In the afternoon out comes the hengha, which is simply a heavy flat log of wood, with a V shaped cut or groove all along under its flat surface.  To each end of the hengha a pair of bullocks are yoked, and two men standing on the log, and holding on by the bullocks’ tails, it is slowly dragged over the field wherever the hoeing has been going on.  The lumps and clods are caught in the groove on the under surface, and dragged along and broken up and pulverized, and the whole surface of the field thus gets harrowed down, and forms a homogeneous mass of light friable soil, covering the weeds and dirt to let them rot, exposing the least surface for the wind and heat to act on, and thus keeping the moisture in the soil.

Now is a busy time for the planter.  Up early in the cold raw fog, he is over his Zeraats long before dawn, and round by his outlying villages to see the ryots at work in their fields.  To each eighty or a hundred acres a man is attached called a Tokedar.  His duty is to rouse out the ryots, see the hoes and ploughs at work, get the weeding done, and be responsible for the state of the cultivation generally.  He will probably have two villages under him.  If the village with its lands be very extensive, of course there will be a Tokedar for it alone, but frequently a Tokedar may have two or more villages under his charge.  In the village, the head man—­generally the most influential man in the community—­also acts with the Tokedar, helping him to get ploughs, bullocks, and coolies when these are wanted; and under him, the village chowkeydar, or watchman, sees that stray cattle do not get into the fields, that the roads, bridges and fences are not damaged, and so on.  Over the Tokedars, again, are Zillahdars.  A ‘zillah’ is a small district.  There may be eight or ten villages and three or four Tokedars under a Zillahdar.  The Zillahdar looks out for good lands to change for bad ones, where this is necessary, and where no objection is made by the farmer; sees that the Tokedars do their work properly; reports rain, blight, locusts, and other visitations that might injure the crop; watches all that goes on in his zillah, and makes his report to the planter whenever anything of importance happens in his particular part of the cultivation.  Over all again comes the JEMADAR—­the head man over the whole cultivation—­the planter’s right-hand man.

He is generally an old, experienced, and trusted servant.  He knows all the lands for miles round, and the peculiar soils and products of all the villages far and near.  He can tell what lands grow the best tobacco, what lands are free from inundation, what free from drought; the temper of the inhabitants of each village, and the history of each farm; where are the best ploughs, the best bullocks, and the best farming; in what villages you get most coolies for weeding; where you can get the best carts, the best straw, and the best of everything at the most favourable rates.  He comes up each night when the day’s work is done, and gets his orders for the morrow.  You are often glad to take his advice on sowing, reaping, and other operations of the farm.  He knows where the plant will ripen earliest, and where the leaf will be thickest, and to him you look for satisfaction if any screw gets loose in the outside farm-work.