special Opium Superintendent. Mr. Mahomed Ali, an Oxford graduate, and an active young officer, has lately been appointed to this post, and supervises the manufacture and sale of opium. In the other three Districts, the Opium transactions are under the direct control of the District Officer, who indents upon the Kadi Superintendent for the quantity required for local consumption, and supplies it to the licensed retail vendors,

(9)-REGISTRATION.

A new Registration Act came into force at the commencement of 1902-03. The important changes effected by the new law were:—

(1) All documents relating to immoveable property were compulsorily liable to registration.

2. No document was admitted for registration after six months from the date of execution.

(3) Civil Courts were prohibited from admitting as evidence unregistered documents, the registration of which was compulsory.

These provisions necessarily brought in a very large mass of documents for registration during 1902-03 as compared with 1903-04, as the following figures will show:—

The large majority of documents registered relate to immoveable property, as the registration of such documents is compulsory under the present law. Thus out of 72,779 documents of 1902-03, 71,767 relate to immoveable property. And in 1903-04, out of 25,249 documents no less than 23,974 relate to such property.

To go into some further detail, the largest number of documents registered were deeds of sale or mortgage of values under a thousand rupees. The following figures relating to these classes of documents are interesting. They throw some light on the commonest transactions among the people as reflected in our Registration offices:

1902-03 2,091 7,936 1,856 17,249 2,893|| 31,629 1903-04 1,044 2,361 923 4,436 2,349 10,450

There were 44 Registration offices in the State at the commencement of 1903-04, eight of which were filled by ex-officio Registrars, and the remaining 36 by meu who in Bengal would be called Rural Sub-Registrars. Generally there is a Sub-Registrar in each Taluka. These Sub-Registrars are remunerated from the fees up

Mr. Manirai Trikamrai was the Senior Inspector in 1903-04, and Mr. Mangesh Kamalji Nandkarni was the Junior Inspector. Their duties are mainly inspection and supervision, and were satisfactorily performed.

(h)-STAMPS.

The Stamp Office is necessarily under a dual control and supervision. The Accountant General, as the Chief Financial Officer, is in charge of the issue of stamps and of accounts. The Sar-Subah, as the Chief Revenue Officer, supervises the arrangements for the sale of stamps, and generally the working of the Stamp Act.

Tho two Inspectors of Registration are also entrusted with the duty of inspecting Stamp Depôts as well as public offices which admit documents. Breaches of the Stamp Act are reported by them.

The revenue derived from the sale of stamps during the years under review is shown in the following table:

The decrease in the Stamp revenue in 1903-04 is due. to the reason which has already been referred to under the head Registration. When the new Registration

1902-03, making the registration of new classes of documents compulsory, there was naturally a large and sudden increase in the sale both of Court Fees and of Non-Judicial stamps. This swelled the income both in the Registration and in the Stamp Departments, and the year 1903-04 therefore shows a comparative decrease.

The expenditure under head Stamps is shown in the following statement :—

Bajri (millet) is consumed by all classes of people in the State. It is sown in June or July, requires the monsoon rain, and is reaped in October. Sometimes it is sown with pulses, and as these require a longer time to ripen, they remain in the field after the Bajri has been reaped. The refuse of the Bajri stalk is used as fodder for cattle.

Jowar (Indian millet) is the food of the common people. It is sown in October and reaped in January or February. Like Bajri the grain is ground and turned into bread, but sometimes it is parched or roasted. Cultivators and their wives and chidren, sitting in their

supply of parched Jowar with them. The stalk is used as fodder.

Wheat is consumed by the rich only, and is quite a luxury for the poor. It is sown in October and November, and reaped in March. Fields for wheat are prepared and irrigated with great care, specially in Kadi District where wells are numerous.

Rice is sown in black soil in the month of June and is generally reaped in September or October. It is a staple produce only in some Talukas, and depends largely on the monsoon rains.

Cotton is grown largely in Naosari and Baroda Districts, and specially in the Talukas of Naosari, Palsana, Padra, Choranda, Dabhoi, Sinor and Baroda. It is often sown with rice, and after the rice has been reaped it grows rapidly. It flowers in October and is gathered in February or March. When full grown its height is three or four feet. It is a valuable crop for the cultivators, and is extending into Kadi and other Districts. The Naosari Cotton is considered the best in India.

Tobacco is a valuable crop, which grows mainly in Petlad Taluka in Baroda District, the soil of which is specially suited to the plant. The seed is sown in June, and the fields are then covered to protect them from the sun and excessive rain. The seedlings take about two months to grow to a height of about 4 inches. In the meantime other fields have been prepared, and the seedlings are then taken away from the nursery, to be transplanted in rows, in the places prepared for them. When the crop has grown to a height of a foot and a half, it begins to flower, and the cutting of the crop begins when the leaves turn yellow. The skill of the Petlad tobacco