48 AGRICULTURE IN THE TROPICS [PT. II 



might be tried in the villages, for instance "three-month'* 

 paddies in districts at present only using " four-month " : 

 paddies of similar duration, but of better quality, should be 

 tried : experiments should be carefully tried with improved 

 tools, especially ploughs : transplanting should be introduced in 

 place of broadcasting, in districts where it is not now practised : 

 harvesting might be improved by the use of the scythe in place 

 of the sickle : threshing by the use of the flail : the use of water 

 might be more economical. 



Another way, again, in which it is likely that great im- 

 provement might be introduced in most countries, is in the 

 practice of rotation of crops. During the period in which the 

 fields lie idle, they should be planted with other crops. This is 

 at present only done systematically in Java and India, where 

 the fields are planted with sweet potatoes, jute, pulses, etc. 

 It would seem likely that if the same crop were not always 

 used, and if a leguminous crop were occasionally introduced 

 into the series, a better effect might be produced. For 

 example, let the course of the crops be rice, sweet potato, rice, 

 peas or beans or other leguminous crop. 



There are many other ways in which small improvements 

 might be introduced into rice growing, without giving too great 

 a shock to the prejudices of the villagers, but improvement 

 must be very gradual and cautious, and every step must first 

 be carefully tested. 



Dry Grains. This term, used in Ceylon to describe those 

 cereals which are not grown with the aid of irrigation, is a 

 convenient generic term to use for these plants, of which there 

 are many, grown over very large areas in India and elsewhere. 

 The term Millets might almost as well be used, the bulk of 

 these grains being millets, but would not cover quite all of 

 them. Next only to wheat, maize, and rice, these are the 

 most important food grains, and it is probable that about a 

 quarter of the population of the world lives upon them, though 

 they are more unfamiliar in Europe than rice. 



India is more especially the land of dry grain cultivation. 

 In the drier districts, which make up a large part of India, it 



