96 



and artificially fed ; and (4) very \avge yields in ponds in tliis Presi- 

 dency wholly without artificial feeding. 



199. Premising this much, suggestions may be made for the 

 beginning of cultural work in this Presidency. 



200. The inland waters of this Presidency are rarely permanent 

 but Japan shows that permanency though greatly desirable is not 

 absolutely essential for growing great crops of fish, since its ponds 

 and paddy-fields yield harvests of young fish which, though immature, 

 aggregate a vast amount of excellent food. The question is whether 

 the example of Japan suggests practical work in stocking our own 

 waters which will be considered as tanks, canals, village ponds, wells, 

 and paddy fields ; rivers are for the present left out of consideration. 



201. The position is this ; water in this naturally arid Presidency 

 is of such extreme value, of such vital importance, that we are bound 

 to utilize it, wherever we have it, in every possible way and season^ 

 in crops, fish, and productive trees,* provided only that the major 

 and primary utilities of the water are not injured or diminished by 

 secondary utilities ; if it appears possible to utilize vast irrigation 

 reservoirs and canals as fish sources, without appreciable injury to the 

 irrigation of crops, we are bound to experiment in such waters even at 

 some expense and, at first, somewhat blindly, owing to our ignorance 

 of Indian fish facts and possibilities, till success, or its impossibility, 

 is demonstrated. If there is one clear lesson to be learned from 

 travelling in Japan, it is the utilization of waste or, rather, the absence 

 of waste ; space and material are used almost to the utmost, and the 

 neglect of sources of food supply such as are apparently available in 

 our irrigation sources, would be impossible. 



202. Tanlcs. — Under this head I include only irrigation reservoirs. 

 These very numerous sources unfortunately seldom contain permanent 

 water and while the great bulk of them not only hold water for less 

 than four or five months, a vast number are also precarious in supply. 



Of tanks with permanent waters there are the Periyar lake, the 

 Kanigiri and other reservoirs under the Sangam and Nellore works, 

 the Rushikulya reservoir, probably the Barur tank in Salem district, 

 and, notably, the Marikanave tank in Mysore territory. Besides these 

 there are some large and decjo tanks which may and often do contain 

 some water for years together, such as Daroji in Bellary, Erratim- 

 marajacheruvu, Bukkapatnam, etc., in Anaiitapur, and others which 

 have been made by bunding valleys. Of these the Periyar and 



* Pee note on Jstpanese Agriculture and suggestions ; the banks of our great irriga- 

 tion canals ought to be made more largely productive by the planting of valuable trees 

 which would utilize the seepage water ; a contiderable income and still more consider- 

 able supplies of food and timber could thus be n.ieed, v hile the tiees and bam loos would 

 yield a large ijuantity of food for the ti.^h in the canals, 



