INDIAN FAMINES - Institute for Social and Economic Change

.AND PRESS ORITICISM. 139
bajra, and some other rain crops; while wheat,
which may be termed the staple food of Northern
India, is produced by the scanty rainfall
during the winter months, although it is of
course directly dependent on the moisture retained
by the ground from the preceding rainy
season.
A natural, but not an altogether reliable, test
of the probability of a famine. is the price-current
of food. The table * on the next page will
illustrate this. As remarked by M:r Henvey, the
" price-currents are not an absolute indication of
the necessity of vigorous relief. nor do they
afford a consistent ratio for the number requiring
relief." It would be out of place to analyse
in detail this table. It will be sufficient to remark,
that the first date given in it corresponds
to the close, or nearly so, of the autumn harvest.
It was evident then, from the failure of the
preceding rains, that there would be famine in
the land, but at that actual date there was a
sufficient supply of food for some time to come;
yet a panic broke out. No one was aware of
what would ultimately happen, and prices in
• Extracted from Mr Henvey's Report.