October, 1912.] 



281 



(4) The members of a local association must, even apart from inspec- 

 tion, be made to feel that the Agricultural D3partment is interested in them 

 and their work. It is wonderful how regular correspondence, prompt 

 attention, and general evidences of interest and support encourage both 

 the individuals and the associations of which they are members. If local 

 agricultural associations are to be a success, this must be arranged for 

 at any cost. 



How Success is Attained 



With these principles accepted and in full operation, there is every 

 chance of success : without these there is very little likelihood of local 

 associations being or doing what they are capable of. The actual type of 

 association may be very different — and very different types of association 

 have succeeded,— but success in every case involves a frank recognition of 

 the principles laid down. And it is hence of the highest importance that 

 associations should not be encouraged or organised unless these points 

 can be arranged for. In times past there has been in some eases a ten- 

 dency to encourage or form associations when there were no definite 

 lines of work to take up; when the men of whom they were composed 

 were not men really interested : when no regular inspection could be 

 arranged for, and when they were left for long months without any 

 attention. It is not wonderful that such associations died or became 

 moribund. 



Passing on from general principles to successful applications, 

 it may be noted that success has been attained by following 

 several lines. In the Central Provinces, where perhaps the most 

 valuable work has been done, the associations are bodies composed 

 of nominees, limited in number, of the district officers for 

 each district. These, say for instance, to the number of thirty, 

 are called together to a convenient centre, appoint a secretary, and are 

 met by a senior officer of the Agricultural Department, usually the Deputy 

 Director, who has a number of pieces of work suitable for their district, 

 ready to suggest to the members to take up. These are not experiments, 

 but consist in carrying out some introduction of new seed, or the demons- 

 tration of better methods of cultivation, and the like, in using their land 

 as a seed farm, in distributing sulphate of copper for treating Juari seed, 

 in acting as agent for ploughs, oi in making arrangements for marketing 

 and similar things. Each man is then supplied at once with the material 

 he needs and, thereafter, is visited by an assistant once a month, and by 

 the superintendent of the far <n in that circle several times a year. Six 

 months later all the members meet again : the Deputy Commissioner is in 

 the chair ; the Deputy Director is again present : the work done is dis- 

 cussed, causes of failures made out, accounts of success recorded, and a 

 new lot of work arranged for, for the ensuing period. Once a year, the 

 members of all the district associations in a tract are called and meet at a 

 common centre, generally a farm of the agricultural department, when 

 experiences can be discussed among a larger collection of cultivators, 

 selected outsiders being invited. All the proceedings, in these larger 

 meetings, as well as in the district associations, are in the vernacular. 



Care in the Constitution an Important Factor. 



Over and above the points already insisted on, the success in this case 

 may be attributed to the careful selection and nomination of members by 

 the local authorities, to the small number of members who thus esteem 



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