he South-Western Plains.~--This zone contains nine districts. With the
exception of the three on the north border of the zone they have a
rainfall of from 5 to 10 inches. Of these six arid districts, only one,
Montgomery, has any dry cultivation worth mentioning. In the zone as a
whole three-fourths of the cultivation is protected by canals or wells,
or by both. In the lowlands near the great rivers cultivation depends on
the floods brought to the land direct or through small canals which
carry water to parts which the natural overflow would not reach. In the
uplands vast areas formerly untouched by the plough have been brought
under tillage by the help of perennial canals, and the process of
reclamation is still going on. The Thal is a large sandy desert which
becomes more and more worthless for cultivation as one proceeds
southwards. In the north the people have found out of late years that
this unpromising sand can not only yield poor _kharif_ crops, but is
worth sowing with gram in the spring harvest. The expense is small, and
a lucky season means large profits. In Dera Ghazi Khan a large area of
"_pat_" below the hills is dependent for cultivation on torrents. The
favourite crop in the embanked fields into which the water is diverted
is _jowar_.

~The South-Eastern Plains.~--In the south-eastern Panjab except in Hissar
and the native territory on the border of Rajputana, the rainfall is
from 20 to 30 inches. In Hissar it amounts to some 15 inches. These are
averages; the variations in total amount and distribution over the
months of the year are very great. In good seasons the area under dry
crops is very large, but the fluctuations in the sown acreage are
extraordinary, and the matured is often far below the sown area. The
great crops are gram and mixtures of wheat or barley with gram in the
spring, and _bajra_ in the autumn, harvest. Well cultivation is not of
much importance generally, though some of it in the Jamna riverain is
excellent. The irrigated cultivation depends mainly on the Western Jamna
and Sirhind canals, and the great canal crops are wheat and cotton. This
is the zone in which famine conditions are still most to be feared.

In the Panjab as a whole about one-third of the cultivated area is
yearly put under wheat, which with _bajra_ and maize is the staple food
of the people. A large surplus of wheat and oil-seeds is available for
export.

[Illustration: Fig. 52. Carved doorway.]

CHAPTER