MECHANICAL DEVELOPMENT 109 



defects. Power-driven crushers for sugar-cane have 

 also had a limited success, though the obstacles noted 

 above apply to them also. Mechanical cultivation 

 has not been neglected. It has been shown that the 

 heavy lands in the south of the Presidency, now 

 infested with deep-rooted grasses, can be effectively 

 cleaned by steam-ploughing them to a depth of 16 

 inches, at a cost of Rs.30 per acre ; and the demand 

 for this work is so great that it can hardly be doubted 

 that a private company could undertake such opera- 

 tions at a good profit. Motor ploughs of different 

 types have been tried and found to give a light plough- 

 ing at a cost of about Es.7 per acre, but for the reasons 

 already noted the immediate future for such tractors 

 is probably not great. 



This concludes the necessarily brief statement of 

 the results obtained by departmental activities and 

 propaganda. Substantial technical progress has been 

 made, but the results secured are very small as com- 

 pared with the results that might be secured if certain 

 economic obstacles did not block the way. It will 

 be noticed that the important question of live stock 

 has been omitted altogether. This will be considered 

 in the next chapter. 



