Live Stock. 



128 



[August, 1910 



to the public. The country is being 

 rapidly opened up. The forests are 

 being conserved. The old concessions of 

 allowing cattle to graze on unoccupied 

 land are now curtailed. The people 

 have to move with the times. The 

 village population is beginning to realize 

 this, but the change has come upon 

 them with some abruptness, and they 

 have not been able to adapt themselves 

 quite to the new condition of affairs. 

 The transition should be a gradul process. 

 It cannot be effected by heroic measures 

 as are sometimes advocated, such as 

 pi impelling the villagers to get rid of 

 their cattle, imposing taxes, or shooting 

 down animals that are found straying. 

 Such measures can only create economic 

 disturbances. 



There are several ways in which the 

 difficulty can be met, and by means 

 of which the present state of things 

 can be greatly relieved. The follow- 

 ing measures among others are worth 

 considering :— 



(a) The modification and improvement 

 in the various agricultural im- 

 plements used in rice cultivation, 

 with a view to reducing the 

 number of cattle now used. 



(b) The improvement of the condition 

 and the breed of native cattle. 



(c) The provision of common village 



pasture grounds where suitable 

 lands are available. 



(d) The encouragement of the growth 

 of fodder crops. 



(e) The efficient control of cattle 

 disease. 



The improvements in agricultural 

 implements and processes of cultivation 

 will have a direct influence in reducing 

 the amount of labour required in carry- 

 ing on cultivation. Recent experiments 

 at Tissa showed that the number of 

 cattle required for ploughing and pre- 

 paring rice fields can be reduced by 

 almost half through the use of an im- 

 proved plough, A similar reduction can 

 be expected by introducing threshing 

 machinery, in place of the present 

 tedious and elaborate system of thresh- 

 ing by trampling the reaped paddy 

 under the feet of cattle. Experiments 

 are required in this direction. It is only 

 through continued and extended trials 

 that conclusions can be arrived at as 

 regards the best labour-saving imple- 

 ments for use in particular districts and 

 under particular conditions of soil and 

 irrigation. Another important fact that 

 requires attention in this connection is 

 that the men have to be trained gradu- 

 ally to the use of new implements. 



However economical and however simple 

 a new implement may be, unless the 

 cultivator has some practical experience 

 in its w orking, he is bound to find the 

 new process tedious, and his first 

 attempt will so discourage him that he 

 will prefer to continue in his old 

 methods, however disadvantageous they 

 may be. 



This difficulty can only be overcome 

 by the establishment of large experi- 

 mental areas of cultivation in their 

 immediate neighbourhood, where trained 

 men should be employed, and through 

 whom the neighbours should be able to 

 learn the work. 



The necessity for the improvement in 

 the general condition of cattle follows 

 on the introduction of labour-saving 

 implements. Ceylon cattle are, as a 

 breed, very good animals, and, for their 

 size, are strong and hardy. 



Pasture laud for the use of village 

 cattle was, as a rule, provided through- 

 out the country at one time ; now it is 

 the exception. The common village 

 pasture land has been encroached upon 

 by the people themselves in many in- 

 stances. Public lands are being acquired 

 and conserved by Government. But 

 nothing has been done so far either to 

 compel those that have encroached on 

 the common lands to give them up for 

 their proper use, or to set apart portions 

 of acquired public land for this definite 

 purpose. Both these measures deserve 

 attention. It is not impracticable to 

 make regulations so that lands kept 

 apart for common purposes may be 

 preserved from encroachment. 



The Village Committees that have 

 done such useful work, as seen from 

 (among other things) the hundreds of 

 miles of useful village roads, can be 

 entrusted with these duties. It is fre- 

 quently stated that in a large majority 

 of villages there are no lands available 

 for reservation for purposes of pasture, 

 and therefore the establishment of 

 pasture lands is not to be thought of. 

 But this need not prevent the reserva- 

 tion of land where it is available. Every 

 single common pasture land established 

 in the Island will servo to relieve the 

 present congestion. 



The growing of fodder for the use of 

 cattle is practically unknown here. The 

 fields on which rice is grown are left 

 unoccupied for a great part of the year, 

 and on such lands fodder crops can be 

 conveniently raised for the use of cattle. 

 Experiments in this direction are 

 urgently needed. The villager cannot 

 be expected to make experiments, or to 

 take the initiative in new projects, but 



