Miscellaneous, 



546 



[June, 1910. 



must be no *"isk and he must be able 

 to pay for the capital from the results 

 of the new method. 



It will be seen, therefore, that the 

 connection between agricultural im- 

 provement and the extension of cheap 

 credit is very close, and hence it is 

 vital that there should be collaboration 

 between the department and the co- 

 operative credit organisation. The 

 latter is often the best possible intro- 

 duction to agricultural improvement. 

 Improvement of agriculture by co-oper- 

 ation and the growth of co-operative 

 credit societies have gene hand in hand 

 in the principal agricultural countries 

 of Europe. 



It remains now to summarise the 

 general conclusions which may be drawn 

 from the present report. It is probable 

 that each of the methods which have 

 been considered is adapted to special 

 conditions. It seems certain that if a 

 really good improvement is presented 

 to an Indian agriculturist, he is willing 

 to take it up, provided it is within his 

 means. 



The winning of the confidence of the 

 cultivators is the first condition of 

 success. With the spread of primary 

 education it will be possible more easily 

 to win their confidence, and, hence, the 

 extension of primary education is one 

 of the most important of the indirect 

 methods of agricultural improvement. 

 But success depends much more on the 

 personality of the officers and staff of 

 the Agricultural Departments than on 

 any system. At the same time the 

 promotion of a spirit of enquiry among 

 Indian agriculturists must always be kept 

 in view as of great prospective value. 

 As long as the effort is only from 

 above downward, the work of the de- 

 partment cannot be judged a success. 

 There is evidence that in several pro- 

 vinces a considerable number of genuine 

 enquiries are addressed to the depart- 

 ment, and the manner of response to 

 these may be productive of much future 

 advantage or the reverse. One great 

 essential is to be sure about the best 

 local practices and to know by careful 

 local investigation why they are used. 

 Thus one is able to ascertain the actual 

 needs of the cultivators, and will be 

 less likely to recommend outside methods 

 which may be improvements, but are 

 not acceptable under local conditions. 

 In the past attention has not always 

 been sufficiently paid to this point. 

 The result has been a suspicion that 

 methods or materials recommended are 

 likely to show unexpected difficulties 

 in practice on the part of cultivators. 



Finally it seems desirable that in most 

 cases work in a particular direction 

 should in the first place be concentrated 

 on comparatively small areas where 

 knowledge of what is being done can 

 spread from hand to hand, rather than 

 dissipated over a large stretch of country, 

 Once a method is thoroughly established 

 and recognised as an improvement over 

 a small area, a knowledge of it will 

 usually spread naturally and without 

 much effort over similar areas in the 

 surrounding conntry. 



CEYLON AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Report, 1909—1910, 



Meetings. 

 The last Annual General Meeting of 

 the Society was held on June 8, 1909. 

 The present report deals with the twelve 

 months ensuing since that date. Meet- 

 ings of the Board were held on August 

 2, October 18, December 18, 1909, and 

 February 7 and April 6, 1910. A special 

 meeting was held on July 5, 1909, re the 

 Tobacco Experiment. 



The following were the more import- 

 ant subjects discussed : — Experimental 

 and Model Gardens, the new Rubbers, a 

 Scheme for Education in Agriculture, 

 Plant Breeding, Loan Banks, the Im- 

 provement of Tobacco, Spices, Nitrify- 

 ing Bacteria, Weeds, the position of the 

 Village Farmer, Basket and Mat Making, 

 Cotton Pests. 



Members. 

 The present roll numbers 931, and 

 though 63 new members joined during 

 the twelve months, the total inclines to 

 remain between 900 and 1,000, chiefly 

 owing to the necessity that arises fcr 

 removing the names of the inveterate 

 defaulters from the list at the end of 

 each year. The Board is poorer by the 

 death of Messrs. J. Knighton Nock, 

 Simon D. Dabre, Gabriel W. Jaya- 

 wardene, and B. T. Doole. 



Mr. Nock was closely associated with 

 the Society's work, particularly in 

 connection with the organizing of shows, 

 at which his willing and able services 

 will be greatly missed. 



The Board has also lost by retirement 

 from the Public Service the Hon. Mr. 

 J. P. Lewis, Mr. F. H. Price, and Mr. 

 Herbert White. 



His Excellency the President approved 

 of the following new members serving 

 on the Board :- Rev. Father Paul Coore- 

 man and Mr. S. D, Kristnaratne. 



