Chicago eagle. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1889-19??, 1893-04-22
RAISING WHEAT IN INDIA.
rhitFar-on Country Making Giant Strides
In Progress.


In Progress
Among the formidable rivals 10
the United States in the wheat III
dustry India holds high place; one
that the introduction OF modern ma
chinery and commercial facilities WILL
doubtless in the course OF Time,
render still more dangerous The
area under cultivation in the season
NJ $780, was reported at 20. 5O0. 600
acres. ard the Weld 6, SAP, 600 tons
This, to, in the face of disadvantages
that. to our own notions, would
render the industry almost imprac-
ticable.
The extent of this most interesting
country is, in round numbers, about
1900 by 1900 miles, equaling the
United States east of the Mississippi
River. OF this, the northwest prov
inces, comprising over 100, 900 square
miles, are the best adapted to wheat
culture, but little being raised south
Of the 18th parallel:
The chief advantages to the wheat
raisers of India are the climate and
the cheap labor. The former is
claimed to be the most favorable in
the world for agricultural produces,
the seasons being SO arranged that
two train crops can be grown each
year, in addition to an intermediate
season for fruit, for vegetables, and
sugar cane. The first grain season
begins about the middle Of June, the
crop then sown being harvested in
September and October, and followed
by another that, in turn, is ready for
the sickle in March and April. From
this harvest until June is the dry
season, during which the farmer
.turns his attention mainly from the
field crops to his garden produce.
These changes of season are so grad
ual that there is no attendant loss in
their transition, and they are very
regular in their passage. The heat
and moisture decompOse all vegetable
and animal refuse, giving the agrl-
culturist the benefit of immediate re-
turns for all fertilizers,
The average native of India is far
too poor to import or buy fertilizer or
to own the requisite amount OF stock
to.keep his land in its normal con-
dition Nature and his own instincts
of practical economy here come to
his assistance and render easy what
the majority of our American farmers
would probably regard as an impOssi-
bilitY. Every form Of fertilizers Of
the least value is utilized regardless
of the labor involved, and the natural
provisions OF the atmosphere and
climate are drawn upon TO the ut
most.
There is none Of the hurry and half
preparation seen there that the use
Of machinery Is SO apt to introduce.
Their plows are of the rudest con-
struction, but before the field is
finished, it is put in perfect condi-
tion for the seed. Eight or ten
times blowing tor each crop is per-
haps the rule, though twenty is not
uncommon, and even thirty some
times heard OF. The result is an eX-
posure of earth many times to the
action of the atmosphere (Which by
the way, is always more or less laden
with plant food, and especially so in
hot climates), and its conversion into
a seed bed that could hardly be sur
passed.
The air of India, too is filed with
myriads Of insects, many visible, in
f1nitely more invisible to the naked
eye. AS surely as the air itself is
turned into and mixed with the
ground, time after time, is its con-
slant load of animal life deposited.
To the cheapnesS Of labor which makes
such thoroughness possible, nature
gives much unseen aid, thus making II
possible to produce fair harvests on a
soil Of which it is said that if taken
to Minnesota and subjected to the
usual treatment Of wheat land there.
it would hardly be worth cultivating;
and that, on the other hand, the Min.
nesota soil, II introduced into India,
could all be sold as fertilizer.
Such are the natural advantage,
India; the disadvantage in the sol
being apparently counterbalanced by
the superior seasons and climate. o.
the artificial appliances l will now
speak, prefacing the description with
the remark that among them al
there is hardly one but would be con
sidered complete drawback to sue
cessfuI culture in this country. YET
it is possible that the very crudeneS:
of the implements used forms, above
all else, an inducement to such Z
method of thoroughness in culture Il,
alone makes the effort of any avail
1t is not improbable that the intro
duction of modern machinery into
the hands Of these primitive, uncul
tured people, in their present condi
ton and circumstances, would thwart
the very purposes it would be IN
tended to serve Northwestern Mil
Ter.