M iscellaneous. 



568 



fJUNE 1908. 



grapes ; grants prizes for vegetables offered 

 for sale ; is helping to find outside markets 

 for local produce. 



Gangaboda Pattu (Galle) Branch. — The 



most notable work of this branch is the 

 starting of a co-operative agency for the 

 supply of bone manure of guaranteed purity 

 for use in paddy lands. 



Badulla Branch. — Has helped to en- 

 courage cotton cultivation ; organised two 

 good Shows, and is interesting itself in a 

 practical way in extending coconut cultiva- 

 tion in the villages of Uva. 



Kurunegala Branch. — Held one large 

 Show and has recently made arrangements' 

 to hold a series of Village Shows in different 

 parts of the Province. 



Vavuniya Branch. — Initiated practical 

 co-operative measures for the transport of 

 cattle and Agricultural produce to Colombo ; 

 keeps up an experimental garden. 



Katunayake Branch. — Started an ex- 

 perimental garden and does good work 

 through seed-distribution, encouraging School 

 Gardens, and placing vernacular agricultural 

 literature within the reach of the masses. 



Agricultural Instructors. 



Up to date only two officers have been 

 employed, both for service in the Sinhalese 

 districts. [The appointment of an Instructor 

 for the Tamil Districts is just aboiit to be 

 made.] These men are now working accord- 

 ing to an organised plan, taking up province 

 by province and dealing with each division 

 in detail. 



A proposal is under consideration for pro- 

 viding a longer and fuller course of training for 

 those who are to be employed as instructors. 



Stock Inspectors. 



These officers are under the direct control 

 of the Government Veterinary Surgeon. 

 Their regular work is of a Veterinary nature, 

 butunder a scheme sanctioned by Government 

 their services are also available, when neces- 

 sary, for agricultural inspection and instruc- 

 tion in the provinces in which they are 

 stationed. For a training in this Work they 

 are, in turn, sent for a term to the Experi- 

 mental Station, Peradeniya, and the Govern- 

 ment Stock Garden, Colombo. 



Agricultural Education. 



At present there is no provision for Agri- 

 cultural Education in Schools, but the ele- 

 mentary facts of agricultural science are 

 illustrated by means of object lessons on 

 plant life that are given at most Govern- 

 ment Schools. 



A Special Committee, now sitting, is dealing 

 with the question of introducing a regular 

 system of Nature Teaching into the lower 

 standards of Government Vernacular Schools, 



and of including an Agricultural Reader in the 

 syllabus of the higher standards — both sub- 

 jects to be taught in as practical a manner as 

 possible through the medium of School Gar- 

 dens. 



Altogether there would appear to be a 

 tendency to give to rural education that 

 practical turn which it so much lacks at 

 present. 



Tobacco Industry. 

 A good deal of discussion has lately taken 

 place regarding the possibility of improving 

 the position of the local tobacco industry which 

 — particularly in the Jaffna district — is in a 

 depressed condition. The Government 

 Agent of the Nothern Province has reviewed 

 the situation in an instructive memoran- 

 dum, the Jaffna public appointed a Com- 

 mittee to advise how matters could be 

 mended, while this Society has delegated 

 a Committee of its own to consider what steps, 

 if any, it should take to improve the industry. 



The main questions involved would appear 

 to be : — (1) Whether the local varieties of 

 tobacco, cultivated as they are, will lend 

 themselves to improved methods of curing 

 with a view to the production of better 

 tobacco than is required for the manufacture 

 of native ("Jaffna") cigars. (2) Whether 

 local varieties can be improved by a better 

 system of cultivation and manuring, and 

 thus be made to yield a finer leaf (less 

 coarse) likely to produce a superior tobacco 

 when properly cured. (3) Whether the 

 natural conditions of soil and climate would 

 lender it possible for the best introduced 

 varieties of tobacco to be successfully culti- 

 vated in the Island. (4) Whether it would 

 not be wise to restrict the tobacco area in 

 the North, and apply part of the land to other 

 forms of cultivation likely to yield better 

 financial returns. It would be necessary for 

 the tobacco cultivators to co-operate with 

 Government in applying the necessary tests 

 for the solution of these problems. To adopt 

 a non possumus attitude and look to the 

 State for relief is unworthy of an admittedly 

 industrious, provident and enterprising com- 

 munity. The recommendations of the 

 Society's Committee are being awaited. 



Noxious Weeds. 

 A good deal of correspondence regarding 

 the extermination of illuk (Irnperata 

 arundinacea) and Prickly Pear (Opuntia 

 dillenii) has come before the Board, and its 

 recommendations (which are given in the 

 pages of the Magazine) have been adopted 

 in many cases with satisfactory results. 



Sterilization of Milk. 

 In connection with the proposed removal 

 of the Government Dairy from its present 

 site, the question of the sterilizing milk and 

 sending it down by rail from a distance of 

 35 to 75 miles from Colombo, was referred, ta 



