also in the rice country;
but on the whole the province is considered to be healthy, and as the
rains break fairly regularly in June and produce an immediate fall in
the temperature, severe heat is only experienced for a period of from
two to three months.

_Agriculture_.--Broadly speaking, the northern districts of the
province produce principally cold weather crops, such as wheat and
grain, and the eastern ones principally rice. At the beginning of the
decade 1891-1901 wheat was the staple product of the Vindhyan and
Nerbudda valley districts, and was also grown extensively in all the
Satpura districts except Nimar and in Wardha and Nagpur. Cotton and
juar were produced principally in Nimar, Nagpur, Wardha and the
southern portion of Chhindwara, and the latter also in Chanda. In the
Satpura districts the inferior soil was and is principally devoted to
hill millets. Rice is an important crop in Damoh, Jubbulpore, Mandla,
Seoni and Chanda, and is the chief staple of Bhandara, Balaghat, and
the two eastern districts of Raipur and Bilaspur. The staple crops of
Berar are cotton and juar. The succession of bad seasons which marked
the end of the decade affected the distribution of the principal
crops, but with the advent of more prosperous seasons things tend to
return to their old level.

_Industries_.--The only important industries are connected with cotton
and coal. In 1904 the total number of factories was 391, almost
entirely cotton presses and ginning factories, which received an
immense impetus from the rise in cotton prices. In 1896 a brewery was
established at Jubbulpore. Two coal-mines are worked in the Central
Provinces, at Warora and Mopani, to each of which there is a branch
line of railway. In 1903-1904 there was a total yield of 160,000 tons,
valued at about L45,000. In connexion with the Warora colliery there
is a fire-clay business. The Mopani colliery, which dates back to
1860, is worked by a joint-stock company.

_Trade_.--The trade of the Central Provinces is conducted mainly by
rail with Bombay and with Calcutta. The chief imports are cotton piece
goods, cotton twist, salt, sugar, provisions, railway materials, raw
cotton, metals, coal, tobacco, spices and kerosene oil. The chief
exports are raw cotton, rice, wheat, oil-seeds, hides and lac. The
exports of wheat are liable to extreme fluctuations, especially during
famine perio