3° 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



(July i, 1884. 



and for the distribution of water. Ordinary mainten- 

 ance of tanks consists chiefly in repairing slight set- 

 tlements or slips, including the damages done by the 

 trespass of cattle or of wild animals ; also, in cutting 

 out ant hills and in repairing the damages done by 

 the " burrowing " of alligators in the dams. 



On the application of the Government Agent or of 

 the village authorities, the overseer opens the sluice 

 so as to discharge the water required for the given 

 time, and he is held responsible for reporting to the 

 Public Works officer any damage which may occur 

 to the works, and for taking every precaution for their 

 safety. 



The duties of overseers in charge of irrigation works 

 are clearly defined in the Public Works instructions ; 

 but however full and advisable the rules may be, 

 great difficulty is found in getting them intelligently 

 and faithfully carried out by natives. 



With a few exceptions, the superintendence of irrig- 

 ation works devolves upon the Public Works officer of 

 the district, in addition to his ordinary duties of con- 

 structing any new roads, new buildings or special 

 repairs of those works which may be on hand at the 

 time. The irrigation works being frequently in re- 

 mote districts difficult of access, the superitendence is 

 sometimes inadequate. 



To prevent waste of water and jobbery in its dis- 

 tribution, as well as to exercise efficient supervision 

 over the maintenance of the works, each irrigated 

 district should be under charge of an experienced 

 European officer, whose sole time should be devoted 

 to the duties. I am confident that the cost of this 

 arrangement would be but a small percentage of the 

 pecuniary saving which it would produce. 



The following is a statement of the completed 

 irrigation works, excluding village tanks which have 

 been undertaken, according to the terms of theordin- 

 ances alluded to, from 1868 to July 1st 1881 

 (from a return by the Director of Public Works, 

 Ceylon, dated January 27th, 1882) : — 



Name o Province. " , 



Northern Province 1 



North-Central Pronince(Wi) 3 



Central „ 8 



North-Western „ 9 



Western „ 12 



Eastern „ 22 



Southern „ 24 



a o a 



H 3* 



Acres. 



200 



2,300 



7,730 



5,460 



1,577 



57,070 



15,731 



45 



3 



R. 



10,808 



176,367 



89,528 



220,299 



37,571 



810,939 



738,718 



o ^ a 



°y o o 



sn~a£. => 

 SB'S 



1> +-» £V 

 > "> Oi 



p.. 



54-04 

 76-68 

 11-58 

 40-34 

 23-82 

 14-20 

 5617 



Totals ..79 90,063 2,129,230 23-64 



From the above it will be seen that, taken by pro- 

 vinces, the minimum cost of irrigation works per 



bb The average in the North-Central Province is unduly 

 high, as the expenditure on the 13J miles of the Yodi Ela 

 chanuel is included, while the acreage is only partly shown. 

 A further length of 40 miles of channel and the head works 

 have to be completed ; the work is then estimated to irrigate 

 500 acres per mile, that is about 25,000 acres at a cost of 

 8545,500 which gives an average of E21-8 per acre, and iu- 

 cluding the two works Bassawakkulam aud Maha | Mada- 

 wachchiya the total will be about 26,000 acres, at a total cost 

 of R632,435, giving an average of R24'3 per acre. The Bassa- 

 wakkulam tank at Anuradbpura, repaired at a cost of R60,705 

 ami the tank at Vavuniya Vilankulam, in the Northern Pro- 

 vince, the cost of which was R1(),S08 were undertaken more 

 to obtain :i water supply for those stations than for purposes 

 of irrigation 



estimated acre capable of irrigation has been approxim- 

 ately Rll-58 



The maximum cost , 76'68 



And the average cost per acre ,,23 64 



The above figures are approximate, as there is much 

 difficulty in arriving, correctly, at the acreage which can 

 practically be irrigated ; for this depends not only 

 upon the acreage which lies under a tank, and upon 

 the rainfall necessary to fill the tanks in the first 

 instance, but upon the rain, which may more or less 

 replenish the tank or river during the dry season. 

 The acreage irrigated also depends upon the eve with 

 which the water is husbanded and distributed ; un- 

 fortunately, in general, much water is wasted. In re- 

 cording the acreage capable of irrigation, the lowest 

 figures given in the official returns have invariably 

 been taken. 



Including the cost of village tanks previously 

 alluded to, the total expenditure on irrigation works 

 in Ceylon from 1868 to 1880, both inclusive, has been 

 as follows : — 



VS a 



o o -^ 

 ■^ £3 



5 s « 



a.2 so 



R- 

 3,773,321 



2111 R 



^ -4J U c3 <D 



4J a i- g 



S £ O =J g 



"Sg 



li 



-2 5 



a '3 



§a 

 a d 



< r 

 R. 



o 



Eh 



R. 



!,082,618 237,761 3,320,37 



Averages per annum 290,255 237,124 18,289 255,413 

 From 1868 (cc) to 1st August 1878, the irrigation works 

 should be credited with the following sums in addi- 

 tion to the value of 10 per cent on the increased 

 yield of the paddy crop, which, as before mentioned 

 has always been doubled, and frequently trebled. 



R. 

 Amount realized by sale of Government land, which 



otherwise would probably have remained unsold 312,814 



Amount realized by water rate 116,080 



Amount due on water rate, the payment of which 



for various reasons had been delayed 246,447 



R675.341 

 If this sum be deducted from the total expendi- 

 ture on irrigation, B.3, 320,379, the balance as the 

 cost of the works up to the end of 1S80 would be 

 R2, 645,038. 



The Commission appointed by the Ceylon Govern, 

 ment to "enquire into the taxes on home-grown grain 

 aud the Customs duties on imported grain," reported 

 on 30th October 1877, as follows (dd) :—" The policy we 

 would recommend is not to remit or materially reduce 

 taxation, but to make rice cheaper by extending aud 

 improving the communications by froad and railway 

 throughout the whole interior of the island, and by 

 restoring and improving irrigation works with a view to 

 increasing the local production of grain. The success 

 of the irrigation works in the Eastern Province 

 shows that this is the true policy. The restoration of 

 those words was commenced twenty years ago by Sir 

 Henry Ward, and was continued by Sir Hercules 

 Ptobiuson, and it is the only part of the island where 

 sufficient time has elapsed to render it possible to judge 

 of the lesults. Thousands of acres, of which 24,000 

 are in one block, have now been converted from 

 forest and jungle into productive paddy fields, the 

 owners of which are able to send large quantities of 

 surplus grain to Jaffna aud Badulln, and other parts 

 of the island. There is every reason to anticipate 

 similar results from following the same policy in other 

 parts of the island, and in order that the Government 

 uiav be "able to do more and not less than it has 



cc Ceylon Sessional paper, No. 38, of 1879. 



dd See Oeylon Sessional Paper, No. xvi., of 1877. 



