October, 1909.] 



339 



Miscellaneous! 



the introductions were over, Mr. Stuart 

 presented the following address on be- 

 half of the Agricultural Department : — 



Your Excellencies,— It is with equal 

 pride and pleasure that 1 come for- 

 ward to thank you for affording me 

 and all whom, for the time being, I 

 am privileged to represent, this op- 

 portunity of welcoming you both to 

 an Institution which, under the friendly 

 auspices of the Government of Madras, 

 is certainly destined to play an import- 

 ant part in the education of the people. 

 I beg to assure Your Excellencies that 

 we are deeply sensible of your kindness 

 so graciously manifested by your pre- 

 sence here to-day. 



In the annals of the Department of 

 Agriculture of Madras two dates will 

 ever be gratefully remembered and 

 honourably associated, Sir, with your 

 distinguished name by all who are 

 interested in the improvement and deve- 

 lopment of the great Agricultural In- 

 dustry of this Presidency. 



On the 21st September, 1906, Your Ex- 

 cellency not only laid the foundation 

 stone of this Agricultural College aud 

 Research Institute, and gave your name 

 to the new road which passes through 

 the Central Farm, but in the memor- 

 able speech which Your Excellency deli- 

 vered on that occassion, further showed 

 much generous sympathy with the 

 special efforts of the Department to 

 promote the welfare and industrial 

 prospective of our rapidly increasing 

 population. 



The 14th July, 1909, will be rendered no 

 less remarkable by the ceremony of 

 opening this College and Institute which 

 Your Excellency so readily consented 

 to perform to-day, thereby making for 

 all time the starting point of a new 

 epoch in the history of Madras Agri- 

 culture. 



Designed by Mr. G. S. T. Harris, Con- 

 sulting Architect to Government, and 

 built in circumstances of considerable 

 difficulty— due to the prevalence of 

 cholera and plague— by Mr. D. M. Saiyid 

 Abdul Rezak Sahib, the Contractor, 

 under the able supervision of Mr. H. 

 O'Connell, Superintending Engineer, 

 under the immediate direction of Mr. 

 H. T. Keeling, Executive Engineer, this 

 noble building together with its appur- 

 tenant land, hostels, farm buildings and 

 residences for the staff will have cost 

 more than eight lakhs of rupees before 

 its completion— a veritable monument 

 to the munificence of both the Imperial 

 and Provincial Governments and to the 

 professional skill and indefatigable in- 

 dustry of all concerned in its construc- 

 tion. There is in the College and Insti- 

 tute abundant accommodation for re- 



search work in Chemistry and Botany, 

 and room has also been provided for the 

 Mycologist and Entomologist who form 

 part of the expert staff contemplated 

 in the original scheme, but whose ap- 

 pointments have not yet been sanc- 

 tioned. The class-rooms, laboratory and 

 hostels have been built to hold sixty 

 students, of whom twenty will be annu- 

 ally admitted. The fine farm of 457 

 acres of land, all in a high state of 

 cultivation, which surrounds the build- 

 ing, has been provided to ensure a 

 sound and thorough training for the 

 students in practical agriculture, and 

 for experimental cultivation in con- 

 nection with research. The college has 

 been working in temporary buildings 

 for the past year, as our need of trained 

 men was so urgent that we could not 

 wait till the College itself was ready for 

 their reception. 



The present dignified position of agri- 

 cultural science in this presidency, com- 

 pared with what was thought sufficient 

 when the first steps were taken in the 

 direction of improvement, affords justi- 

 fication for future encouragemet. 



It was just forty-four years ago that 

 a committee of private individuals 

 selected by Government was placed in 

 charge of the Saidapet Farm. We are 

 told in their first report that they found 

 the land "covered with prickly-pear 

 and jungle." The qualifications of Mr. 

 Sliepperson's predecessor in office were 

 equally unpromising. The Superin- 

 tendent of the farm is described a= 

 " doubtless a good gardener, though he 

 has but a very superficial knowledge of 

 farming," while the "Overseer, who is 

 a pensioned gunner," is described as "a 

 remarkably steady, trustworthy man, 

 but he has no knowledge of farming nor 

 can he read or write," 



Of the soil of the farm itself Mr, Robert- 

 son reported " the proportion of sand is 

 great. Grain will seldom produce grain 

 when cultivated on these soils." Born 

 under those adverse conditions it is 

 hardly a matter for surprise that the 

 young plant of Madras Agriculture had 

 a hard struggle for existence. 



In fairness, however, to the Government 

 of that day it must be remembered that 

 even in Europe agricultural science was 

 then in its infancy. English farmers 

 were still on the full tide of prosperity, 

 aud English experts were apt to con- 

 demn root and branch every method of 

 cultivation which differed from their 

 own. Again and again the Madras 

 Government had shown its full apprecia 

 tion of the importance of improving the 

 agriculture of this Presidency, but it 

 seemed impossible to secure good techni- 



