be sown with wheat

23and the balance would be devoted to fodder or perhaps a few mis-

24cellaneous crops. In the Western Manjha where the wells are

25bitter the autumn cropping is very limited and the spring erop-

26ping is almost all wheat witha little barley. In the Hithér tract

27where well areas are large and there is little pressure on the land

28the rabi cropping covers a much more extensive area than the

29autumn cropping ; the latter occupies 10 acres about, of which

303 are under maize, 1} acres under cotton, half an acre

31under pepper and the rest is left for fodder and other mis-

32cellaneous crops. In the spring 16 acres are sown with

33wheat, 2 with barley and 4 with fodder crops. In the

34Hithar wells fallowing is relied on as much as manuring toim-

35prove the land. In the Ravi estates where well areas are much

36smaller and land is not plentiful, more proportionately is kept for

37the valuable autumn crops which ripen quicker and occupy the

38land a shorter time than the spring crops. ‘his involves heavy

39expenditure on manure, otherwise the land lying fallow so seldom

40as it does would decrease in fertility. On the whole well cultiva-

41tion in this district is carried on with sufficient care and economy.

42The landowners in well-irrigated tracts are for the most part

43very industrious both by inclination and habit. They under-

44stand the requirements of their land and carry these out as far

45as circumstances permit. The difficulties they have to contend

46with are never ending. Cattle disease, short fodder supplies,

47constantly recurring defects in their wells are calamities which

48the cultivator of well lands is always having to face. Of the

49total number of wells now in existence 31 per cent. have been

50constructed since last settlement and 69 are old, but the fact

51of a well being new by no means insures its being in good

52repair. It often happens that owing to hurry and scamping of

53their duties on the part of the divers or of the bricklayers, the

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