Report of Society's Meetings. 419 



be for the existing estates to give out plots for farming, maintainingthe 

 drainage and transport, and contrafting with the farmers for the subse- 

 quent purchase of the canes thus grown. 



There are, however, many objeflions to a system of this kind. The 

 utter unreliabihty of the average labourer where a contraft of this sort is 

 concerned, the difficulty in securing proper cultivation, leading to deterio- 

 ration of the soil, the impossibility of weighing or dealing separately with 

 small quantities of canes with the present estates' mode of transport, 

 coupled with the general disturbance of the discipline of the estate from 

 the coming and going of uncontrolled outside labour (for the employment 

 of inside labour to this end is not to be considered), are points which 

 present most serious obstacles to the development of a satisfaftory 

 system of estates' cane-farming. 



I do not think, therefore, that much can be hopedfor in thisdireftion, 

 but I do consider that much may be done to utilise the back lands of 

 the incorporated villages for the purpose. 



Recent legislation has effected something in the direction of the self, 

 government of these communities, and the present machinery, with 

 pressure and some help from the Government authorities, should be 

 quite sufficient to provide the drainage and transport facilities necessary. 

 The advantages of the villager growing canes on his own land would be 

 great. There would be complete independence of both farmer and 

 manufacturer, the former carrying his canes when and to whom he liked, 

 with no contract to lead to inevitable trouble and probable tedious 

 litigation. In fact, the only question between buyer and seller would 

 be the mutual arrangement of price, easily settled on some recognised 

 basis. 



In this scheme the transport difficulty comes in. No network of 

 roads, making carriage in any direction easy, exists, and the produce of 

 any one "empolder" must pass through to the front before it can be 

 transported to another. 



At present the villagers bring such provisions as are grown to the 

 public road in "bateaux," using the waterways of the village. Of 

 course, canes could be transported in this way; but it would be far 

 better for each village to have a very light tram-line along its "middle- 

 walk," the cost of which would be small. Every villager could thus 

 convey his load of canes to the public road for transference to his 

 donkey or mule cart, and thence to the factory for sale. 



On the part of the purchasing estate all that would have to be provi- 



