View source for Jaipur State

==Agriculture==

Agricultural conditions vary in different parts of the State. Shekha- 
wati consists almost entirely of shifting sands, and generally produces 
only one harvest in the year, raised during the rainy . . . 
season and ripenmg m October and November. This consists chiefly of bajra, inung^ and moth. Camels are usually 
yoked to the plough instead of bullocks. The soil in the immediate 
neighbourhood of the capital and to the west and north is generally 
sandy ; the rains crop is the same as in Shekhawati, and a little wheat 
and barley are grown m the cold season. To tiie east of the capital, 
along the Banganga valley and in the southern districts, the soil is for 
the most part either black cotton (jr a ri( h alkivial loam. Here , cotton, and lil are grown in the rains, while the cold-season 
crops arc wheat, barley, gram, sugar-cane, and poppy. In the 
Gangapur district in the east, rice of a coarse quahty is cultivated to 
a small extent. 

Agricultural statistics are available only for the khaha portion of the 
State, excluding Shekhawati. The area for which particulars are on 
record is 3,548 square miles, or rather more than one-fifth of the total; 
deducting 961 square miles, which either comprise forests or are 
otherwise not available for cultivation, there remain 2,587 square miles, 
of which, in 1903-4, about 1,304 square miles, or over 50 per cent., 
were actually cultivated. The area cropped more than once was 
57 square miles, and consequently the net area cropped was 
1,247 J'quare miles. These statistics, which are available only from 
1895-6, show that in that year 1,310 square miles were cultivated; the 
area under cultivation in the disastrous famine year of 1899-1900 fell 
to 765 square miles, and since then there has been a steady increase 
to the present figure. 

The staple food-grains of the people are bdjra, barle\', and /V;7<:w-, the 
areas under which, in 1903-4, were respectively about 271, 207, and 
160 square miles, or, collectively, about one-half of the total area culti- 
vated. Next in importance come wheat, the area under which was 
114 square miles; cotton, 93 square miles (mostly in Malpura in the 
south-west) ; gram, 66 square miles ; ///, 53 square miles ; and maize, 
52 square miles. 

There have been no improvements of recent years either in agri- 
cultural methods or in the introduction of new seed, the people being 
very conservative. Increased facilities for irrigation led to extended 
cultivation up to 1899-1900, when a disastrous famine occurred, but 
the State is rapidly recovering. Loans are regularly advanced to 
agriculturists for the purchase of seed and cattle, or for the improve- 
ment of wells, a sum of Rs. 50,000 being provided annually for this 
purpose. 

jaipur has no particularPrecd of cattle or liorses. No attempts have 
been made to improve the indigenous strains, and the best animals are 
imported. Sheep and goats are reared in considerable numbers, and 
the camels of Shekhawati are of a good stamp, being strong and hardy. 

Of the total area cultivated (in khCiIsa territory, excluding Shekhawati) 
436 square miles, or y^ P^^" cent., were irrigated in 1903-4: namely, 
45 square miles from canals, 20 from tanks, 342 from wells, and 29 
from other sources. The number of wells has not been recorded, but 
200 irrigation works in the State are in charge of the Public Works 
department. The expenditure on them between 1868 and 1904 has 
exceeded 66 lakhs, while the revenue realized from them during the 
same period approaches 59 lakhs. I't-rJiaps the mcjst important of 
these works is thai known as the Raiiigarh Inuid, which is described in the article on the Banoanga river. Another fine tank is the Tordi 
Sagar in the south-west, close to the town of Malpura. The Buchara 
band in the Torawati hills, 60 miles north of the capital, can hold u{) 
water sufficient to irrigate about 17 square miles, and cost, when com- 
pleted in 1889, 2-8 lakhs. The total expenditure to 1903 was about 
3-4 lakhs, and the revenue realized 2-8 lakhs. 

One of the most 
remunerative of the larger irrigation works is the Kalakh Sagar, about 
30 miles north-west of the capital. It was completed in 1883 at a cost 
of 2 lakhs, and can, when full, irrigate nearly 8 square miles. It has 
55 miles of main canals and 118 miles of distributaries. The total 
expenditure to 1903 was about 3 lakhs, and the revenue during the 
same period no less than 6-4 lakhs. Among more recent and smaller 
works is the Fateh Sagar in the Hindaun district in the east ; it has 
cost (including repairs) less than Rs. 15,000, while the actual revenue 
it brought in up to 1903 was 1-4 lakhs. During the official year 1902-3 
the revenue from this tank was Rs. 13,900, or more than 95 per cent, 
on the capital outlay. 

The forests cover an area of about 283 square miles, and are divided 
into 'reserved' (71 square miles), demarcated (93 square miles), and 
undemarcated (119 square miles). The 'reserved' portion is mostly in 
the Sawai Jaipur and Madhopur nizdmats. There are but few valuable 
timber trees. The following are common : babiil {Acacia arabica), ber 
{Zizyphiis Jujiibd), dhdk {Buieafrondosa), dhokra {Afiogeissus pendula), 
giilar {Ficus giomerata), jdmim {Eugenia Jambolana), khair {Acacia 
Catechu), nlm {Melia Azadirachta), p'lpal {Ficus religiosa), and, in the 
south, shisham {Dalbergia Sissoo) and bamboo. Right-holders graze 
their cattle free of charge, and others on payment. The forest produce, 
such as firewood, bamboos, grass, fruits, honey, and lac, is sold. The 
yearly revenue is about Rs. 24,000, and the expenditure Rs. 8,600. 

Apart from salt, which is largely manufactured at the Samuhar 
Lake, the minerals of the Stale are now hardly worked at all. Iron 
occurs near Khetri, and at Karwar close to Hindaun, but the mines 
have long been abandoned. The well-known copper-mines of Khetri 
and Singhana have not been worked for many years ; but in this 
neighbourhood, particularly at Babai, cobalt is found in thin layers 
between the veins of copper ore, and is much used for enamelling. 

Good building stone, chiefly sandstone and marble, is plentiful. At 
Bhankri, 36 miles east of the capital, and at Toda Rai Singh in the 
south-west, huge slabs of a foliated mica schist are (juarried, and are 
used for roofing and flagging [)ur[)oses. (.'oarse grey marble comes 
from Raiala near the Alwar border; and a black marble, used for 
inlaying work, is obtained at Bhainslana near Kot I'utli in the north- 
east. Abundance of excellent limestone is procured from Rahori, 
about 14 miles north-east of the capital, and kaitkar is found almost 
everywhere, generally in flat beds instead of in scattered nodules. Garnets of the best kind are fairly common in the Rajniahal hills 
near the river Banas in the south-west, and turquoises are said to have 
been found at Toda in the same neighbourhood. From the Hindaun 
district in the east come talc and the steatite of which the well-known 
Agra toys are made.