Miscellaneous. 



250 



[March 1908. 



know this Colony, and who have much 

 information to impart. In conclusion, I 

 would once more ask the members pre- 

 sent to-day to thank Mr. Ferguson for 

 the very interesting paper he has read. 



The Hon. Mr. Booth said, as an official 

 he would like to say something, although 

 the Colonial Secretary had expressed 

 the thoughts he (the speaker) had in his 

 mind more eloquently than he could 

 express them. He spoke of the people 

 as an inert mass which, when limbered 

 up, fell back. The instance of the lace- 

 makers was one where an industry was 

 kept up without Government help. 

 What they wanted was more life put 

 into their institutions. The officials 

 were willing to assist in every way 

 possible, but everything could not be 

 done by Government. There was too 

 much in the country of looking up to 

 Government as the father and the 

 mother, not to speak of the grand- 

 mother, of the people. 



H.E. THE PRESIDENT. 



His Excellency :— I should like, 

 personally, to thank Mr. Ferguson very 

 much for the valuable paper he has just 

 read. I may tell him it will be of the 

 greatest assistance to me, personally, 

 in considering the whole position of this 

 Society. I have been giving the matter 

 some attention during the time I have 

 been here ; but, naturally, I am still 

 rather in the dark. Several points which 

 Mr. Ferguson has mentioned have struck 

 me, and nothing more so than what was 

 said in the second paragraph, which Mr. 

 Ferguson did not read. It was — 



" I need not refer to the past working 

 of this Board further than to say that, 

 in my opinion, a great mistake was made 

 when organising Branch Societies in the 

 different provinces and districts, in not 

 putting the same under the direct con- 

 trol, as Presidents, of the several Govern- 

 ment Agents and Assistant Govern- 

 ment Agents." 



The remarks which have just fallen 

 from the Government Agent of the Wes- 

 tern Province are quite to the point. It 

 is a fact that whereas a branch society 

 will be under his control, it does not 

 mean that he as Government Agent by 

 being President is to do everything. The 

 branch societies must work equally as 

 well as the Government Agents, and if, for 

 instance, the Government Agent does not 

 attend a meeting, owing to other busi- 

 ness, the branch societies under his 

 general administration, and the general 

 control he exercises, should be able to 

 go along successfully the same as 

 if he were present. I have been con- 



sidering whether the Board of Agri- 

 culture, as distinct from the Agricultural 

 Society, should not be more in touch 

 with the Director of the Botanical 

 Gardens, and through him with the 

 Government Agents ; whether in each 

 province there should not be some 

 definite programme laid down, and 

 whether it would not be the business of 

 the Government Agents and Assistant 

 Government Agents to see that that 

 programme is carried into effect. That is 

 one point that has struck me, gentlemen. 

 I am sure we all recognize that this 

 Society is a mass of strong points, but 

 it has got its weak points too ; there is 

 no use denying that, or, like the ostrich, 

 hiding our heads in the sand, and think 

 we are not seen. We have to tackle them, 

 to look at them and face them. At 

 present, there is not enough machinery, 

 in the meantime, to bring us into close 

 touch with our friend the goiya. To do 

 that we want supervisors, and superin- 

 tendents and instructors, men like my 

 friend on the left, Mr. Drieberghere, who 

 knows the natives thoroughly and who 

 does his best for the good of the Society. 

 (Applause.) We want more men like 

 him. We want agricultural experts. 

 That takes me to history. If we look at 

 history, we find that of the Agricultural 

 College not uninteresting. The work of it 

 was defective simply because the students 

 who went there did so because they 

 thought that they could get Govern- 

 ment employment — not Government 

 employment in the agricultural line but 

 in other lines. It was in consequence of 

 that that the College came to an untimely 

 end. Now we must have many more 

 Agricultural Instructors, and we must 

 think how to provide them. I have 

 not studied the subject sufficiently 

 yet, and 1 should like to know more 

 about it before I decide anything. But 

 you, gentlemen, would perhaps like to 

 know the broad ideas I have at present 

 on the subject. I have in view the idea 

 of establishing training schools of agri- 

 culture, for if there is any one branch we 

 want in technical education more than 

 any other, it is instruction in agriculture. 

 (Applause.) My idea is that training 

 schools shall be established at our general 

 botanical centres like Peradeniya, Hak- 

 gala and elsewhere. At these schools 

 we shall encourage young men from all 

 parts of the Island to attend. There 

 should be a specified course of instruc- 

 tion, and young men of good family stand- 

 ing will attend these instruction classes 

 with a view of their getting Govern- 

 ment employment, but that Government 

 employment will be agricultural ; it will 

 not be anything else. (Applause.) We 

 can then extend the system of agri- 

 cultural training to the school gardens ; 



