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sure ot population on land, and partly to social considera-
tions like the idea of prestige, and the conception of a safe
investment. It is evidently impossible for any one to say
whether this rise in land values indicates prosperity of
the agricultural class or not, as so many considerations,
other than a mere rise in the prices of farm produce, have
contributed to it.
RISE IN RENTALS
Passing on to the next test, the village under, study
has two forms of rent: kind-rent and cash-rent. The
kind-rent is generally taken at half of the produce raised
on the piece of tenanted land. Cash-rent varies with the
nature of the soil and the price of the crop raised on it.
The following are the rentals commonly charged at pre-
sent for different classes of land :
Rs. 6 to Bs. 9 for an acre of grass land.
Es. 24 to Rs. 30 „ „ „ ,5 paddy „
Rs. 90 to Rs. 120 „ „ ,, „ sugarcane land.
It is necessary to remember that the expression *rise in
rentals', when spoken of as a sign of agricultural progress,
means 'rise in cash-rents' only. The reason why a 'rise
in cash-rent' is regarded as an index of agricultural pro-
gress is this. When a tenant pays a higher rent for a plot
of land than he used to do, it implies that his returns from
the piece of land tenanted, must have increased to such an
extent as to enable him to meet the rise in rent.
Unfortunately, no systematic records of land rented on
either cash or kind rent are maintained in the village. On
an examination of the crop-register of the village, we
found, that the cash-rents were entered only in a few cases
and then too not from year to year. In view of this un-
happy state of affairs and the importance which the cash-
rent has assumed in recent discussions in this Presidency
in connection with land revenue, we persuaded the village
accountant to take for the year 1926-27 a special survey of
the tenanted plots, including the names of those wha