CONTENTS

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EDITOR'S PREFACE. v
INTRODUCTION.
The importance of village studies. Scope and
method of existing works on the subject. Scope and
method of the present volume. xv
Chapter I.
REGIONAL BACKGROUND, OR A BRIEF SURVEY OF RURAL CONDI-
TIONS IN BRITISH GUJARAT. 3
Area. Population. Education. Crops. Rainfall and
irrigation* Extensive cultivation. Intensive cultivation.
Sub-division and fragmentation of holdings. Scarcity of
labour. Inadequacy and inefficiency of cattle. Marketing
organisation. Finance. Transport. Subsidiary occupa-
tions. Prices and Wages. Indebtedness. Land Revenue.
Chapter II.
THE PHYSICAL BACKGROUND. 24*
Location of the village. Its construction. Its surround-
ings. Rainfall: Variations in its total quantity and
seasonal distribution. The nature of seasons. Climate
and its effects on the fanner and his occupation. Soils
of the village. Water-supply: Wells, the main
source of irrigation. Characteristics of wells. Wells
and the irrigated area.
Chapter III.
THE PEOPLE OF THE VILLAGE. . 42
The representative nature of the village. The actual
composition of. its population. History of the evolution
of Atgam as a village community. The average size of
the family and proportion of sexes. The proportion of
effective population. Birth-rate and death-rate. Average
expectation of life. Immigration and emigration.