INTRODUCTION XV11 



The agriculture conducted by Europeans in the tropics 

 is more efficient than that of the natives of the country. 

 This may be roughly illustrated by the case of Ceylon, where 

 the exports of " European " produce are to those of " native " 

 produce as 3 to 1, while the area cultivated by the former, and 

 the population supported by it, are only as 1 to 5, the popula- 

 tion being equally dense in either case, or denser on the 

 European estates. 



Before agriculture upon any but the very smallest scale or 

 basis can be carried on in a country, there must be in that 

 country satisfactory conditions as regards certain indispensable 

 preliminaries. 



Land must be available at a moderate cost. The price of 

 land will naturally vary with its advantages as regards nearness 

 to market, good or bad transport facilities, good or bad climate, 

 and many other things, but " moderate " in the sense used here 

 will of course take note of all these things. 



Roads or other means of transport must be in good order, 

 to bring material to the plantation and to take the produce 

 away. Without good means of transport, it is idle to expect 

 any serious agricultural industries to be carried on, for sale or 

 export of the produce. 



Capital, to some extent at least, must be forthcoming. 

 Even those undertakings which soonest give a return, such as 

 cotton, whose crop can be picked in six months, need a certain 

 amount of capital to tide over the period of waiting ; without 

 this only the very smallest enterprises can be carried on, and 

 even these will often be in an unhealthy condition, their crops 

 being mortgaged to money-lenders. 



Labour must also be available, if any but very small 

 enterprises are to go on. A man and his family cannot 

 obviously till more than a few acres at most, and for anything 

 more extensive and efficiency in agriculture largely goes with 

 the larger enterprises we must have hired labour. This 

 difficulty is one of the greatest that confront anyone proposing 

 to start agricultural enterprises in the tropics. In India, 

 Ceylon, the Malay States, Java, and some of the West Indian 

 islands, labour is comparatively plentiful, but elsewhere it is 

 usually difficult to obtain. 



