When there is herbaceous vegetation of any extent, what is its character?
Is it tall and coarse and reedy, like much of the African grass? Or such
as is found on the prairies and pampas? Or of a troublesome spinifex
character, as in Australia? Or of a turf-like character, like the grasses
of Europe? What are the components of this kind of vegetation, and how
far is it likely to prove useful as fodder? What uses do the natives put
it to, either for their animals or for manufactures? Do they use it for
making mats or cloth? Are there any plants mixed with it injurious to
animals? What is the condition of the grass at different seasons of the
year? When is it at its best, its strongest, its densest? Is it liable
to be parched up at any season? To what extent is its condition affected
by the climate, by rainfall, by irrigation, natural or artificial? Is it
easily removed, in order to make way for other cultures? Does it spread
into the forest region, and has it any special characteristics there? How
does it, as well as other useful vegetation, vary with altitude or other
local conditions? Do the products change under different agricultural
conditions? e.g., some are poisonous under certain conditions, not others?
_Marshes, Deserts, Irrigation._—Note if marshes or peat-bogs, or other
special features of the surface exist to any extent, and whether the
drainage of marshes is practicable.
Where deserts exist, note their character. Are they sandy, gravelly,
rocky, salt? What is the prevailing rock? If the desert character of the
land (as is generally the case) seems due to want of water, is there any
artificial means likely to be available for supplying that want? Is there
any storage of water and irrigation among the natives? and, if so, how is
it accomplished? and what are the results? Are there any sources within
reach, either above or underground, from whence a supply of water for
irrigation purposes could be obtained? Indicate any exceptional defects
of quality in the supply of water.
Note if any part of the country is liable to periodical inundations.
At what periods of the year do they occur? Are these inundations
destructive, or are they utilised for agricultural purposes? Would it be
possible to regulate these inundations?
AGRICULTURE.—The general outcome of all these observations is the
suitability of a country for agricultural development. What articles
do the natives cultivate, if any? Has the cultivated land any special
character, or is it simply the ordinary land cleared of trees or grass,
or other wild growth? Note the methods and implements of culture used by
the natives; the seasons of sowing and reaping, and preparing the crops
for use. Do they depend for water on rainfall or irrigation? To what
altitudes is cultivation carried, and what are the crops that prosper at
these altitudes?
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