§ MR. WEIRTo ask the Secretary of State for India if he will state why the system of classification of soils now in force in Madras was abandoned in the Bombay Presidency in favour of the present system; and, in view of the fact that for the four years ending 30th June, 1900, no less than 160,640 acres of land, the property of evicted ryots, have been put up for auction by Government in the Madras Presidency in default of payment of land revenue, will he consider the advisability of some change in the Madras system.
777 (Answered by Secretary Lord George Hamilton). It cannot be said that the present system of soil classification in Madras was ever in force in Bombay, for it was not formulated before 1850, whereas the present Bombay system was devised about 1835. The two systems have been independently and gradually evolved with strict reference to historical and local conditions. I have stated in reply to a former Question that I do not propose to change the Madras system, as it is considered to give satisfactory results.