Page 67 - Muzaffargarh Gazzetteer

Muzaffargarh, and the facilities for marketing them were far superior. The
calculated rise in prices since last settlement was 38 percent.

Landlords’ Receipts
Cash rents were taken in the case of only 1 per cent of the cultivated area,
i.e. from the market gardens round the towns, and were useless as a guide
for fixing profits in the remaining 99% of the district. The owner’s share of
the produce had to be calculated on the assumption that all crops matured
were paying rent in kind. Since the rents of the most important crops vary
with the irrigation, as also do the deductions, the calculation had to be made
for each class of soil separately, for example nothing was paid from Sailab
wheat to the potter, and the allowance of green wheat to the tenants cattle
was smaller than that from Chahi-Sailab wheat. Turnips and the early Kharif
fodders which were grown entirely for the working cattle were excluded
altogether from calculation, except in the Chenab villages near Multan city,
where they were grown for sale in the market and were a valuable crop. The
general result of the calculations was to show that in a normal year, owing
to the higher rates of rent and smaller deductions, the profits to the landlord
from crops which received no well water were not less than from well-irrigated
crops. This conclusion was to some extent supported by the preference which
the tenants showed for Sailab land. In the Muzaffargarh Chenab circle, which
except in a bad season was predominantly Sailab, not less than 80 percent
of the cultivated area was held by tenants, or 30 percent more than the figure
of the district, as a whole, and in all the riverain circles the percentage of
land cultivated by tenants was higher than in the adjoining canal circles. It
must, however, be remembered that most of the owners lived in the Pacca
circles and preferred to cultivate their home lands, and also that many
tenants could afford the cheaper Sailab cultivation who did not have the
cattle to work a well at a profit.

Owing to the configuration of the district, there was practically no canal-
irrigated land situated at more than 10 miles distance from the river whence
the canals were derived, and there were only few long irrigation channels. In
such circumstances, the cost of silt clearance was nowhere large, and fell
either on the tenants or was done by the labourers, whom the owner was
compelled in any case to keep for efficient cultivation; only in exceptional
circumstances it was a special charge on the landlord. From the experience
gained during the settlement, there was no reason to suppose that cultivation
through farm labourers was less profitable than through tenants.
Grounds for Enhancement
The one ground for enhancement common to the whole district was the
undoubted rise in prices. In the Thal the general prosperity shown by the
numerous new wells sunk, and old wells repaired and brought into use, was
a further reason for raising the revenue, though, since the wells depended
on flocks and the flocks in turn depended on the grass which sprang up after
rain, it was inadvisable to pitch the demand too high since the succession of

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