June, 1910.] 



535 



Miscellaneous. 



contributes an annual sum to the Cen- 

 tral Agricultural Committee for help 

 received. The Collector of the district 

 is ex-officio Chairman of the district 

 association and as a rule the Sub- 

 Divisional Officer is ex-officio head of 

 the taluk association but otherwise no 

 official support is given. Meetings as 

 a rule are nominally held once a month 

 and usually after the district board 

 meeting. Such meetings mainly consist 

 of district board members. Occasionally 

 the Collector of the district inspires a 

 temporary enthusiasm into the work of 

 the association, but the membership is 

 too large and indiscriminate to render 

 it possible for the Agricultural Depart- 

 ment to give any real help. It would 

 be invidious to point to auy one associ- 

 ation and to say that it is doing good 

 work as it is too soon to say how much 

 of this is of a spasmodic nature. 



Bombay.— In Bombay the development 

 of agricultural associations is taking 

 place very fast. But here the associ- 

 ations, though officially patronised and 

 geuerally having one of the district 

 officers as President, are mvich more 

 independent bodies than those already 

 described. They often combine in their 

 functions, other purposes as well as those 

 of agricultural improvement. They are 

 in close touch with the Agricultural 

 Department and in one of the most 

 successful, a superintendent of the local 

 experimental farm has been the secre- 

 tary of the association. They, however, 

 usually depend largely for their success 

 on the personal influence of enthusiastic 

 local men. Some of them represent a 

 district, others smaller areas, and the 

 latter promise to have considerable suc- 

 cess. As a rule the members of the asso- 

 ciations are anxious to carry out demon- 

 strations and the difficulty has been 

 to find matters of proved value for 

 tbem to introduce. Nearly all these 

 associations hold annual agricultural 

 shows some of which have been effective 

 in introducing new implements and 

 methods. 



Among the results which have been 

 partly due to the activity of the Dhar- 

 war Association, are the rapid populari- 

 sation of Broach cotton in the Southern 

 Maratha Country and the more careful 

 selection of Dharwar American cotton 

 seed in the same districts. Other associ- 

 ations have devoted themselves to the 

 introduction of impi'oved varieties of 

 crops and of new implements ; to the 

 spreading of superior bulls and in one 

 case to the establishment of a grain 

 bank. It is felt, however, . that their 

 utility depends largely on continual 

 touch with the more experienced officers 

 of the Agricultural Department. 



Bengal.— In Bengal there is a provin- 

 cial association in Calcutta, six division- 

 al associations and a district association 

 in almost every district. These are all 

 purely official bodies dependent for their 

 existence on the amount of interest 

 sh ivvn by the Commissioner or the Col- 

 lector' and the officers of the Agricul- 

 tural Department. The members are 

 land-holders and pleaders and the pro- 

 ceedings are conducted in English. The 

 members have as a rule home farms of 

 their own on which to conduct demon- 

 strations. The cultivators' holdings in 

 Bengal are generally very small, but it 

 is hoped to reach the actual cultivator of 

 the soil through the landlord by means of 

 these associations. They have already 

 done much in the way of seed distribu- 

 tion to cultivators and there is an 

 annual agricultural show in connection 

 with most of the associations. One of 

 the superior officers of the Agricultural 

 Department attends all meetings of the 

 divisional associations and as many of 

 the district associations as possible. 



PUNJAB. — In the Punjab there are at 

 present two agricultural associations, at 

 Lyallpur and Hissar. The Lyallpur 

 Association is entirely composed of col- 

 onists who are directly interested in 

 agriculture, the number of members 

 being, however, small. This association 

 has been instrumental in introducing 

 improved wheat and also American 

 cotton and has assisted in the introduc- 

 tion of implements such as reapers, 

 horse-hoes and winnowers. The mem- 

 bers have been of special value in 

 bringing the needs of cultivators to the 

 notice of the Agricultural Department. 

 The Hissar Association was started 

 mainly with a view to the preservation 

 and improvement of the famous Hissar 

 breed of cattle by providing good bulls 

 and removing bad ones. They are now 

 undertaking similar work in connection 

 with camel breeding. In the Punjab, 

 however, it is felt that the formation of 

 agricultural associations should not be 

 pushed until the work and staff of the 

 Agricultural Department have devel- 

 oped sufficiently to enable it to furnish 

 advice and guidance. 



Eastern Bengal and Assam.— There 

 has been little development along these 

 lines in Eastern Bengal and Assam. The 

 Agricultural Department keeps in touch 

 with individuals in the different dis- 

 tricts who are termed associates and 

 these undertake special pieces of de- 

 monstration. In such cases the Agricul- 

 tural Department supplies seed, appli- 

 ances, etc., free of cost. In this way 

 the spraying of potatoes has been intro- 

 duced into portions of Khasi Hills and 



