Punjab States Gazetteers Bahawalpur State Vol.36

· 1908 · Public domain (published pre-1930) · archive.org ↗

1CHAPTER II— ECONOMIC.

2Section A- — Agriculture.

3Three distinct zones of cultivation run parallel to one another CH AP- I I. A.

4the whole length of the State, viz., the Hohi or Cholistan, the Agriculture

5Nahri Oholistani, (the intermediate canal irrigated tract), and the

6Sindh or dnri/di (riverain). The Kharif crops in the Cholistan conditions,

7depend entirely on the small rainfall of -Inly and August. They are

8generally sown, when the rain has permeated the soil to a depth of

924or tnore uiujuls (finger- breadths), bub this amount of moisture

10is hardly sufficient to mature them, and at least two more showers

11at intervals of a month or so are needed after the seedlings have

12sprung up, though sometimes one heavy shower will suffice. The

13Bohi lands are regarded as thandi or sard, i.e., cool, and have a

14great capacity for retaining moisture. Excepting the dahrs^^^ of

15Bahawalpur and Ahmadpur, which are unmixed loam, they have

16generally a layer of sand scattered over them by hurricanes from

17the great Indian desert, which while facilitating the percolation

18of rain water to the loam below also prevents evaporation of the

19moisture beneath it, so much so that a heavy aur-dd-minh. (late

20rain in Assun or September-October) is quite enough to ripen the

21Rabi in the Cholistan, where, however, the Rabi area is generally

22small. In Minchinabad and Khairpur, however, the Cholistan has

23more rafula than khira dahr, and this soil is extremely I’etentive

24of moisture. The Tihba ratidas are damper than the level soils,

25and therefore produce more Inxui’iant ci'ops. Between the Cholistan

26and the riverain tracts the Kharif crops depend mainlj on

27inundation canals aided by rain, or where the lands are aidar,

28i.e., above the level of canal irrigation, the cultivation is depen-

29dent on wells (Jkurdh ivdhi). In the iiohri, or intermediate

30tract, there is an ample supply of water from the inundation

31canals for the Kharif. For the Rabi irrigation commences on the

32\ 20th of vSaAvan and la.sts until the canals cease to flow, i.e ,

33generally till the end of October. The lands of this hithdr (or

34intermediate zone) are also regarded as thandi; and rej or ravni

35(irrigation) effected in September-October will suffice to ripen the

36Rabi crops. Old deserted beds of the river or depressions

37(generally called nashrhs, hariidris, hiidhis, tardps, talds,

38salundns, nawdns, etc.,) are, hoAvever, filled with canal water, which

39is lifted by j^aldrs, or Persian-Avheels to hish-lying lands a,nd

40also spreads by capillary attr.iction (called npa jj) into the adjoining

41lands. The upajj is greatly accelerated by a shoAver of ram in

42Bhadon or Assiln when the moisture from beloAV, added to the

43rain from above, gives the land a good icattar (or moistening).

44Lands on the canal banks benefit by niiajj and are regarded as

45excellent for cultivation. The cxtrcmo hithdr {dhiir hi’hdi), ov

46riverain villages, are entirely dependent on floods {rhhal, sathxi,

47dhdk-phissi or tnghi/dni). No Kharif haivest can be g rrown in

48(1) See soils.