The area actually cropped in 1896-97 was 177,456,929 acres, representing in the various administrations the following proportions of the net area surveyed, for which returns are available (537,346,026 acres): The following table shows, according to provinces, the total acreage over which were grown the chief crops of British India in 1896–97 :— Besides cotton, other fibres occupied 2,817,101 acres, 2,215,105 of which grew jute. Coffee plantations occupy 147,158 acres, of which 60,773 acres were in Madras, and 84,820 acres in Coorg. Food crops, other than cereals and pulses, cover 6,017,127 acres. In 1896-97 22,904,618 acres were cropped more than once, giving a total area under crops of 199,862,373 acres. Reckoning twice over the land irrigated for both harvests, 29,365,493 acres were under irrigation by canals, tanks, wells, and otherwise. The following table shows the area irrigated by, and the gross revenue derived from, major and minor irrigation works during the last five years ending March 31: Irrigation works, for which capital accounts are kept, paid 6·4 per cent. in 1896-97 on their capital outlay. The estimated value of the crops irrigated in 1896-97 was 46 crores of rupees. The Ganges Canal, which was completed in 1854, and has cost Rx. 2,985,081, comprises 440 miles of main canal, and 2,643 miles of distributaries. During the year it supplied water to 1,083,234 acres. The Sirhind Canal, in the Punjab, has cost upwards of Rx. 3,793,578, and consists of 542 miles of main canal, and 4,655 miles of distributaries. In Madras the Godávari, Kistna, and Cauvery irrigation systems together irrigate upwards of 2,151,604 acres. In 1895-96 there were nearly 76,500 square miles of forest demarcated and reserved by the State. The work of demarcating and reserving forest tracts has been pushed on with great vigour in recent years, and especially since 1877. In that year the demarcated area was only 17,705 square miles; in the following year it was raised by operations in the Central Provinces to 40,425 square miles. The following table shows the extent of reserved forests in 1896-97 in square miles: There were 154 cotton mills at work in India in 1896-97, containing 37,303 looms and 3,975,719 spindles, employing a daily average number of 148,997 persons. The whole capital invested in this industry is Rx. 13,679,277 and Fr. 5,000,000. There were 31 jute mills and one hemp mill in 1896-97, employing a daily average number of 91,389 persons, with 12,784 looms and 258,154 spindles. The capital invested in the joint stock mills is estimated at Rx. 4,395,825. There were five woollen mills at work at the close of 1897, with 548 looms and 19,856 spindles. There are eight paper mills, having an aggregate nominal capital of Rx. 627,200, the number of persons employed being 3,532. The total quantity of paper made in 1897 was about 38 million lbs., valued at over Rx. 568,000. The quantity of beer brewed during 1897 amounted to 5,428,383 gallons. In March, 1897, there were 1,596 joint stock companies in India registered under the Indian Companies' Act and in operation. They possessed a total nominal capital aggregating Rx. 49,562,286, and an actual capital (paid up) of Rx. 31,156,559. The following table shows the division of the aggregate capital among the principal classes of joint stock companies in March, 1897 There were 145 collieries worked in India in 1897. The annual output has been as follows: The total value of the output in 1897 may be estimated at Rx. 1,246,659. The total imports of coal, coke, and patent fuel in 1897-98 amounted to 262,844 tons. The total number of persons employed at the mines is given as 59,859. Commerce. The value of the sea-borne external trade of India has risen in the 64 years, 1834-35 to 1897-98, from Rx. 14,342,290 to Rx. 198,972,505, the increase being nearly fourteenfold, making on the average a rate of 20·11 per cent. annually. The average rate of increase during the last thirty-seven years is shown below, the period being divided into five terms of seven years each and two separate years: 1 Compared with 1895-96; the decline is due to famine and plague. In the year ending March 31, 1898, the sea-borne external trade of India (private and Government) was as follows, in tens of rupees : The following shows (in tens of rupees) the total imports and exports of India, divided into merchandise and treasure' (bullion specie), excluding Government stores and Government treasure, in the fiscal years ending March 31, 1885, and the last five years : *The returns of quantities and values of imports and of exports are based on the bills of entry and shipping bills respectively, but the declarations contained in these documents are subject to scrutiny in all cases, and penalties may be inflicted where they are found to be false. The value is the wholesale value at the place of import or export, less trade discount, duty not being included in the value of dutiable goods. The returns show, not the prime origin of imports and ultimate destination of exports, but only the countries whence the goods were shipped to India and to which they are shipped from India, as disclosed by the shipping documents. No distinction is maintained between general, special, and transit trade; but goods of foreign origin, when re-exported, are shown in detail separately from those of Indian origin. Apart from the comparatively insignificant imports and exports by parcel post, of which only the total values are known, there are no special circumstances which affect the value of the statistical results. Of the exports of merchandise in 1897-98, Rx. 93,786, 101 represented the products of the country. Rx. 3,751,172 were re-exports of foreign imports. The imports and exports, including private treasure, but excluding Government stores and treasure, were distributed as follows between the five great commercial divisions of India in 1885 and the last five years :— The amount of bullion and specie, private and Government, imported and exported, will be seen from the following table for the years 1885 and the last five years : The following table shows (in tens of rupees) the respective shares which the leading countries with which India deals had in the exports and imports (merchandise alone) of India in the years ending March 31, 1897 and 1898 :— |