October, 1908. J 



S7S 



Miscellaneous, 



An important departure was made six 

 years ago by starting at the Nagpur Agri- 

 cultural College a one year's course in 

 practical agriculture for training the sons of 

 farmers. The teaching is given in the verna- 

 cular, and is almost wholly practical work 

 on the farm with a minimum of lectures and 

 book-work. At the outset it was found 

 very difficult to attract the right stamp of 

 student, although scholarships were freely 

 given by the District Coimcils. Some of the 

 students were the sons of petty traders or 

 officials who had failed in other attempts to 

 earn a livelihood, who had no connection 

 with, or liking for the land, but who hoped 

 ultimately to get some employment and at 

 least to be supported in the meantime by 

 scholarships. The importance of careful 

 selection of the students cannot be over- 

 estimated. A few sons of cultivators were 

 attracted with a real desire to learn some- 

 thing connected with their profession, and in 

 such cases some measure of success has been 

 secured, as was shown by an enquiry into the 

 work that they were doing in their villages 

 after they had left the College. One im- 

 portant lesson learned is, that it is most 

 desirable to try and keep in touch with the 

 students after they have finished their course, 

 to encourage them to write and explain what 

 they are trying, to advise them upon any 

 difficulties that they experience, and to visit 

 them in their homes when occasion offers. 

 Some are the keenest members of their 

 District Agricxiltural Association. 



By personal intercourse between officers 

 of the department and leading cultivators, 

 much can be done to increase their con- 

 fidence in the department and their inter- 

 est in the work of the stations. Requests 

 for information and advise should be en- 

 couraged in every possible way, for amidst 

 much chaff there is often a little good 

 grain. Everything possible should be done, 

 also, to get District Officers to co-operate 

 with the department in carrying out its 

 demonstration work in the districts. If the 

 department is doing its duty, there will be a 

 large amount of unofficial correspondence 

 between its officers and cidtivators and the 

 district staff. 



The formation of agricultural associations 

 has proved a most useful means of getting 

 the best class of cultivators to co-operate 

 with the department. In the Central Pro- 

 vinces the district is the best unit for which 

 to form an association. Each district should 

 have its own association, the members of 

 which should be the leading cultivators, and 

 a few Government officers who are keen on 

 agricultural improvement, the District Offi- 

 cer being President. hi forming such an 

 association, considerable discretion is neces- 

 sary in order to secure as members the right 

 type of men from among the cultivating 

 class. The men selected should be cultivators 

 who take an intelligent interest in super- 



vising their own cultivation, and who are 

 willing to undertake actual tests of suggested 

 improvements. They should be men of 

 sufficient intelligence to understand simple 

 instructions and to carry them out. The 

 number of members should not be large, but 

 each should be a willing worker and not 

 merely a talker. The District Agricultural 

 Associations started in these Provinces six 

 years ago, have in most cases made satis- 

 factory progress. Among the members will 

 be found the most progressive farmers in 

 each district, men who are anxious to learn 

 and to experiment. The meetings, which 

 are held twice a year to suit the khavif and 

 rabi seasons, are attended by the Director or 

 one of the Deputy Directors of Agriculture. 

 The results of the past season's test are 

 discussed and a programme arranged for the 

 next seasons's work. An officer of the Agri- 

 cultural Department usually delivers an 

 address describing such experimental work 

 of the stations as may be of some practical 

 use to the members. The members are asked 

 to give their own experience on the particular 

 subject dealt with. New manures and new 

 varieties of seed recommended by the stations 

 are distributed free of cost to the members 

 willing to test them, and they are requested 

 to report the results obtained at the next 

 meeting of their association. To facilitate 

 the writing of this report, forms are fur- 

 nished, in which the member enters his 

 observation as to the growth and yield of 

 each variety tested, the increase due to the 

 manures and the like. Leaflets written in 

 the vernaculars, giving directions as to how 

 the manure is to be applied and how to grow 

 the crop that is to be tested, are also distri- 

 buted. The members then carry out these 

 experiments in their several villages. This 

 kind of co-operative work has not yet had 

 time to produce results of much value, but we 

 believe that it may prove most useful as a 

 means of demonstrating to the more back- 

 ward cultivators the use of new methods, 

 new varieties of seed and new manures ; and 

 the plots on which they are successful, in the 

 case of trials with a new variety, may well 

 become centres for the distribution of the 

 seed to neighbouring cultivators. Indeed, 

 the District Agricultural Associations have 

 proved to be much the best means of distri- 

 buting new and selecled seed which generally 

 receives a fair trial by the members. An 

 instance of successful work in this line is the 

 introduction of the variety of early ripening 

 tnur grown in the south of the Provinces to 

 the northern districts, as it escapes the frost 

 which sometimes causes great loss to the late 

 ripening variety locally grown. Seed distri- 

 bution has largely increased of late, and 

 there is a large and increasing demand by 

 cultivators for improved seed which the 

 department is endeavouring to meet. 



An agricultural paper published in the 

 vernacular can be made a most useful method 



