The Cincinnati daily star. [volume] ([Cincinnati, Ohio]) 1875-1880, 1877-10-06
THE DRoUGHT AND FAMINE In INDIA.

The drought, aud consequent scarcity,
which have afi .cted 50 Large an area OF
India during inc past ana me present
wear, a. phenomenal OF unusual gravity.
Gouu and bad years succeed one ano nef
in most parts of the world, win an H.
regularity Whlcn as yet ls regarded as
caprIcIous, althoug b 1t mas Deen reduced
10 sort OF rude average OF eApecta.
tion, 1t is accordant with this general
law. when affects alike the green crops
ana the cereals OF England, the Vine-
wards of France, anu tue olive gardens
of Ialy. that the very conditions which
stimulate The luXuriance of the heaViesL
crous aggraVate the evils OF years OF
misfortune.
The powerful influence Of the rays OF
the sun in stimulating the process oil the
organic chemistry OF Lie plant Is the
more sensible the more direct is their
incidence. In tropical and sub-troplcal
regions SO active Is the creative power
that plants may be almost seen to grow.
But Lne greater the solar neat tue great
er is the need OF water lor the support OF
vegetation. The greater, also, as gem
eral rule, is the supply. AS 1t Is from
the equatorial seas tnat the greatest
deptn Of the water which prOVIues the
rain -tall o! the earth Is eVaporated, SO
is it in the close VlciuIty OF that main
source Of supply that the cooling and
attracting effect OF lofty mountain
chains is mosU sudden and most appa-
rent, and tnat the most violent precIpl-
LatiOn enSues.
The ranges of mountains that line the
western COASTS of The Indian peninsula
to the north OF the Cuff ol Cambay, of
British Burmah, and OF Siam, are annu-
ally WaLered by more Than one hundred
| Inches OF rain. Nor is the Quantity OF
! The water supply lis most important
| feature. It's regularity is periodic. AS
| Lue sun CROSSES the equInOCLlal line the
| winds follow in It's course. The Nile
| rises, almost to day, Oh The tall OF the
solsliLlal rains IN Abyssinla. And the
arrival OF the Indian monsOons, or trade
| winds, which briug rain on their wings,
| is anticipated to occur with regularity
nearly as exact as that which character.
| ICES the changes due 10 The complex
cvcle Of the moon.
| When, from causes which science has
not as yet grasped, this punetualIty Of
water supply Is intertered with, the
| heat WhlCn would nave stimulated The
growth Of the welI-Watered plant
parches and withers the vegetation o.
an arid soil. For the culture OF rlce, ant
OF other main crops OF Indian agricul
ture, not only a minimum quantity o
rain ls necessary, but certain distri
! button Of that quantity according
to the age Of the young plants IL
indispensable to their welfare. Ant
thus 1t occurs that when those dis
lLurbances of the normal course Of tn
monsoon rains OF which we speak attain
la certain gravity, vegetation il
tue sqlcken districts is partly or total!
lcut of. The famine oil the year 1877
at least the eighteenth OF those Whicl
lnaye effected IndIa since the commence
ment uf the British rule, and tao ioui
teeuth during the present century. I'M
most recent one effects an area OF on
lnuudred and Lhirty-eight thousand MIN
hundred and eleven square miles, ana
population OF twenty-sIx mlllion elgh
hundred and ninety-seven thousan
nine hundred and seventy-one souls.