JunE, 1910.] 549 



Galle, the yield with bone dust was 19£ 

 bushels, with the mixture 34$ bushels. 



The Secretary of the Anuradhapura 

 Society reports his results in fold. In 

 one locality, while an unmanuied plot 

 pave 7-fold, the manured plot gave 

 15-fold ; in another loclity the results 

 were respectively 24- and 39-fold, under 

 similar conditions. 



The Mudaliyar, Wellaboda pattu 

 (Galle), reports that where ordinary 

 bone dust gave 4| bushels, the mixture 

 gave 13£ bushels. 



The Secretary, Dumbara Agricultural 

 Society, reports that Rambukwella 

 Korala of Palispattu got 61 bushels by 

 using the manure, whereas the best lands 

 only gave 32 and ordinary fields 18 to 

 20. After deducting the equivalent of 

 the manure in paddy, there was still a 

 large excess over normal yields. The 

 Korala's report has been printed and 

 circulated in the Dumbara villages, and 

 the Co-operative Credit Society has re- 

 solved to supply manure on the same 

 conditions as paddy. 



It is to be regretted that fuller details 

 were not furnished ; but in every case 

 equal areas were employed and the 

 same rate of sowing adopted, so that 

 for purposes of comparison the results 

 are quite useful. 



Cotton. 



The prospects of cotton cultivation 

 may be said to have somewhat improved. 

 Trials in different parts of the Island— 

 Chilaw, Hambantota, Madugoda, &3.— 

 tend to show that Sea Island cotton, if 

 grown at the right season and cultivated 

 in the proper way, can be successfully 

 raised, and produces a lint which is 

 infinitely superior to that of any local 

 variety. Professor Dunstan, who while 

 in Ceylon last March evinced great 

 interest in the possibilities of cotton 

 cultivation, was inclined to think that 

 an improved Upland variety, such as 

 " Black Rattler," should suit local con- 

 ditions better than any other. Acting 

 on this advice the Society has, with the 

 help of the British Cotton Growing 

 Association, secured a consignment of 

 this seed. 



The occurrence of areas that refuse to 

 grow any of the crops successfully raised 

 in other parts of the Island, the opening 

 up of large acreages in coconuts in the 

 dry districts, the depression in the 

 tobacco trade as a result of the enhanced 

 duty on tobacco imported into India, 

 the existence (though to a limited ex- 

 tents of a spinning and weaving in- 

 dustry, the probability of a reliable 

 local agency being shortly established to 

 act as a medium between the grower 



Miscellaneous. 



and the market, and lastly, the possibi- 

 lity of successfully growing cotton in 

 suitable areas— are all circumstances 

 which favour this cultivation. 



The laudable efforts of the British 

 Cotton Growing Association to encour- 

 age cultivators have so far not been 

 attended with the success they deserved. 

 Had an old-established and well-known 

 firm been chosen as the local agents of 

 the Association in the first instance, 

 considerable progress ought by now to 

 have been made, The temporary sus- 

 pension of ginning operations, and the 

 want of an agency to handle the pro- 

 duce, have acted as a serious set-back, 

 while the extraordinary prosperity of 

 the other agricultural industries of the 

 Island has tended to push any new crop 

 out of consideration. 



Of late there has been a revival of the 

 weaving industry through the efforts 

 of the Salvation Army, as well as cer- 

 tain enterprising people in the north of 

 the Island. By the introduction of an 

 improved type of loom the profits on 

 weaving have been considerably en- 

 hanced. There is also a fairly big trade 

 in the manufacture of fabrics in the old- 

 fashioned looms still used in Batticaloa, 

 but which have now been practically 

 abandoned in Chilaw. 



In Upper Dumbara the weaving in- 

 dustry has shrunk to the narrowest 

 limits, and the outturn of the loom de- 

 pends chiefly on the fostering care of 

 the Kandyan Art Association. The 

 materials manufactured are coarse in 

 texture and have no commercial stand- 

 ing, but their quaintuess fetches for 

 them a fictitious value as curiosities. 

 There is, however, here an opportunity 

 for reviving cotton cultivation, since 

 cotton growing and spinning are still 

 carried on on a small scale, so that any 

 development in weaving could go hand 

 in hand with extension of cultivation. 

 Through the efforts of the Dumbara 

 Agricultural Society an experiment in 

 growing Sea Island cotton was under- 

 taken, and gave encouraging results; 

 and as this body is following up its first 

 experiment, and is also considering the 

 question of introducing a better type of 

 loom, there is some prospect of the 

 trade in Kandyan woven cloths being 

 re-established on a business footing. 

 Tobacco. 



Ceylon-grown tobacco is utilized for 

 the manufacture of cigars or for chewing 

 purposes. The bulk of the chewing 

 tobacco hitherto found a ready market 

 in Travancore State. In spite of periodic 

 fluctuations due to overstocking, the 

 iudustry has always been admitted to 

 be a thriving one, and practically the 



