566 



The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist 



In the matter of how the tapping shall be done 

 the agreement stipulates that no jelutong tree 

 having a girth of less than four-and-a-half feet 

 at a height of six feet from the ground, shall be 

 tappped. Moreover, the tapping must be carried 

 out to the satisfaction of the conservator ; no 

 felling or loppicg will be permitted; cuts made 

 in tapping shall not penetrate into the wood. 



The conservator also reserves the right to alie- 

 nate, during the continuance of the agreement, 

 any land within the areas over which the con- 

 cessionaires exercise their rights, and if any 

 alienation does take place, the concessionaires 

 are not entitled to any compensation. 



Whether the concessionaires manage to extort 

 a profit from the venture or not, the agreement 

 ensures a definite minimum of revenue that will 

 accrue to the governments interested. Royalty 

 shall be paid on all latex collected, at the rate 

 of 80 cents per picul, and over and above that 

 an export duty of 10 percent shall be imposed. 

 During the first seven years these revenues must 

 aggregate not less than $10,000 and during the 

 last three years $100,000. Should the royalties 

 and export duty not come up to these figures, 

 the concessionaires must make up the deficit. 

 — Straits Times, Nov. 4. 



LABOUR AND WAGES IN SOUTH 

 INDIA. 



Problem fok Madras Landowners. 

 In the Season and Crop Report for 1909-10 

 (Fasli 1319) issued, by the Madras Board of 

 Revenu'e, there is the following interesting dis- 

 cussion on the agricultural condition of the 

 people and the question of wages and labour : — 

 Agricultural Deterioration. 



On this subject the Director of Agriculture 

 reports as follows : — 



" No agricultural deterioration is apparent in any part 

 of the Presidency. On the contrary, there are many indi- 

 cations that the prosperity of the agricultural population 

 is increasing. Mucli less difficulty is now experienced in 

 inducing cultivators to adopt improvements suggested by 

 the Agricultural Department. Formerly, it was only after 

 the greatest difficulty that a cultivator could be induced 

 to try 



SINGLE PLANTING OF PADDY 

 on a few cents, now a man will readily offer to try it on 

 several acres. The large stock of green-manuring seeds 

 laid in by the Agricultural Department for sale to culti- 

 vators was disposed of without difficulty. The publication 

 of a note on the cultivation of 



CAMBODIA COTTON 



has been followed by such a rush of applications that all 

 the seed was exhausted in a short time. In Godavery, 

 the cultivation of sugarcane, encouraged by the greater 

 resistance to disease and the superior size of the new canes, 

 is steadily expanding and is reported to have almost 

 reached the level it was at, when red rot first appeared in 

 the district. The prices paid for good Cattle show the in- 

 creased purchasing power of cultivators. R250 to R350 is 

 commonly paid in Tinnevelly for a pair, while in Nandyal a 

 case is mentioned where as much as K800 was paid for a 

 pair. This is in great part due to the rise in the price of 

 cotton, which has been the outstanding feature of the 

 agricultural year. The average price of cotton in Madras 

 during the year was R'26'59 for the Imperial maund of 82 2-7 

 lb. compared with R19'C'9 last year. Up to the time of 

 writing, there are no signs of any material fall in prices. 

 There was a slight fall'in the price of rice and cholam, but 

 jaggery advanced in Madras from R5'60 to K6-47 an Im- 

 perial maund and a similar advance was recorded from all 

 parts of the Presidency. An extension of the area under 

 both sugarcane and cotton may be anticipated, provided 

 the season continues favourable." 



The Agricultural Population. 

 On the condition of the agricultural population 

 the Directors of Agriculture reports as follows: — 



'• Such enquiries as have been made tend to the con- 

 clusion that the labourers have not participated to a pro- 

 portionate extent in the increased prosperity of their 

 employers. The 



INCREASING DEMAND FOR LABOUR FOR TEA, 

 COFFEE, AND ESPECIALLY FOR RUBBER 

 estates in India, Ceylon, the Straits Settlements and other 

 places will make an advance of agricultural wages neces- 

 sary in the near future. 



In some planting districts the rale of daily labour offered 

 are no higher than those reported from the places from 

 which the labourers come, but regular work is usually 

 provided, and other advantages, such as free houses, 

 cheap and good food, etc., provide an additional attrac- 

 tion, the result being that the estate cooly can save money. 

 At the recent meeting of the United Planters' Association 

 of Southern India, some interesting figures were given by 

 one of the best authorities on the subject. 



IN THE FIRST SIX MONTHS OF THE CURRENT YEAR, 



OVER 50,000 COOLIES LEFT FOB CEYLON 

 the price paid per head to recruiters being R10 on board 

 the launch at Tuticorin. In the same period 32,000 coolies 

 left for the Straits Settlements, being three times the num- 

 ber for the corresponding period of last year. To cultivate 

 and tap the trees now planted in the Straits Settlements, 

 it is estimated that -'30,000 additional coolies will be needed 

 in the next three years, but efforts are being made to 

 substitute Chinese labourers for Indian coolies. The 



AREA UNDER RUBBER IN SOUTHERN INDIA 18 



ABOUT 30,000 ACRES, 

 for the tapping of which a large addition to the present 

 labour force will be required very soon. In view of these 

 facts, it is clear that the agricultural wages, which have 

 not generally speaking, advanced in proportion to the rise 

 in the prices of the chief agricultural products, will have to 

 be enhanced at an early date, if sufficient labour is to be 

 returned on the land. Wet cultivation requires a large 

 quantity of labour at certain times, but 



FOR LONG PERIODS TOGETHER THE COOLY IS 

 LEFT WITHOUT EMPLOYMENT. 

 The Deputy Director of Agriculture, Southsrn Division, 

 suggests that an improvement in wet cultivation and the 

 introduction of more valuable crops, such as sugarcane 

 which requires labour throughout the year, would be the 

 best way to retain the cooly on the land. Unless this is 

 done, there will be an increasing scarcity of labour. 



Wages are still very low in the Ceded Districts, but here 

 the labourer is often himself a landowner, and it pays him 

 better to accept very low wages for the time he can spare 

 from his own cultivation than to give up his land and emi- 

 grate even for much higher daily wages. It is, therefore, 

 difficult to see how any fresh sources of labour can be 

 opened up." 



The Board's Remarks. 

 The Board of Revenue has little doubt that 

 if employers of agricultural labour would only 

 allow their landless employes to participate 

 much more largely in their increased profits 

 due to the high prices of produce, by raising 

 the wages of labourers, and in other ways ame- 

 liorating their condition, much difficulty con- 

 nected with labour would disappear. So long as 

 these employers— frequently rich landowners 

 much addicted to inveigh against the alleged 

 rapacity of Government in the matter of assess- 

 ments — choose to pursue their present selfish 

 policy, so long will labourers be justified in 

 seeking more profitable employment elsewhere. 

 The free emigration of coolies who are growing 

 weary of the greed of local employers will, in the 

 not distant future, force these owners of land 

 to adapt themselves to changed economic con- 

 ditions in this Presidency, If absentee and 

 other landowners wish to keep labour at home, 

 they can easily do so by the simple remedy of 

 making it worth the while of labourers to 

 stay.— M. Mail, Nov. 9. 



