An Account of The Kingdom of Nepal: And of the Territories Annexed to this Dominion by the House of GorkhaHamilton, Francis
History
An Account of The Kingdom of Nepal: And of the Territories Annexed to this Dominion by the House of Gorkha
Hamilton, Francis
Nepal -- Description and travel; Nepal -- History
Immediately after the Puya crop has been cut, the ground is formed into
beds by throwing the earth out of parallel trenches upon the intermediate
spaces. On these about the middle of November is sown wheat, or
sometimes a little barley. These ripen without farther trouble, and are
cut from the 12th of April to the 12th of May. The seed for a rupini is
stated to be one pati, and the produce is stated to be two muris. This
would make the seed about the fifth part of a bushel an acre, and the
produce about fourteen bushels; but this seems to me greatly exaggerated.
I have never seen more wretched crops, and most of the fields of wheat
are quite choked with hemp, (_Cannabis sativa_,) which in Nepal is a
troublesome and useless weed. The wheat and barley are mostly used for
making fermented or distilled liquors.
Pangdu Kodo, or Maruya, is the _Cynosurus Corocanus_ of Linnæus, of which
I saw much growing on some of the higher parts of the plain. It seems to
thrive well. The Maruya is sown from the 13th of June to the 14th of
July, and twenty days afterwards is transplanted. It is ripe about the
middle of September, and produces four muris a rupini.
In thrashing this corn, Colonel Crawford saw the Newars [Picture: Flail]
using a kind of flail, an implement which I have never observed in India.
Three pieces of Bamboo, about eighteen inches long, were fastened
together in a parallel manner, at about a finger’s breadth asunder, and
then fixed to a peg, which passed through a hole in the end of a longish
pole that was a little bent. The instrument seemed to require
considerable dexterity in its management, but appeared to answer the
purpose intended.
The Sana Kodo of the Parbatiyas is probably the Paspalum kora of
Wildenow. It also is transplanted, ripens in October and November, and
produces as much as the Pangdu Kodo.
The Muccai and Muruli of the Parbatiyas are both by the Newars called
_Kaunguni_, and are varieties of the _Holcus sorghum_. They are chiefly
planted in the small vallies that open into the plain, and on high
terraces, that have a bad supply of water.
The Urid, or Kala Mas of the Parbatiyas, is by the Newars called May; and
Dr Roxburgh, in his manuscripts, calls it _Phaseolus minimoo_, from its
Telinga name. In Nepal this is the most common pulse. It is sown about
the 1st of July, and reaped about the 1st of September. A rupini
produces about ten patis, or an acre about three bushels and a half.
The Seta Mas of the Parbatiyas, or Chica May of the Newars, Dr Roxburgh
has raised from seed, which I sent from Nepal. He thinks it a new
species, which he calls _Phaseolus ocultatus_. It is sown about the 1st
of July, reaped the 1st of October, and produces the same quantity that
the urid does.
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