and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society. 



173 



Mr R H Look:— Is there any Training Col- 

 lege where the cultivation of tobacco is specially 

 taught ? 



Mr Bernard Skniok :— L think so. 



Mr R H Loo K : — 1 might add that I have at 

 present attached to my Department four gentle- 

 men employod in various African Governments. 

 They have come here to study and they have 

 agreed to refund their salary in the event of 

 their not taking up the appointments. 



Sir Hugh Clifford : — A. portion of their 

 salary. 



Mr R H Lour: — Yes, in' the event of not 

 taking up their appointments. With regard to 

 what Mr cle Silva said I think the introduction 

 of new species is certainly what we should aim 

 at. J. do not countenance for a moment the 

 suggestion to go in for inferior tobacco. I think 

 the only chance 6'f developing the Coyloa to- 

 bacco trade is by obtaining markets for good 

 tobacco outside Ceylon. On the question of the 

 salary for an expert Dr. Treub of Java has 

 written to our Society, saying that no expert 

 grower would come from Sumatra for a salary of 

 £400 or £500 a year. 



The Hon. Mr. A. Kanagasabai— thought the 

 meeting seemed to be agreed as regarded some 

 of the "resolutions proposed by Mr Lock. As 

 regarded the first there seemed to be almost a 

 consensus of opinion. As regarded the second, 

 the same might be said of it. Then there was 

 a divergence of opinion as regarded the third, 

 fourth, sixth and seventh. So it would seem 

 that they were agreed with the proposed experi- 

 ment of growing new kinds of tobacco and of 

 adopting new methods of curing tobacco as they 

 found to be necessary, in the interests not only 

 of Jaffna but all other parts of the island To- 

 bacco was cultivated in the Northern and Eas- 

 tern Provinces as well as in the North-Western 

 and certain other parts of the island. The ex- 

 periment proposed to be made would therefore 

 be of practical value to the island generally. 

 Such being the case, he hoped the difference of 

 opinion as regarded certain of those resolutions 

 would not delay the accomplishment of the idea. 

 As regarded resolution No. 3 they would leave 

 it together with the other items in the string 

 of resolutions to the Society to decide in which 

 way applications should be invited for the ap- 

 pointment of the expert or Superintendent of 

 the tobacco experiments. The proposal made by 

 Mr Senior was no doubt a commendable one, but 

 he was afraid it would delay the accomplish- 

 ment of the object in view. 



Acting Governor's Remarks. 

 H.E. the Acting Governor— said ho had 

 listened to the discussion with very great in- 

 terest and the impression on his mind was that 

 they were not in a position to arrive at a de- 

 cision on the subject that day. As. Mr. Kanaga- 

 sabai said, there was a concensus of opinion on 

 the first resolution. That was not surprising. 

 Any demand of a contribution from Government 

 was always unanimously supported. He would 

 also be happy to give his support. If a satisfac- 

 tory proposal was put before him, he was pre- 

 pared on his own behalf to approve and recom- 

 mend to Sir Henry McCallum that the full 

 ' 1110,500 required for the payment of the proposed 



salary of the expert bo given ; but ho was 

 not prepared to make such a proposal on the 

 present system outlined. He would strongly 

 urge on those present and the members of the 

 Committee that all the sides of that question had 

 not been adequately or finally considered. He 

 agreed with Mr Gibbon's horror at the "expert"' 

 who exercised tyranny and from whom it was 

 often impossible to escape. From his small 

 knowledge of 



SUMATRA AND BORNEO, 



ho knew it wa6 not possible to obtain an expert. 

 The system in the Dutch Colony was to pay 

 small salaries for enormous toil to the young 

 assistant who corresponds in Ceylon to the 

 "creeper." From the Manager to the cooly 

 every employee had a certain interest in the 

 estate; and if the crop turned out good, so 

 did the speculation ; and a Manager, who got 

 :> or 4 successful crops, would be enabled to 

 retire into private life. The salary given to 

 a really expert Manager was very big. What 

 they should consider was how best to secure a 

 suitable man. He should not be sent to Sumatra 

 or«Borneo, but to places more nearly analogous 

 to Ceylon. He doubted whether Mr Senior's 

 scheme, good and sound in every way as it was, 

 was a guide in the usual terms of such an ap- 

 pointment. The present circumstances seemed 

 altogether different. Mr Lock had referred to 

 the difficulty of testing the officer on his return. 

 If they could not get an expert, who would be 

 the expert who would test the expert ? What 

 they should do is to select some person they 

 could rely on. At present there was no remedy 

 if he idled his time. According to the resolu- 

 tions the officer would have to spend the first 

 year acquiring a knowledge of tobacco cultiva- 

 tion in India and simultaneously learning Tamil. 

 It was essential that the officer should first 

 learn all about Ceylon tobacco and then take 

 up the study of Indian tobacco. Ceylon tobacco 

 took in the characteristics of the soil and ho 

 was told that Sumatra tobacco taken across 

 the Straits of Malacca and planted proved 

 inferior to the variety from which it was 

 taken. So in Ceylon, where there are varie- 

 ties of soils and climates, they should ex- 

 periment iu various districts. He was doubtful 

 if it would be possible to confine the experi- 

 ments to Maha-Illupallama. There were many 

 other points to be considered and he would 

 suggest that the report be referred back to the 

 Committee for further report. 



Report Referred Back to Committee. 



The Hon. Mr. H L Crawford— then formally 

 moved that the report be referred back to the 

 Tobacco Committee along with Mr. Senior's 

 amendment for further consideration. The 

 amendment was : — 



•'That an officer be selected to undergo a training for 

 one year at some College or place to be decided by the 

 Committee, the Committee paying bis tuition fees, boar- 

 ding fees and reasonable travelling expenses, 'these ex- 

 penses shall be guaranteed by some responsible person on 

 behalf of the officer and shall be refunded if the officer does 

 not obtain a certificate of proficiency ; on his obtaining a 

 certificate of proficiency the officer shall be ottered an 

 appointment under the Board of Agriculture at a salary 

 to be fixed by the Committee, and such appointment to 

 be for there years." 



Mr W A dis Silva— seconded.— Carried, 



