June, 1910.] 



539 



Miscellaneous, 



the work of the department and in lead- 

 ing to correspondence. Its value could 

 be enhanced by more careful editing. 



Central Provinces. — In the Central 

 Provinces there is a monthly depart- 

 mental vernacular paper. It has been 

 found that everything which is written 

 must be thoroughly practical, must be 

 very carefully edited, and deal with 

 the immediate needs and interests of 

 the cultivators. The translation into 

 the vernacular must be carefully made 

 by a man who is himself connected with 

 the land. The paper as published, 

 usually contains popular statements of 

 the work of the experimental stations 

 with practical directions to enable the 

 cultivators to apply them to their own 

 circumstances. It coutains a "Query 

 and Answer " column in which the 

 readers are encouraged to ask the de- 

 partment for .advice. It also furnishes 

 a means of advertising improved strains 

 of seed, agricultural machinery, aud 

 other things for sale at the agricul- 

 tural stations. It consists of 15 to 20 

 octavo pages and is published in three 

 languages. Its popularity is indicated 

 by the fact that its circulation has re- 

 cently risen from 2,500 to 6,000. It costs 

 Re. 1 per annum. 



Madras and Bombay. — In Madras 

 and Bombay no vernacular agricultural 

 journal is issued by the department, 

 this being left to private enterprise. 

 The danger of this arrangement is that 

 as the department has no control of 

 the matter issued, unsuitable or eveu 

 incorrect information may be published, 

 and it is hence very important that 

 such papers as are patronised should 

 be iu the hands of responsible men, 



In Madras an agricultural calendar 

 for which there is a large demand has 

 been published by the department. The 

 calendar contains articles and notes on 

 agricultural subjects written by the 

 members of the agricultural and other 

 departments. It is printed in Tamil, 

 Telugu and English. One of the agri- 

 cultural associations publishes a small 

 vernacular paper on its own. The Com- 

 mittee consider that such journals as 

 are published by the Agricultural De- 

 partments should be specially designed 

 to meet the requirements of actual 

 cultivators and land-holders. They 

 should be essentially vernacular publi- 

 cations, with possibly an English editiou. 

 To meet the more highly educated 

 English-speaking strata, the Agricul- 

 tural Journal of India published from 

 Pusa should be the only recognised 

 medium. 



VI.— Leaflets and Circulars. 



In many countries one of the best 

 means of bringing practical agricultural 

 information go the cultivators of the 

 land has been the issue of leaflets and 

 circulars couched in popular language. 

 In India where the standard of educa- 

 tion is lower than in most Western 

 countries the value of such publica 

 tions is more problematical but they 

 have frequently been used with success. 



Bengal. — In Bengal a regular series 

 of such leaflets is issued both in English 

 and in the vernaculars, and are distri- 

 buted by agricultural associations. It 

 is, however, too soon to draw any con- 

 clusions as to their effect. 



Madras.— In Madras agricultural leaf- 

 lets have been published in the verna- 

 cular in the district gazettes, and more 

 recently in separate form. The intro- 

 duction of Banku paddy into a large 

 area is partly due to information thus 

 published. 



Central Provinces.— In the Central 

 Provinces the issue of leaflets has been 

 restricted, and such information is 

 usually published in the Journal of the 

 Department. This is considered a better 

 medium on account of its present large 

 distribution. But printed directions are 

 separately issued in the vernaculars, 

 when new seed, new manures, etc., are 

 distributed. 



Bombay. — A similar plan was also 

 adopted in Bombay in connection with 

 the distribution, some years ago, of 

 foreign varieties of ground-nut. The 

 result has been exceedingly good and 

 especially in the Satara district these . 

 superior introduced kinds have now 

 largely replaced the local varieties. 



During the past year or two the 

 number of leaflets issued in Bombay has 

 been very much increased. They are 

 published in English and the vernacular 

 of the dfi>trict to which they apply. 

 They consist essentially of practical 

 directions regarding agricultural im- 

 provements and usually one leaflet deals 

 with only one recommendation. They 

 are generally used (I) iu connection with 

 demonstrations of implements and 

 methods, as, for instance, at agricultural 

 shows ; (2) in a particular area where 

 special need has arisen. They are not 

 usually distributed except iu connection 

 with the visit of an officer who can 

 explain the nature of the improvement. 

 Their actual value is still an open 

 question, but they certainly promise con- 

 siderable utility. 



United Provinces.— In the United 

 Provinces no generally successful direct 

 results have been obtained by the issue 



