pie were recorded as literate; the literacy among males
was about 22 per cent., among females it was less than
4 per cent. The following figures show the position of
the different districts regarding literacy in 1921. It is
obvious that for any reform the first step will have to be
in the direction of spreading elementary education to a
much greater extent than now.
DISTRICT PERCENTAGE OF LITERACY
Males Females
Ahmedabad......22-71 5-15
Kaira........19-62 8-13
Paiich Mahals.....11-37 1*60
Broach........27-97 3-41
Surat....... . 28-31 5-65
British Gujarat ...... 21.99 3.79
RAINFALL AND IRRIGATION
Both in volume and distribution, rainfall in Gujarat
varies from district to district, and even from village
to village. On the whole, it may be said that it is heavy
in the south and the east, and comparatively less ift the
north and the west. The rainy season commences in
the first half of June and is over by the beginning of Octo-
ber. The prospects of the Kharif (monsoon) and Rabi
(winter) crops depend on the adequacy and distribution
of the rainfall. An analysis of the statistics of rainfall
in British Gujarat reveals the fact that it has become more
deficient and irregular since 1900. The following figures
will bear out this remark.
Yea.™ Average annual rainfall in British Gujarat
in inches
1850-1900 37*4
1894-1900 35-4
1901-1910 30-7
1911-1920 33-8
1921-1926 29-6