AucitTST, 1908.] 



Miscellaneous. 



when the Agricultural College at Pooiia 

 is thoroughly established. Divisional 

 Inspectors of the class above described 

 will have, as part of their duties, the 

 function of bringing the local associa- 

 tions into regular touch with the Depart- 

 ment. But ultimately more men than 

 these will be required if the movement 

 is to be a thorough success. 



Shows and Demonstrations. 

 Such a man, as I have described, as the 

 adviser of the local people, will, if he is 

 the proper man for the work, give just 

 the impetus which is required to make a 

 village or taluka association an actually 

 working body. And with this impetus, 

 the next step is to the organisation of 

 agricultural shows and demonstrations of 

 clearly known improvements. These 

 two things should go hand in hand. The 

 demonstrations, if successful, as they 

 must be, would probably be an integral 

 part of the local show. Adequate prizes 

 could be arranged for produce, for stand- 

 ing crops and for animals, and so give a 

 spirit of emulation among the people. 

 The special officer of the Department, 

 whom I have described, must be present, 

 and demonstrate the demonstrations, if 

 I may be excused the term. Further, he 

 must carry from show to show some 

 machine, within the capacity of a culti- 

 vator or a village association, which 

 would, from his own personal and inti- 

 mate knowledge, be an improvement on 

 the system in vogue on that countryside. 

 These shows would be very local, the 

 more local the better in many respects. 

 They would themselves do good as 

 shows, but they would be even better as 

 a means of bringing actual improve- 

 ments to the door and notice of the 

 cultivators. They would not replace the 

 larger and more elaborate shows at im- 

 portant centres, but they would have a 

 function, an important function. Of 

 them the local agricultural association is, 

 however, as it were, the foundations tone. 



Specific Improvements. 



A good many speakers at the Confer- 

 ence emphasised the importance of 

 short courses in specific improvements 

 which should be given at the experi- 

 mental farms or elsewhere. It would 

 be probably impossible to arrange for 

 these directly in connection withsamller 

 associations, but these latter could and 

 would select the men who would be 

 most likely to profit by them, and send 

 them to a centre for the purpose. 



Beyond this such local associations 

 have a larger number of useful functions, 

 many of which were indicated at Ahme- 

 dabad. They give (generally through 

 the Divisional Inspector or the more 

 numerous men who will replace him) 



intimation of a plant disease or an insect 

 pest, and indicate that they want help. 

 They select the best men to whom new 

 seed, new manures, and new implements 

 are sent for demonstration. They report 

 difficulties through deterioration of 

 laud, which can then be closely investi- 

 gated. They are the body to whom agri- 

 cultural information is sent, whetherpub- 

 lished in the furm of vernacular leaflets 

 or through a vernacular press. And, in 

 general, they form, as I have said above, 

 the link between the Department and 

 the people. 



This, on the whole, is how I interpret 

 the trend and meaning of the opinions 

 expressed at the Ahmedabad Confer- 

 ence. There was much enthusiasm, au 

 enthusiasm which should, I think, be 

 utilised. Many of the suggestions 

 demand much elaboration and modifi- 

 cation at the hand of the man who 

 carries them out. The key, however, 

 to a rapid progress of agricultural im- 

 provement in Bombay Presidency lies, 

 I was made to feel at the Conference, 

 in the development of co-operative 

 agricultural associations, together with 

 the getting together of a body of advisers 

 who can go from place to place, are 

 thoroughly imbued with a belief 

 in agricultural development, and 

 are keen agriculturists themselves. 

 The whole of this must be backed (and I 

 think that fact is already realised) by 

 consistent and constant scientific investi- 

 gation into the difficulties, as they arise. 



In the present paper, I have only indi- 

 cated, and more or less inadequately 

 discussed, the two principal questions 

 which formed the programme at the 

 Ahmedabad Conference. Other impor- 

 tant matters were raised, but their con- 

 sideration was not thorough enough to 

 make it profitable to summarise the 

 ideas that were expressed. Their dis- 

 cussion on a more satisfactory basis will, 

 no doubt, be taken up again at one of 

 the future Conferences.— A gricultural 

 Journal of India, Vol. III., Part 1, Janu- 

 ary, 1908. 



TAUNGYA (CHENA) CUTTING. 



Taungya cutting, as I have seen it, 

 would appear to fall roughly into four 



classes. 



The first of these, which is distinct from 

 the other three, is the ordinary upland 

 cultivation on land where ploughing is 

 possible. The cultivator ploughs a piece 

 of land, takes one or two crops off it and 

 then lets it revert to grass land or scrub 

 jungle for another six years or so. 

 Except that the patches are not arranged 



