April 1908,] 



303 



Miscellaneous. 



tutes for cotton jute and silk ; narcotics 

 and drugs, such as opium and tobacco, 

 the battle-ground of philanthropists and 

 physicians ; the dyes, starches, vegeta- 

 bles, and fodder-plants, each of supreme 

 interest to their enthusiasts ; and we 

 will just touch on tea and indigo which 

 merit attention, as being the admitted 

 products of English enterprise. 



Tea covers an area of 500,000 acres, 

 almost wholly in Eastern Bengal and 

 Assam, and has an outturn of 2 million 

 cwt. and a value of £Qh million. A re- 

 markable feature of this industry is that 

 within the last five years while the area 

 cultivated has been stationary the pro- 

 duction has increased by 25 per cent., 

 and tea-planters ascribe no small share of 

 this great improvement to the researches 

 of the scientific staff entertained by the 

 Calcutta Tea Association, and to the 

 wide-spread adoption of their sugges- 

 tions as to the treatment of the gardens. 



Indigo has long been a subject ot 

 sorrowful interest in this country, In 

 its present state of decline the cultiva- 

 tion extends over au area of only 450,000 

 acres, mostly now in Madras, and the 

 production amounts to 70,000 cwt. valued 

 at less than £1 million. 



The dawn of brighte v hopes deserves 

 mention. New varieties of the plant 

 have been introduced from Java and 

 Natal, and give a superior yield. Dis- 

 coveries made at the research station 

 established by theBehar indigo planters 

 and the Bengal Government, are reported 

 to have improved the manufacture of 

 the dye, aud may yet enable the natural 

 product to withstand the competition of 

 the artificial. 



Departmental Work. 



For an adequate appreciation of the 

 agricultural situation, it would be neces- 

 sary to put before you a survey of the 

 work not only of the Agricultural, but 

 also of the Forest and Veterinary 

 Departments ; for questions of afforesta- 

 tion and cattle are intimately concerned 

 with the efficiency of agriculture. The 

 utilisation of valuable manurial supplies 

 for fuel continues to be a grave problem, 

 of which the operations of the Forest 

 Department restricted, for the most 

 part, to narrow belts of hilly country, 

 have as yet provided no solution. The 

 control of cattle epidemics is the first 

 care of the Veterinary Department, and 

 the education of native agency is receiv- 

 ing attention in the old-established col- 

 leges of Bombay and Lahore, and in new 

 colleges in Madras and Bengal. In fores- 

 try, there is a single centralised institu- 

 tion at Dehra Dun in the sub-Himalayan 

 tract, 



The several departments work under 

 the orders of the Provincial Govern- 

 ments, and their programmes are criti- 

 cised by the recently created Board of 

 Scientific Advice, who issue an annual 

 report of their proceedings. For a more 

 complete account of the work of the 

 Agricultural Department, I must refer 

 all who are interested to the excellent 

 publication issued by the Pusa Institute 

 and entitled " The Agricultural Journal 

 ot ludia," and especially to the sum- 

 mary contained in the number for July 

 1007, of the proceedings of the last con- 

 ference of the Board of Agriculture. 



Amongst the fundamental problems 

 undergoing investigation at the Pusa 

 Institute, we find the fixation of nitrogen 

 by plants and soil inoculation for the 

 purpose of increasing the bacteria ; but 

 the study of fermentative changes both 

 in the soil and in the plant is still in its 

 infancy, and the experiments at Pusa 

 and at various provincial stations were 

 alike unsuccessful. 



Chemistry. 



In chemistry the work has included 

 the determination of available plant 

 food in soils, and of nitrogen compounds 

 in rain and dew ; the examination of soil 

 drainage and of the quantity and move- 

 ments of soil moisture ; and the investi- 

 gation of poisonous elements in certain 

 roots, seeds and fodders. 



The chemical branches of the provin- 

 cial departments are concerned with 

 local problems of drainage and the sup- 

 ply of fertilisers for different classes of 

 soil. 



The drainage question is of great im- 

 portance where large areas are impreg- 

 nated with alkali salts, and where the 

 new irrigation canals, whether winding 

 through the hills aud dales of the South- 

 ern Peninsula, or rolling in vast vol- 

 umes over the sandy deserts of the north- 

 west, raise the water-table with their 

 percolation, aud seriously modify the 

 physical texture of the fields. 



The introduction of artificial fertilisers 

 has hitherto been believed to be prohi- 

 bited by their cost ; but this view mav 

 require reconsideration in the light of 

 more accurate knowledge of the needs of 

 Indian soils, the increase in value of 

 various crops, and the possibilities of 

 the future derivation of nitrogen from 

 the atmosphere by cheap electrical 

 methods. It has been ascertained that 

 ot the three chief manures— nitrogen 

 phosphates, and potash— the first, nitrJ 

 gen, is far the most beneficial to 

 Indian agriculture, phosphates and 

 potash being already present in sufficien 



