AGRICULTURAL PROGRESS IN THE TROPICS 225 



down in and colonise the country, the result would in general 

 be good. In actual fact, however, this does not happen, except 

 in individual cases ; the imported coolies have always in view 

 the chance of getting back to their own country with their 

 savings. In British Guiana and in Mauritius the coolies are 

 largely settled down and these countries have now quite 

 a large population of East Indians, but are almost the only 

 exceptions to the general rule. 



Every effort should be made to get the foreign labourers 

 to settle down in the country ; by the system of road 

 demarcations we have indicated it will be possible to divide 

 up the country into villages, one of which may be reserved 

 for one and another for another race or caste, whilst if a third 

 is reserved for capitalist industry, the latter will be provided 

 with labour within easy reach. 



So long as a country has to depend for its agricultural 

 prosperity upon imported labour, and upon foreign capitalists, 

 so long is it in an insecure position and the profits made in 

 agriculture will be largely taken out of the country by the 

 planters and the coolies. 



Education. — This, the last of what we have termed the 

 preliminary factors, is now being largely attended to, while 

 general interest is being aroused by the results of past 

 educational systems in the East, if not elsewhere. It is being 

 recognised that it is possible to give a general education which 

 shall fit a man for the practice of agriculture and at the same 

 time dispose him to regard more favourably newer methods 

 of cultivation and treatment. 



It is now fairly well agreed that the best system of education 

 is one which is independent of agriculture until the pupil is 

 about twelve years old and then becomes tinged with agri- 

 cultural ideas until he is about sixteen, when boys who show 

 a decided bent may be drafted off to an agricultural college. 

 In the elementary stages, up to twelve years old, the scholars 

 should have a school garden, with nature-study lessons upon 

 its contents ; after twelve these lessons should be more and 

 more tinged with the principles of agriculture. 



The school garden is proving to be one of the most 

 successful means for the purpose of getting in touch with the 

 natives of tropical countries. At first the people objected to 

 their children doing what they termed coolie labour ; now 



