Note 32 — Chapter VI · SOME RURAL FESTIVALS AND CEREMONIES.

There are various ceremonies intended to save certain crops from the ravages of blight and insects. Blight is very generally attributed to the constant measurement of the soil which goes on during settlement operations, to the irreligious custom of eating beef, or to adultery, or to a demon of the east wind, who can be appeased with prayers and ceremonies.32 No pious Hindu, if the seed fails, will re-sow his winter crop.