by inducing the ryots in his vicinity to cultivate it upon a part of
their land. Yet it is with them far from a favorite object of
cultivation; and, indeed, if it were not for the money advanced to
each ryot by the planter, to provide seed, &c., and which gives him
a little ready money, bearing no interest, it is doubtful whether he
would engage in the cultivation at all. Even this advance of money
does not induce him to appropriate it to any but the worst part of
his farm, nor to bestow upon it more than the smallest possible
amount of labor. The reasons for this neglect are valid, for the
grain crops are more profitable to the ryot, and indigo is one of
the most precarious of India's vegetable products.

In Bengal the usual terms of contract between the manufacturer and
the ryot are, that the latter, receiving at the time a certain
advance of money, perhaps one rupee (2s.) per biggah, with promise
of a similar sum at a more advanced period of the season, undertakes
to have a certain quantity of land suitably and seasonably prepared
for sowing, to attend and receive seed whenever occasion requires,
and to deliver the crop, when called upon, at the factory, at a
specified price per bundle or 100 bundles. The particular conditions
of these contracts vary generally in Bengal; they amount to
advancing the ryot two rupees for every biggah of land, furnishing
him with seed at about one-third its cost, on an engagement from
him to return whatever his lands may produce (which, as has been
said, is generally none at all), at the price charged, and receiving
the plant from him at six, seven, eight, or sometimes nine bundles
for a rupee--much oftener the former than the latter rates. A ryot
cultivating alluvial lands, and having no seed, can hardly ever
repay his advances; but it does not follow that he has been a loser,
for he, perhaps, could not value his time, labor, and rent
altogether at half the amount; and as long as this system is kept
within moderate bounds, it answers much better than private
cultivation to the manufacturer, and has many contingent advantages
to the cultivator.

In Tirhoot similar engagements are entered into with the ryots, who
are there called _Assamees_. These engagements with Assamees are
generally made in the month of September, on a written instrument