June 1908.] 



569 



Miscellaneous. 



a Committee of the Society. This Committee 

 has reported that, although it has proved 

 possihle to sterilize small quantities of milk, 

 it would not be advisable to attempt the 

 treatment on a large scale unless the services 

 of a Dairy Expert, thoroughly conversant 

 with the practical working of a sterilizing 

 plant, were secured. 



Fibre Machinery. 



The Board has indented for a set of the 

 Duchemin fibre machines for testing their 

 capacity to deal with plantain fibre, and 

 native fibres which it might be found possible 

 to economically extract and place on the 

 market. 



Live Stock. 



Considerable work has been done in the 

 direction of regulating the breeding of im- 

 proved stock by emasculating undesirable 

 males in village herds. According to a 

 report prepared by the Government Veterin- 

 ary Surgeon, in 1907 the castration of 

 bulls was carried out at 56 centres, 781 head 

 of cattle were operated on and 41 hands 

 instructed in the work. In addition -479 head 

 were operated on by the trained hands. 

 Between January and June of this year, 185 

 cattle were operated on, and three men trained. 



The Staff. 



The executive and clerical staff remains 

 the same, though the volume of work has 

 increased considerably, viz : — 



Organising Vice-President — Dr. J. C. 

 Willis, D. Sc.; Secretary — Mr. C. Drieberg, 

 B.A., p.h.a.S. ; Head Clerk — J. S. de Silva ; 

 Assistant Clerk — W. A. W. Gimawardena ; 

 Personal Clerk to Organising Vice-President 

 — A, F. Baldesing ; Agricultural Instructors 

 Messrs, N. Wickremeratne and L. A. D. 

 Silva. 



Workers for the Society. 



Among those who have rendered notable 

 service in the Society's cause are : — Mr. Wm. 

 Dunuwille, Dissawe ; the Mudaliyars of 

 Wellaboda (Galle) Pattu and Weligama 

 Korale ; Mr. A. E. Rajapakse, Mudaliyar of 

 Katunayake ; Mr. C. Rasanayagam, Muda- 

 liyar of Panwila ; Mr. M. Suppranianiam, 

 Broker of Colombo ; and the teachers of the 

 Government Vernacular Schools at Nuga- 

 wella, Welimada and Akurala. Of the 

 Schoolmasters, who, through their connec- 

 tion with School Gardens, are rendering simi- 

 lar good service, I would specially mention the 

 present teachers of the Government Schools 

 at Mugurngampola, Handapangoda and 

 Kirriwathuduwa (in Western Province) ; 

 Nugawala, Mediwaka and Alawatugoda (in 

 the Central Province) ; Welimada (in the 

 Uva Province) ; Gandara and Narandeniya 

 (in the Southern Province); Makandura (in 

 the North- Western Province) ; and Rat- 

 malagahawewe (in the North-Central Pro- 

 vince). 



The Position of the Society: 

 A Suggestion. 



That the Society has aroused a healthy 

 interest in all questions relating to Agricul- 

 ture, and evoked a spirit of enquiry in 

 all sections of the agricultural population 

 — in the peasant as in the landlord — -cannot 

 be gainsaid. I have had ample evidence of 

 this afforded me both as Secretary of the 

 Society and as Superintendent of School 

 Gardens, and I have no doubt that the Organ- 

 ising Vice-President has also had oppor- 

 tunities for noticing the same attitude of 

 mind in those with whom he came in contact 

 during his tours in the Provinces. 



Looking upon the Society as an organisa- 

 tion which serves as a medium between indi- 

 viduals and those agencies which are able to 

 meet their wants — whether information, 

 advice, or material — its position is an import- 

 ant one ; and the system of communication 

 that it has set up, extending far beyond the 

 Island, is proving a most useful means of 

 serving the agricultural interests of the 

 Colony. 



For more direct and effective work among 

 our village population it is much to be de- 

 sired (1) that an Executive Board should be 

 formed with Provincial Boards over which 

 the Revenue Officers should preside, and the 

 operations of which they should control 

 with the advice of the Central Board ; 

 (2) That a larger staff of trained Agricul- 

 tural Instructors should be appointed to 

 carry on systematic work, according to an 

 approved plan, under the Revenue Officers. 



Acknowledgments. 



To Government the Society is indebted for 

 the financial help it affords ; to His Excel- 

 lency the Governor for the interest which, as 

 President, he has evinced in its work 

 for the reforms which His Excellency 

 has effected in its administration, and for 

 his desire to further improve the status 

 and extend the scope of the Society to 

 the members of the Board, both official 

 and unofficial, for their co-operation ; to those 

 who have rendered willing service by contri- 

 buting papers at the monthly meetings, 

 and by helping in a more practical way 

 to further the objects of the Society. 



C. DRIEBERG, 



Secretary, Ceylon A gricultural Society. 



Office of the Ceylon Agricultural Society, 

 Colombo, 15th June, 1908. 



