| caption: |
Chapter five: land tenure and agriculture |
| caption: |
consolidation of rice fields |
| note: |
footnotes indicated by boxes within square brackets |
| text: |
Fields are continguous, and form a block covering a large area of a hillside. Large villages may have several such blocks of fields. This consolidation of cultivation serves a triple purpose. It helps to protect the crops from the depredations of game (small and isolated fields are open to attack, and their protection requires a high expenditure of both time and labour); it reduces the number of paths to the cultivation which must be kept clear of jungle in the rainy season; and, by allowing concentration of the labour-force, it permits it to be used to the greatest effect. |
