Miscellaneous. 



162 



[February, 1912. 



sound portion, so that the charge has 

 good confinement. 



We have not room here to include 

 particulars as to how the holes are to 

 be charged and the cartridges fired but 

 hope to include particulars of this, with 

 illustrations, in our next or the February 

 issue. The explosives must be secured 

 from a leading firm of makers, and the 

 instructions issued by them, based, be 

 it remembered, on years of experience 

 implicitly followed. If these are care- 

 fully observed, the best results will 

 follow, and this method of land clearing 

 will be found speedy, certain and eco- 

 nomical, especially in virgin forests. 



Briefly, the points to be observed are 

 as follows :— 



(1) Locate the best positions for bore- 

 holes. 



(2) Insert cartridges one at a time, and 

 press firmly on bottom of borehole, 

 using only a wooden rammer. 



(3) See that the primer is gently press- 

 ed home, and in direct contact with the 

 main charge. 



(4) Tamp well and solidly, 



(5) See that all connections are well 

 made. 



(6) Before connecting with battery, 

 test your cable on galvanometer ; and 

 the circuit having been found complete, 

 press down the rack-bar of the exploder 

 firmly and quickly, and the desired re- 

 sults will be speedily attained. 



BRITISH INDIA. 



State Credit for Agriculture. 



Since the year 1904 the Government of 

 British India has actively encouraged 

 the promotion of co-operative agricultu- 

 ral credit societies and great success 

 has attended this effort to bring credit 

 facilities within the reach of the 

 smallest cultivators. At the same time 

 the earlier system of direct loans to 

 agriculturists by the Provincial Govern- 

 ments has continued in force, and is 

 providing working capital or the means 

 of effecting permanent improvements 

 for a number of the more well-to-do 

 farmers. 



This latter system, which is described 

 in the November-December number of 

 the Bulletin of Economic and Social In- 

 telligence published by the International 

 Institute of Agriculture, is carried out 

 under the provisions of the Land Im- 

 provement Loans Act, 1883, and the 

 Agriculturists' Loans Act, 1884. 



These two laws, though promulgated 

 for the whole of British India, are not 



applicable in any province until the Pro- 

 vincial Government has decided to adopt 

 them. Having done so, the Govern- 

 ments make regulations regarding the 

 granting of loans and appoint the neces- 

 sary officials. 



In the case of loans granted under the 

 Land Improvement Loans Act the period 

 of repayment must not ordinarily ex- 

 ceed 35 years. The borrower must find 

 a surety and not only the lands to be 

 improved, but the property of the surety 

 serve as security for the payment of the 

 loans, subject to any previous charges 

 with which they have been burdened. 



Sometimes loans are granted collec- 

 tively to the inhabitants of a village, to 

 the members of a community, or to a 

 group of persons, who either make them- 

 selves jointly liable for the payment of 

 interest and repayment of principal, or 

 individually liable for a certain pro- 

 portion. 



Under the Agriculturists' Loans Act, 

 loans are granted for the expenses of 

 cultivation, but the system does not 

 greatly differ from that adopted in 

 making loans for land improvement. 



The article quoted takes the figures 

 for the year 1908-9 for the Bombay 

 and the Punjab, and the figures for 

 1909-10 for the remaining provinces, and 

 calculates that the total amount of loans 

 for land improvement outstanding at the 

 beginning of the period was 2,09,21,669 

 rupees ; the loans granted during the 

 period, 21,63,532 rupees, and the amount 

 outstanding at the end of the period 

 1,82,30,706 rupees. 



For agricultural loans, the corres- 

 ponding figures were 2,39,13,640 rupees, 

 48,93,796 rupees ; and 1,52,67,891 rupees. 

 This gives the following total figures for 

 the two kinds of loans : Amount out- 

 standing at the beginning of the period, 

 4,48,35,309 rupees ; loans granted during 

 the period, 70,57,828 rupees ; loans out- 

 standing at the end of the period, 

 3,44,98,597 rupees. 



In consequence of the precariousness 

 of Indian agriculture, the need of capital 

 varies greatly, and consequently the 

 amount of loans granted fluctuates widely 

 from year to year. The effect of bad 

 harvest is also seen in the amount of 

 irrecoverable interests or principal, and 

 in some years the transactions result in 

 loss to one or more Provincial Govern- 

 ments. On the whole, however, the 

 payments are sufficiently regular to 

 enable the Governments to pay the rate 

 of interest (3£ %) charged to them by the 

 Central Government, 



