June, 1912.] 



507 



Edible Products. 



out the island was 643,000 acres, and the 

 production only a little under 10M. B. P. 

 figures, however, which were never 

 reached in the most favourable years of 

 the eighties, and though disclosing a 

 temporary set back, to which every 

 branch of agriculture is liable,* do not 

 justify the tone of despondency and 

 depression disclosed in some of the 

 recently published official reports, (S. 

 VI. of 1908.) 



Owiug to the comparative failure of 

 the S. W. monsoon in 1906, the rainfall 

 for the agricultural year 1906-7, only 

 amounted to 66 inches ; but the N. E. 

 was good in October and November, with 

 the usual result that there was a larger 

 sowing 691,000 acres, and an increased 

 crop 11| M. B. P., though the crop in 

 Batticaioa was much damaged by the 

 Cyclone, which wrought such havoc, 

 especially to the coconut plantations. 

 But in the Seven Korales it was a record 

 year, with a sowing of 101,000 acres and 

 the enormous crop of over 2 M, B. P., the 

 result it is said of the local irrigation 

 works and especially the restoration of 

 the village tanks by the cultivators 

 themselves, which had been in progress 

 for some years previous. 



The average crops for this quinquen- 

 nial period (1903-7) was 12-3 M- B. P„ or 

 over double that of 1862-6 and the culti- 

 vated area has increased 50 % in the same 

 interval. 



The capital expenditure on irrigation 

 likely to further paddy production dur- 

 ing the period covered by this review 

 may be taken as having almost ceased 

 in 1896, more especially as the subse- 

 quent very heavy outlay has been prin- 

 cipally on the extensive works hardly 

 any of which are in full working as 1 

 write. It will therefore fall probably to 

 some other a few years hence to trace 

 the further development of the industry 



* Thus I see that owing to drought, it now 

 takes a sixth more coconuts to mase a candy of 

 copra than it did some years ago (see report of 

 Planters' Association for 1911), Mr. Saxton 

 reports that the villagers living round Maho 

 station sent away by rail 420 tons of rice, the 

 equivalent of 30,000 Bushels of Paddy. 



under these additions, but I feel this 

 article would be incomplete if I did not 

 include some notice of the action taken 

 during Sir W.Ridgeway's vigorous sway. 



This fortunate Governor inherited a 

 nest egg of Rs. 450,000, being the unex- 

 pected balance of the Irrigation Fund ac- 

 cumulated in his predecessor's regime ; 

 and soon discovered for himself the weak 

 points in the administraion already speci- 

 fied by me, and the action taken is dis- 

 closed in the following extracts from his 

 closing address to the Legislative Council 

 in 1903. "The want of satisfactory re- 

 sults was not due to the fault of any 

 individual or any particular Board, but 

 rather to inherent defects of the system, 

 on which irrigation schemes were con- 

 ceived, adopted and carried into execut- 

 ion. — I decided to revise the Irrigation 

 Department and to constitute it a branch 

 of the Public' Works Department with 

 Mr. H. Parker as Irrigation Assistant to 

 the Director." 



Under these arrangements, the expen- 

 diture for the four years (1896-9) rose to 

 Rs. 1,358,000 ; about one third of which 

 was spent in the Northern Province, al- 

 most entirely on the Giant's Tank. In 

 the North-Central Province (Rs. 180,000) 

 the Nachchaduwa scheme was started 

 and the provision sluices to regulate the 

 discharge of the water from Minneria 

 was taken in hand. 



Under the Walawe channel there was 

 a considerable development of cultiv 

 ation, which brought to light that owing 

 to defects in the consideration of the 

 Channel their actual discharge was less 

 than had been designed, and which ne- 

 cessitated additional outlay to increase 

 the flow, including the raising of the 

 annicut on the river. 



In the Eastern Province good progress 

 was made with the Vaganeri scheme. In 

 the North-West the further develop- 

 ment of the Deduru Oya, and the restor- 

 ation of the village tanks received atten- 

 tion. But as possibly becomes the begin- 

 ning of a new Century, a fresh departure 

 and an enlarged policy was initiated. 

 Heretofore all the expenditure on the 

 development of Paddy cultivation by 



