not manured. The Khasis, when cultivating high lands, select a
clayey soil if they can. In the early part of the winter the sods are
turned over with the hoe, and they are exposed to the action of the
atmosphere for a period of about two months. When the sods are dry,
they are placed in piles, which are generally in rows in the fields,
and by means of ignited bunches of dry grass within the piles a
slow fire is kept up, the piles of sods being gradually reduced to
ashes. This is the "paring and burning process" used in England. The
ashes so obtained are then carefully raked over the field. Sometimes
other manure is also applied, but not when paddy is cultivated. The
soil is now fit to receive the seed, either high-land paddy, millet,
Job's tears, or other crops, as the case may be. The homestead lands
are plentifully manured, and consequently, with attention, produce
good crops. They are cultivated with the hoe.

The cultivation of oranges in the southern portion of the district
ranks equally in importance with that of the potato in the
northern. The orange, which is known in Calcutta as the Chhatak or
Sylhet orange, comes from the warm southern slopes of the hills in
this district, where it is cultivated on an extensive scale. Although
oranges do best when there is considerable heat, they have been known
to do well as high as 3,000 ft.; but the usual limit of elevation
for the growth of oranges in this district is probably about 1,000 to
1,500 ft. The orange of the Khasi Hills has always been famous for its
excellence, and Sir George Birdwood, in his introduction to the "First
Letter Book of the East India Company," page 36, refers to the orange
and lemon of Garhwal, Sikkim, and Khasia as having been carried by Arab
traders into Syria, "whence the Crusaders helped to gradually propagate
them throughout Southern Europe." Therefore, whereas the potato was
imported, the orange would appear to be indigenous in these hills.

_Nurseries_.--The seeds are collected and dried by being exposed to the
sun. In the spring nurseries we prepared, the ground being thoroughly
hoed and the soil pulverized as far as possible. The nursery is walled
with stones. The seeds are then sown, a thin top layer of earth being
applied. The nurseries are regularly watered, and are covered up with
layers of leaves to ensure, as far as possible, the retention of the
necessary moisture. When the plants are 3 or 4 in. high, they are
transplanted to ano