'
'But the well belongs to you; and I suppose you get from the
proprietors of the other fifteen something for your water?'
'Nothing. There is more water for my five bighas, and I give them
what they require gratis; they acknowledge that it is a gift from me,
and that is all I want.'
'And what does the land beyond the range of your water of the same
quality pay?'
'It pays at the rate of two rupees the bigha, and it is with
difficulty that they can be made to pay that. Water, sir, is a great
thing, and with that and manure we get good crops from the land.'[11]
'How many returns of the seed?'
'From these twenty bighas with six waterings, and cross ploughing,
and good manure, we contrive to get twenty returns; that is, if God
is pleased with us and blesses our efforts.'
'And you maintain your family comfortably out of the return from your
five?'
'If they were mine I could; but we had two or three bad seasons seven
years ago, and I was obliged to borrow eighty rupees from our banker
at 24 per cent., for the subsistence of my family. I have hardly been
able to pay him the interest with all I can earn by my labour, and I
now serve him upon two rupees a month.
Pages:
924
925
926
927
928
929
930
931
932
933
934
935
936
937
938
939
940
941
942
943
944
945
946
947
948