July, 1912.] 



21 



EDIBLE PRODUCTS. 



PADDY CULTIVATION IN CEYLON DURING THE XIXTH CENTURY. 



By E. Elliott. 

 (Continued from page 403.) 



Tabular Statement to show development in the Provinces during each 

 quinquennial period between 1862 and 1907. 



Average area under cultivation 

 in 000 acres. 



Estimated average crop, 

 in 000 Bushels of paddy. 



66 

 to 

 62 



71 



to 

 67 



76 

 to 

 72 



82 

 to 

 78 



87 

 to 

 83 



92 

 to 

 88 



97 

 to 

 93 



02 

 to 

 98 



07 

 to 

 03 



Province. 



07 

 to 

 03 



02 

 to 

 98 



97 

 to 

 93 



92 

 to 

 88 



87 

 to 



83 



82 

 to 

 78 



» 



to 

 72 



71 



to 

 67 



66 

 to 

 62 



70 



82 



79 



94 



107 



117 



116 



115 



114 



Western 



1,775 



1,907 



2,054 



1,685 



1,087 



1,179 



784 



822 



855 



48 



48 



50 



71 



63 



65 



81 



84 



84 



Sabaragamawa 



1,465 



1,328 



1,320 



884 



964 



1,036 



752 



662 



505 



61 



62 



60 



57 



66 



68 



68 



65 



61 



Central 



1,440 



1,398 



1,272 



1,242 



1,132 



1,369 



1.150 



1,143 



1,052 



18 



26 



36 



38 



31 



30 



28 



32 



30 



Uva 



664 



952 



760 



610 



481 



513 



475 



373 



406 



60 



64 



63 



88 



79 



68 



64 



84 



98 



North West 



2,114 



1,627 



1,230 



1,387 



1,705 



1,922 



907 



778 



985 



86 



78 



95 



107 



105 



101 



99 



110 



114 



Southern 



2,023 



1,620 



1,735 



1,536 



1,328 



1,357 



1,242 



788 



909 



65 



57 



58 



56 



61 



55 



54 



63 



63 



Northern 



733 



876 



674 



715 



771 



524 



686 



619 



680 



4 



6 



J 



11 



16 



24 



15 



28 



39 



N. Central 



670 



628 



312 



470 



231 



217 



176 



145 



90 



44 



56 



59 



48 



60 



57 



72 



85 



84 



Eastern 



1,438 



1,420 



1,343 



696 



649 



489 



879 



1,098 



590 



156 



482 



515 



581 



588 



574 



589 



663 



687 



Total 



12,300 



11,756 



10.7,00 



9,225 Is, 349 



8,606 



7,051 



6,428 



6,072 



In discussing the above statement, I 

 propose calling attention to the salient 

 points in each district, which will, I 

 think, be more useful to administrative 

 officers, than possibly interesting to the 

 general reader, and perhaps prevent 

 such mistaken inferences in regard to 

 the condition of the industry based on 

 limited experience, as are to be found in 

 the reports made public in Sessional 

 paper VI. of 1908, to some of which I will 

 Specifically refer. 



In the Western Province, as now con* 

 Btituted and known in the Dutch time, 

 as the Colombo Dissavoney, the extent 

 Of paddy laud entered in the thumb u at 



the time of the British conquest was 

 about 26,000 acres, but this area had 

 subsequently increased to 44,000 in the 

 forties. By 1866, this was further advan- 

 ced to 120,000 acres, in the reports fur- 

 nished to the Irrigation Committee, but 

 the average cultivation (1862-6) was only 

 70,000 acres. In 1878, the more exact 

 compilation by the first Grain Commis* 

 sioners gave a total of 118,412 acres. 



Of this the Colombo district (including 

 Negombo) contributed 70,309 acres, of 

 which 900 were in Alutkuru Korale 

 North. Production had also increased 

 rapidly from 691,000 B. P. (1878-82) to 

 1,047,000 (188S>92) while the average 



