Miscellaneous. 



526 



[June, 1910, 



for the post and had to make temporary- 

 arrangements again for carrying on the 

 work, 



In November, 1868, the late Mr. W. R. 

 Robertson arrived to take up the post 

 of Superintendent. The Committee soon 

 found that he was "exactly the man 

 they wanted," and from that time for- 

 ward, the work at Saidapeth was Mr. 

 Robertson's work. In 1871 the Manag- 

 ing Committee ceased to exist, and the 

 general supervision of attempts towards 

 the advancement of agriculture in 

 Madras was entrusted to the Local 

 Board of Revenue, and the actual 

 management to Mr. Robertson. About 

 this time, and largely as a result of 

 the efforts of Mr. Robertson; the Go- 

 vernment of Lord Napier resolved on 

 a comprehensive scheme for starting 

 experimental farms in various parts of 

 the Presidency. This scheme is only 

 now, 35 years later, being put into effect, 

 but that Mr. Robertson's work was 

 appreciated is shown by the fact that 

 in 1878, the Government of India, in the 

 course of a general review, recognised 

 that in Madras there was already a 

 Department of Agriculture, and held 

 that its expansion was impeded mainly 

 by want of funds. 



As a preparation for the study of 

 Indian agriculture, Mr. Robertson had 

 the advantage of experience among 

 Irish peasant cultivators, but in his first 

 eight years in India he was greatly 

 handicapped by the fact that he had 

 no opportunity of making himself ac- 

 quainted with agricultural practices and 

 conditions in Madras as a whole, while 

 the site of the farm at Saidapeth had 

 been unfortunately selected in a locality 

 which did not represent any ordinary 

 agricultural conditions in the Presidency. 

 Geologically the soils are derived from 

 alluvial deposits, probably estuarine, 

 and their " general character is that 

 of pure, or nearly pure, silicious sands," 

 though beds of black clay occur below 

 the surface, and in one or two places 

 they crop out on the farm, whilst a 

 ridge of metamorphic rocks runs through 

 the southern portion of the estate and 

 crops out in two or three places. This 

 ridge has a considerable influence on 

 the underground water-supply derived 

 from the Adyar river which bounds 

 the estate on the south and on the east 

 where it is tidal and salt. The soils 

 are deficient in the power of absorbing 

 and retaining moisture, and on wetting 

 they decrease in bulk considerably, and 

 when they again dry, they become very 

 hard, especially at the surface. Their 

 composition is shown in the following 

 analysis ;— 



Field No. 1* Field No. 4* 

 Const tuents Surface soil. Surface soil. Sub-soil. 



per cent. per cent, per cent. 



Alumina 3 - 24 4'12 2-060 



Oxide of iron 1-35 1 80 2-900 



Phosphate of lime .. 12 0-24 0-009 



Caibonate of lime ... 0'31 070 0-560 



Carbonate of magnesia Trace Trace Trace 



Sulphate of lime .. Trace Trace Trace 



Chlorides - 90 1-08 - 720 



Organic matter.. .. 2-12 2-50 1740 



Moisture 2-09 2"76 1-420 



Sand 89-87 8590 90'400 



These fields represent some of the 

 best of the land on the estate, and 

 there the outcrop of the estuarine clay 

 considerably influences the character of 

 the soil, and the "sand" found is ex- 

 tremely fine in texture. The greater 

 part of' the estate is thus described by 

 Dr. Voelcker : "It has a poor hungry 

 sandy soil, and the land is little better 

 than a great sand-hill " and " ought 

 never to have been selected." 



In 1871 the site of the farm was con- 

 demned by General Cotton who had 

 taken a prominent part in the selection 

 of the implements originally brought 

 out, and who as early as 1868 had pressed 

 on the Government of Madras the neces- 

 sity for a special department to be en- 

 trusted with agricultural improvement 

 " in all parts of the country," so that 

 Government should "not be depend- 

 ent upon the scanty leisure or casual 

 half-hearted efforts of untrained persons, 

 whether Collectors or their delegates." 

 The main grounds of his indictment 

 of the farm were that " neither the 

 extent nor the variety of soil render 

 it sufficiently typical for a Central 

 Farm, nor were the irrigation facilities 

 such as to enable the great questions 

 of the value and use of water to be . 

 properly asked and answered"; but 

 Mr. Robertson who at that time anti- 

 cipated the early start of the above- 

 mentioned scheme of district experi- 

 mental farms defended the retention 

 of Saidapeth mainly, it is believed, for 

 its nearness to the head-quarters of 

 Government, and his defence was ac- 

 cepted. 



In the early days of the farm a great 

 deal of attention was devoted to im- 

 plements and machines. In their very 

 first report the Committee remarked 

 that though their trials had been in- 

 complete, they had proved, on the whole, 

 highly satisfactory and led them " to 

 hope that ryots of this Presidency would 

 soon learn that the extensive use of 

 English implements and machinery in 

 the cultivation of the land was certain 



* These field numbers are those used in 

 the map published in the "Records of the 

 Saidapeth Farm," 1885 ; they were altered 

 later on. 



