March 1908.] 



233 



Miscellaneous. 



tried fertiliser, and the minute compari- 

 son of the cost of each operation, from 

 the preparation of the soil to the mar- 

 keting of the produce, the disasters 

 which attend on the ignorance or care- 

 lessness of an untrained staff are many- 

 times multiplied. An error iu the man- 

 agement may destroy the result of the 

 experiment, and an error in elaborate 

 calculation of the costs may place an im- 

 provement beyond the reach of the small 

 cultivator. And the capacity of the 

 small cultivator is the standard by which 

 almost all improvements in India must 

 be regulated. It is futile, for instance, 

 to preach to him the advantages of deep 

 ploughing in tracts where his cattle are 

 too small and weak to draw a heavy 

 plough, or where he cannot afford to 

 buy an iron plough or keep it in repair. 



It is of the first importance, then, that 

 the experimental stations should be 

 equipped with an efficient staff, and that 

 the results of their experiments should 

 command absolute confidence. When 

 improvements have been discovered the 

 next question is how to procure their 

 adoption by the cultivator. Various 

 methods are favoured in the several 

 provinces. Some issue agricultural jour- 

 nals ; others supply matter to the native 

 press ; in some provinces agricultural 

 associations have been established in 

 large numbers, under official inspiration ; 

 in others a more cautious procedure is 

 adopted, and it is proposed to postpone 

 the development of associations, until 

 the department is in a position to afford 

 them the assistance of trained officers. 

 Other measures taken are : the encour- 

 agement of agricultural shows ; the cul- 

 tivation of demonstration plots in se- 

 lected villages ; the conduct of excur- 

 sions of villagers from outlying tracts of 

 similar character to the experimental 

 farm ; and the despatch of itinerant in- 

 spectors to lecture and to demonstrate in 

 distant villages. The last two mea- 

 sures have been found especially useful 

 in the Bombay Presidency. 



Illustrations of the various methods 

 adopted could be given from the valu- 

 able work done in Madras on sugar-cane 

 and groundnut ; in the United Provinces 

 on wheat; in the Central Provinces on 

 cotton ; but I will confine myself to a 

 few instances which came under my per- 

 sonal notice in Bombay. 



The sugar-cane cultivation at Poona is 

 of the highest character in India, and will 

 bear comparison even with the cultiva- 

 tion of Mauritius. While in Upper India 

 the average outturn of raw sugar is 

 about 1| tons per acre ; in Poona, with 

 the aid of ample irrigation and supplies 

 of manure> as much as six tons have been 

 obtained, and an outlay of £20 per acre 



on fertilisers has brought in an equal 

 sum of net profit. A discovery of far- 

 reaching importance ha* here been made 

 that oil-cak )s will supply the nitrogen 

 required for this crop at the cheapest 

 possible rate. 



Parties of cultivators from the canal 

 districts of the Duecau have been taken 

 to see these results, and the keenness 

 of their interest was evinced by the 

 severe cross-examination to which they 

 subjected the farm staff in regard to all 

 the methods and manures employed. 



Again, at Dharwar, though the farm 

 has only been started three years, a use- 

 ful local improvement has been shown to 

 the people. The tract is infested with a 

 deep-rooted grass weed which could 

 only be kept in check by the expensive 

 process of hand-digging. It was demon- 

 strated that an iron plough could clean 

 the fields at a fraction of the expense, 

 and could be drawn by the local oxen. 

 Large landholders came from all parts 

 of the district to see the tests, and, being 

 satisfied of the economy, purchased a 

 number of the ploughs. 



On the Deccan canals, where the ex- 

 perience of the Poona Farm enables 

 definite recommendation to be made with 

 confidence, itinerant inspectors have 

 been sent out to tour, with instructions 

 to warn the villagers of the dangers of 

 over-irrigation and water-logging ; to 

 advise them as to the manuring of 

 sugar-cane, and to assist them in the cul- 

 tivation of long-stapled cotton. These 

 tours proved a great success in attract- 

 ing the interest of the best classes of 

 cultivators, but so far only two men could 

 be spared for the work. It is essen- 

 tial that such men, if they are to over- 

 come the distrust and scepticism of the 

 villager, should be tactful and experi- 

 enced, and have a thorough working 

 knowledge of their business. The pre- 

 mature despatch of inefficient youths on 

 this duty would only bring the depart- 

 ment and all its work into derisiou, such 

 as was excited some time ago by a cir- 

 cular issued by an amateur agricultural 

 association, in which farmers were re- 

 commended to fertilise their fields by 

 killing mad dogs and burying their 

 carcases. 



Past experience has proved the danger 

 of the recommendation of untested im- 

 provements. During one famine large 

 quantities of carrot seed were imported, 

 as a sure and rapid source of food ; the 

 precious remnant of moisture in the 

 river beds was exhausted in a vain 

 attempt to grow carrots, where the 

 indigenous millet would have given in* 

 valuable relief. Drought-resisting tapi- 

 oca cuttings have been imported from 



