478 



[May 1008. 



H. T. S. Ward, R. H. Lock, R. B. Strick- 

 land, W. A. de Silva and C. Drieberg 

 (Secretary). 



As Visitors : Messrs. H. P. Rudd and 

 Alex. Perera, 



Business. 

 (I.) Minuter of the previous meeting' 

 held on 9th Match, were read and con" 

 firmed. 



(2.) Progress Report No. 40 was 

 adopted. 



(3.) Dr. Willis moved that a sum of 

 Rs. 150 be granted, on the security of 

 the Government Agent of Uva, as a loan 

 to the Badulla Branch S >ciety for the 

 purpose of encouraging coconut culti- 

 vation in certain villages of Uva, the 

 loan to be paid back in two years. 



Mr. Ward seconded, aud the motion 

 was carried. 



(4.) The Hon'ble Mr. Kanas?asabai 

 moved t hut the following gentlemen be 

 asked to form a Committee to consider 

 what action, if an y, this Society .should 

 take in the improvement of the local 

 tobacco industry, and to submit an 

 estimate of the cost of carrying out 

 such measures as it may recommend : — 

 Dr. Willis. The Government A<_ r eut, 

 Nori her n Province, Messrs. C. J. 0. Mee, 

 Edward Cowan, M. Kelway Bunber, 

 R H Lock and the mover. 



TIih H m'ble Mr. Ferguson seconded, 

 and the motion was carried. 



(5 ) The Hon'ble Mr. Aruiachalam 

 moved that the following gentlraen be 

 asked to form a Comnrttee to advise this 

 Society as to what measures, if any, it 

 should take to provide (1) for the intro- 

 duction of agricultural instruction into 

 the curriculum of our rural schools, aud 

 (2) for the extension and development 

 of school gardening, and its inclusion in 

 the educational code as a subject for 

 grants and result payments :— Mr. J. 

 Harward, Dr. Willis, Sir Solomon Di as 

 Bandaranaike. The Hon. Mr. S. C- 

 Obeyesekere, Dr. H. M. Fernando, Mr, C. 

 Drieberg and the mover. 



The Hon'ble Mr. Obeyesekere seconded, 

 and the motion was carried. 



(6.) Mr. R. H. Lock, Assistant Director 

 of the Royal Botanic Gardens, read a 

 paper entitled " Plant Breeding and 

 Tropical Agriculture, " for which he was 

 accorded a hearty vote of thanks moved 

 by the Hon'ble Mr. Ferguson. 



Dr. Willis supplemented the paper 

 with explanatory remarks, and ex- 

 pressed a desire that any discovery in 

 the way of a plant " sport " should be 

 sabmited to Peradeniya for examina- 

 tion. 

 4th May, 1908. 



CEYLON AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY 

 PROGRESS REORT, NO. 39. 



Membership. — The following members 

 joined Che S >ciety since the last meeting 

 held on March 9, (no meeting was held in 

 April) :— F. Lu-hington, G. Weidman 

 Groff, H. F. O. Phillips, A. M. Ballon, B. 

 S. Naraya naswami Iyer, the Rev. Percy 

 T. Cash, E. W. Keith, R H. Villiers, J. 

 G. F. Marshall, A. L. R. Aserappa, R. 

 Boustead, T. D. Mack, Dr.C. Heynsbergh. 



Borad.— The following new members 

 hava been elect ed on the re-constituted 

 Board : — P. Arunachalam, F. H. Layard, 

 Jas. Van Laneenberg, R. H. Lock, H. 

 Inglis, J. D. Vanderstraaten, Jas. Peiris, 

 L W. A. de Soysa, Tudor R ijapakse, 

 W. Chas. Whitham, D. J. Jayatilleke, 

 CM. Sinnayah Mappana, Mudaliyar, C. 

 E. de Vos, Dr. E. Ludovici, J. W Kanaga- 

 sab^y, G. H. Kanagasabey, Major Moles- 

 worth, A W, B '"en. Jacob de Mel. L. 

 B B ogahalanda. R M , H. Dambawinne, 

 R.M., P. D G. Clark. E. A. Elapatha, 

 andM. Stevenson, CCS. 



Inspection — The Organizing Vice-Pre- 

 sident and the Secretary made tours of 

 inspection in the Province of Uva aud 

 the TangaUa and Hambantota Districts- 

 holding meetings of local branches, 

 inspecting school gardens, and generally 

 studying the agriculture of the areas 

 visited. In Uva meetings were held at 

 Wdimadi and Badulla, aud the school 

 gardens at Medawella, Welimada, 

 Palugama, Etampitiya, Dikwella, Pas- 

 sara, and Kambilwella inspected. In 

 the Southern Province meetings were 

 held at T uugalla aud Hambantota, and 

 Nakulugama, Raima, and Tissamaha- 

 ratna schools visited. 



Among the more important points 

 which came up for discussion during the 

 tour and are receiving the attention of 

 the Society, are :— A suitable paddy for 

 fields at higher elevations Facilities 

 for marketing vegetable produce grown 

 in the villages about Welimada. Reme- 

 dail measures for preventing the accu- 

 mulation of alkaline salts in paddy 

 fileds. The introduction of labour-saving 

 implements for cultivating lands in 

 localities where field workers are scarce. 



The Wellaboda Paitu (Galle) Branch 

 held its general meeting at Ambalan- 

 goda on April 4. The business conducted 

 included the following resolutions :— (a) 

 that a Cattle and Vegetable Show be 

 held in December next at Ambalangoda; 

 (b) that three cash prizes and three certi- 

 ficates be awarded on the day of the 

 Show to the six best vegetable gardens 

 in the pattu, prizes being also offered 

 for transplanted paddy fields ; (c) that a 



