AGRICULTURAL PROGRESS IN THE 

 TROPICS 



PART I 



By J. C. WILLIS, Sc.D., F.L.S., 

 Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Ceylon * 



With the great opening up of the countries of the tropics, 

 more especially of Africa and south-eastern Asia, now taking 

 place, the question of what is to be the line of progress of 

 agriculture in them becomes of very great importance. Is it 

 to be merely, as at present is more or less the case in some 

 countries, the establishment of a great and progressive "planting" 

 industry beside the unprogressive and time-honoured peasant 

 cultivations of the natives, or are the latter to be made to 

 progress, the planting industry perhaps being even shut out, 

 or are both to advance together ? 



Looking back over the agricultural history of most of the 

 tropical colonies, what may almost be called a conflict of 

 ideals is apparent — those of the commercial planting community, 

 and those of the officials entrusted with the government of the 

 country. A careful analysis of the position shows that both 

 of these ideals are equally wrong and that the truth lies 

 between them. The native of most tropical countries is, indeed, 

 at a very early stage in agricultural progress, and the" ideal, 

 more or less acknowledged, of Government officials has been 

 to hold him back at that stage. The planting community, 

 feeling that if this were the case it was hopeless ever to get 

 the countries of the tropics to produce commodities for export, 

 have pushed for their ideal, which errs as far in the other 

 direction. 



It will repay us consequently to inquire into this question 

 in more detail and to trace out the ideals and the way in which 

 their attainment has been attempted. 



In the present condition of the world the temperate zones 

 cannot get on without the products of the tropics. The latter 

 provide many things, such as rubber, tea, coff'ee, cinchona, jute. 



