vi PREFACE 



Indian Agriculture, and Nicholls' smaller but useful Tropical 

 Agriculture, I have endeavoured to supply this want in the 

 present work, and to place before the public, as clearly as may 

 be, something of the underlying "political" and theoretical side 

 of the subject, setting forth what such agriculture really is, 

 the conditions under which it is carried on, its successes and 

 disasters and their causes, the great revolution that is being 

 effected by western influences, and other general principles 

 underlying the whole subject, in whatever country it may be 

 carried on. Under each product, also, I have tried to suggest 

 promising lines for improvement. 



No attempt has been made to write a book for the practical 

 man to use in connection with his actual field work. The effort 

 has been to produce a work that may be helpful and thought- 

 stimulating for the student, the administrator, or the traveller. 

 Those who read it must kindly remember, therefore, that it is 

 a pioneer and strictly elementary work, capable of vast improve- 

 ment after the subject has been properly discussed. 



Agriculture in the tropics is wider and more varied in range 

 than in the north, and we cannot doubt that there will be more 

 and more rapid progress, and that the cooler countries will come 

 to depend more and more upon the warmer zones for their 

 supplies of food and other things. The white powers now 

 control the bulk of the tropics, and are rapidly opening up 

 Africa and south-eastern Asia. It is consequently of great 

 importance that the peoples of the north should understand the 

 general position with regard to agriculture there, and be able 

 to direct matters to the best advantage, both of themselves and 

 of the governed peoples. 



The tropics cover so enormous an area that it is obvious 

 that I can only write of much of it from reading, though the 

 general principles set forth will apply to all countries. My own 



