March 1908. J 



247 



Miscellaneous. 



can be done with the help of chiefs and 

 headmen, and some encouragement to 

 the people by the distribution of seed 

 and of suitable prizes. 



Mr. F. R. Ellis, when Government 

 Agent for the Western Province, advo- 

 cated Agri-Horticultural Shows to be 

 regularly carried on as efficacious in pro- 

 moting agricultural improvement, and 

 that substantial aid should be given to 

 local Committees. Other revenue offi- 

 cers (past and present) who have 

 favoured the holding of Shows are : — 

 Sir Chas. Layard, Sir Frederick Saun- 

 ders, Messrs. Wace, Davidson, Le Mesu- 

 rier, White, Bartlett, Bowes, Vaughan 

 and Stevenson. 



I see that Agricultural Societies and 

 Agricultural Boards in other Colonies do 

 all in their power to promote Agri-Horti- 

 cultural Shows at all likely centres, and 

 more especially is this the case in the 

 West Indies and British Guiana. I 

 would draw attention to the following 

 extract from the Presidential Address of 

 Sir Daniel Morris, K.C.M.G., before a 

 recent West Indian Agricultural Con- 

 gress :—" The best results are probably 

 obtained where the Shows are held in 

 the country districts, and not necessarily 

 in the chief town of the Colony. By 

 such means, the interests of cultivators 

 in the out districts is enlisted, and the 

 stimulating influence of the Shows is 

 spread over a wider area. It is a matter 

 of satisfaction to learn that some thirty 

 Agri-Horticultural Shows and Fairs have 

 been held in different parts of the Island 

 since the inauguration of the Agricul- 

 tural Society at the end of 1904 ; but I 

 think there ought not be fewer than 15 

 to 18 each year, large or small, consi- 

 dering the number of revenue districts 

 in the Island, and I think certainly that 

 a portion of the funds granted by Gov- 

 ernment for the promotion of Agri- 

 culture cannot be better spent than in 

 helping — where help is needed — to estab- 

 lish such Shows and to make them a 

 success. At all such Shows, prizes- 

 medals, or small sums of money — should 

 be offered by the Society for competi- 

 tion, and I would also wish to see special 

 annual recognition, in some suitable 

 form, of the individual who, in all the 

 Island, has done most in a practical way 

 to further the objects of the Society in 

 Agricultural progress or improvements. 

 The further employment of good men as 

 Agricultural Instructors, as is done in 

 the West Indies, is very desirable. 

 These men, if properly trained and in- 

 structed themselves, could do an immense 

 amount of good to the native agri- 

 culturist as peripatetic agents of the 

 Society in lecturing, conversing, explain- 

 ing, enquiring and demonstrating as 

 they go about the country. 



5. Judicious Grants Desirable.— 

 Another judicious way of expending the 

 grant of public money which the Society 

 receives from Government should be for 

 the Board to arrange for a supply of 

 seeds and plants to the Kachcheries, 

 Branch Societies, and Agricultural 

 Schools, the Secretary obtaining the 

 same periodically from the Botanical 

 and Experimental Gardens and from 

 other local and foreign sources. I would 

 also strongly recommend that the Board 

 have power to make small loans, in 

 money or seed or plants, where good 

 security is furnished, with the view of 

 trying a new product, or one which is 

 new in a certain district, though its suc- 

 cess has been approved elsewhere. 



G. Prizes or Bonuses for Home In- 

 dustries. — This Board, if it is empowered 

 to offer encouragement or aid to village 

 pioneers on modern methods, by means 

 of prizes or bonuses, can do much towards 

 establishing home-indrstries that are 

 flourishing in other parts of the tropical 

 or sub-tropical world, and may this again 

 be the means of superseding and pre- 

 venting idleness that nearly always 

 breeds mischief. 



7. Pepper as a Village Industry.— 

 The officers of the Dutch Government 

 did all in their power to promote a great 

 industry in pepepr-growing among the 

 Sinhalese, and they were so successful 

 in the Kegalla and Matara districts that 

 the export of pepper was in Dutch times 

 of more importance than that of coffee. 

 I do not see why, with due continuous 

 encouragement, the growing of pepper 

 as a village industry should not be 

 revived and greatly extended. There 

 are other similar products which might 

 be mentioned as indeed Dr. Willis has 

 done from time to time. And in to-day's 

 Progress Report mention is made of 

 Cotton and Ground-nuts in a favourable 

 light. Ground-nuts in four years have 

 been cultivated to as much as 80,000 

 acres in Burmah. In 20 years in Natal 

 the industry in Black Wattle (for tan- 

 ning bark) introduced from Australia, 

 has covered an area of 100,000 acres. 



8. Apiculture and Sericulture for 

 the Villagers. —In connection with bee- 

 keeping and sericulture, prizes should be 

 offered after a judicious fashion, to en- 

 courage the introduction of such new 

 industries into certain districts. The ex- 

 ample of the late Mudaliyar Jayatilleka, 

 who was a very successful bee-keeper in 

 Kurunegala, could surely be followed by 

 other village headmen or unofficial dis- 

 trict residents, under the stimulus of a 

 Society's medal to be handed by H. E. 

 the Governor. And just as lace-making 

 in many villages and girls' schools has 



