called _háli_ or _pynthor_, (_c_) high grass land or _ka ri lúm_ or
_ka ri phlang_, (d) homestead land (_ka 'dew kypér_). Forest lands
are cleared by the process known as _jhuming_, the trees being felled
early in the winter and allowed to lie till January or February,
when fire is applied, logs of wood being placed at intervals of a
few feet to prevent as far as possible the ashes being blown away by
the wind. The lands are not hoed, nor treated any further, paddy and
millet being sown broadcast, and the seeds of root crops, as well as
of maize and Job's tears, being dibbled into the ground by means of
small hoes. No manure, beyond the wood ashes above mentioned, is used
on this class of land; there is no irrigation, and no other system of
watering is resorted to. The seeds are sown generally when the first
rain falls. This style of cultivation, or _jhum_, is largely resorted
to by the people inhabiting the eastern and southern portions of the
Jaintia Hills, e.g. the Bhois and Lalungs, the Lynngams and Garos
of the western tracts of the district. Wet paddy land (_hali_ or
_pynthor_) is, as the name implies, the land where the kind of paddy
which requires a great deal of water is grown. The bottoms of valleys
are divided up into little compartments by means of fairly high banks
corresponding to the Assamese _alis_, and the water is let in at will
into these compartments by means of skilfully contrived irrigation
channels, sometimes a mile or more in length. The soil is made into
a thick paste in the Jaintia Hills by means of the plough, and in the
Khasi Hills through the agency of the hoe. Droves of cattle also are
driven repeatedly over the paddy-fields until the mud has acquired
the right consistency. The seed is then sown broadcast in the wet
mud. It is not sown first in a seedling bed and then transplanted,
as in Assam and Bengal. When the plants have grown to a height of
about four inches, water is let in again; then comes the weeding,
which has to be done several times. When the crop is ripe, the ears