290 



[October, 1912. 



Mr. J, Harward, Director of Public Instruction, moved "That the 

 Board do record a vote of thanks to the Hon'ble Sir Hugh Clifford, k.c.m.g., 

 on his retirement from the office of Vice-President, for his services to the 

 Society and offer him its congratulations on his appointment as Governor 

 of the Gold Coast." He added : "It has been suggested to ask Sir Hugh 

 Clifford to allow his name to remain on the Board as Honorary Vice-Presi- 

 dent, and I feel sure that the members of the Society will be glad that 

 his name should be permannently associated with the Board." Seconded 

 by Mr. Kanagasabai, the motion was unanimously adopted. 



Sir Hugh Clifford acknowledged his thanks. 



THE QUESTION OF SEED IN PADDY CULTIVATION. 



PAPER BY MR- W. A. DE SILVA. 



For the successful raising of any crops three elements are admitted 

 to be essential, viz. the preparation of the soil, the use of fertilizers, and 

 the selection of seed. Seed selection, the importance of which is hardly 

 recognized by our native cultivators, is an operation that requires very 

 little expenditure of capital and euergy, if only the method of doing it 

 is understood. The cultivation of rice being the most important of 

 village agricultural industries the remarks here made in regard to seed 

 selection should be generally considered to refer to the rice crop. It is 

 to be noted that nearly 700,000 acres of land in Ceylon are under rice. 

 The industry is almost wholly confined to the small cultivator, whose 

 resources as regards capital, enterprise, and knowledge must be admitted 

 to be scanty. The rice crop, however, is of greater importance to the 

 Island than any other crop gro*vn here, for two reasons : first, because it 

 is the main source of the food supply to the inhabitants ; and secondly, 

 because the price of the grain forms an index to the general standard of 

 the wages of the working man. The higher the price of rice, the higher 

 should be the scale of wages in other industries. Seed selection may be 

 conveniently considered under four different heads, viz :— (1) Selection 

 by sorting the grain, (2) " Change of seed." (3) The selection of varieties 

 to suit special condition, and (4) The production of new and better varieties 

 of seed. 



The only precaution which the cultivator takes is to winnow his 

 grain with a view to getting rid of chaff and dirt. It would be 

 greatly to his advantage to go a step and separate the heavy seeds 

 from the light by use of the same winnow. Trials have been made 

 in Mysore with seed selected by the Japanese method of immersing 

 the seed in a saline solution, and the results have proved very 

 satisfactory. For ordinary purposes a solution of salt consisting of 

 one seer of salt to two seers of water is made and the seed paddy put 

 into it. All seeds that float in this solution are rejected, and those that 

 sink to the bottom are taken for sowing purposes. Tne cost of this pro- 

 cess of seed sorting is insignificant, and would consist of a few cents for 

 the salt used, but the benefit derived is represented by an increase of 

 the crop from 18 to 36 per cent. The next method mentioned above is 

 change of seed. This is seldom practised or recognized in Ceylon. It 

 has been found, as the result of many experiments in America and 

 elsewhere, that the change of seed from one district to another has in- 



