=Modes of realizing Land-Rent.=—We proceed to the modes of realizing the dues of the State, in which the character and condition of the peasant will be further developed. There are four modes of levying the land-tax, three of which are common throughout Rajwara; the fourth is more peculiar to Haraoti and Mewar. The first and most ancient is that of _batai_, or ‘payment in kind,’ practised before metallic currency was invented. The system of _batai_ extends, however, only to corn; for sugar-cane, cotton, hemp, poppy, al, kusumbha,[10.7.6] ginger, turmeric, and other dyes and drugs, and all garden stuffs, pay a rent in money. This rent was arbitrary and variable, according to the necessities or justice of the ruler. In both countries five to ten rupees per bigha are demanded for sugar-cane; three to five for cotton, poppy, hemp, and oil-plant; and two to four for the rest. But when heaven was bounteous, avarice and oppression rose in their demands, and seventy rupees per bigha were exacted for the sugar-cane, thus paralysing the industry of the cultivator, and rendering abortive the beneficence of the Almighty. _Batai_, or ‘division in kind,’ varies with the seasons and their products: 1st. The _unalu_, or ‘summer harvest,’ when wheat, barley, and a variety of pulses, as gram, moth, mung, til,[10.7.7] are raised. The share of the State in these varies with the fertility of the soil, from one-fourth, one-third, and two-fifths, to one-half—the extreme fractions being the maximum and minimum; those of one-third and two-fifths [537] are the most universally admitted as the share of the crown. But besides this, there are dues to the artificers and mechanics, whose labour to the village is compensated by a share of the harvest from each cultivator; which allowances reduce the portion of the latter to one-half of the gross produce of his industry, which if he realize, he is contented and thrives. The second harvest is the _siyalu_, or ‘autumnal,’ and consists of _makkai_ or _bhutta_ (Indian corn), of juar, bajra, the two chief kinds of maize,[10.7.8] and _til_ or sesamum, with other small seeds, such as _kangni_,[10.7.9] with many of the pulses. Of all these, one-half is exacted by the State. Such is the system of _batai_; let us describe that of _kut_.[10.7.10] _Kut_[10.7.11] is the conjectural estimate of the quantity of the standing crop on a measured surface, by the officers of the government in conjunction with the proprietors, when the share of the State is converted into cash at the average rate of the day, and the peasant is debited the amount. So exactly can those habitually exercised in this method estimate the quantity of grain produced on a given surface, that they seldom err beyond one-twentieth part of the crop. Should, however, the cultivator deem his crop over-estimated, he has the power to cut and weigh it; and this is termed _lattha_.