462 



The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist 



from tho ground to a height of three or four feet 

 abovo the highest sign of the work of the 

 borers. Keep the trees under observation and 

 should any sign of activity on the part of 

 the borers be observed, give the tree a second 

 coating of tar. This is a sure cure, usually one 

 tarring is sufficient to stifle the borers, but oc- 

 casionally two are required. 



A MINOR TROUBLE 



which has been observed in Portland, has 

 been described in the Bulletin of the Botani- 

 cal department, 1901, page 104. The nuts in 

 thi6 case are affected, developing husk 

 only and no meat. In some cases, an odd nut 

 or two on a tree is affected in this way, while 

 in some cases trees produce nothing but the 

 split nuts. The authorities of the New York 

 Botanical Gardens reported " that no trace of 

 fungus, insect or bacterial activitycouldbe found 

 and that the trouble was probably due to defec- 

 tive fertilization/' but I have sprayed trees 

 affected in this way with Bordeaux Mixture 

 after which they have ceased to produce these 

 worthless nuts. At Thompson Town, in Claren- 

 don, a tree was treated which, I was assured, 

 had never produced anything but meatless nuts 

 although the tree must have been over 60 years 

 old. The following year I had the pleasure of 

 drinking water coconuts off that tree. — W. 

 Cradwick, Instructor. — Journal of the Jamaica 

 Agricultural Society for July. 



CO-OPERATION IN AGRICULTURE. 



" Small Holders— What they must do to suc- 

 ceed " is the title of new work by Edwin 

 Pratt, author of the well-known work, '' Organi- 

 sation in Agriculture," and published by King 

 and Son, at 2s. As Pratt has shown in his 

 previous work, the principle of co-operation is 

 the pivot upon which the success of modern 

 agricultural methods rests, and the advantages 

 of the system cannot be preached too often. 

 We have just now a Commission deliberating 

 on a scheme for loans to agriculturists. It is a 

 very representative body made up of adminis- 

 trative officers, financial and legal advisers, 

 headmen and actual cultivators, and we have 

 hopes of some practical measures being evolved 

 from their labours. The problem they have 

 to solve is a difficult one, and particularly 

 so in an Eastern country ; but it has, to 

 a great extent, found a solution in India, 

 and there appears no reason why the same 

 lines should not come to be adopted in Ceylon. 

 The foundation of any scheme for agricultural 

 loans is, of course, co-operative credit, which 

 13 one of the subjects that Pratt so ably 

 deals with in his works. The two main types 

 of co-operative credit banks are those named 

 alter the founders, the Schulze-Dalitzch and 

 the Raiffeisen. The latter is without doubt 

 the more far-reaching in its moral influence 

 in that the individual who has not the con- 

 fidence of his neighbours would have no chance 

 of participating in its benefits. Another excel- 

 lent rule which it embodies is that loans are only 

 granted for reproductive purposes, which offer 

 a reasonable guarantee that the position of 

 the borrower will be improved and that he 



will be ablo to repay the amount advanced to 

 him. There will thus be little opportunity (as 

 Dr. Willis feared) for Sinhalese villagers raising 

 loans to be devoted to the expenses connected 

 with weddings and funerals ! The essence of 

 this system of banking has been well de- 

 soribed as the capitalisation of honesty, and 

 we would commend the system to the members 

 of the local Commission, since it gives a market 

 value to personal character. 



It is only by organising such measures for 

 ameliorating the condition of the rural popula- 

 tion — rescuing them from debt and placing 

 them on a firm financial footing, improving their 

 food supply and sanitary conditions, and gene- 

 rally advancing their material and moral welfare 

 — that we can ever hope to bring about what 

 Pratt calls the " revival of country life," and 

 stem the tide that Hows from the country to 

 the town. 



In a paper read before the British Association 

 inDublin last year Sir Horace Plunkett declared 

 his strong conviction that the education of the 

 rural classes must be modified so as to interest 

 them in their surroundings and make their 

 environments more attractive to them. Pratt, 

 himself, says that what is wanted is an education 

 which has a direct bearing on the future require- 

 ments of those taught. The old system is cal- 

 culated to tax the memory and weary the brain, 

 without developing initiative and awakening ob- 

 servation. This matter of tho education of vil- 

 lage youth is also, we are glad to say, receiving due 

 attention, since a Commission appointed by H. E. 

 the Governor has for some time been sitting with 

 a view to elaborate a workable scheme for the 

 advancement of the native agriculturist whose 

 present condition is as unsatisfactory as it could 

 well be. We would commend the reading of 

 Pratt's volume to all interested in the welfare 

 of tho rural classes, as it is full of information 

 regarding the principles which should govern any 

 measures calculated to improve the status of the 

 small holder. 



SINGLE PLANTING OF PADDY. 



Its Advantages. 



The following note by Mr H Sampson, 

 Deputy Director of Agriculture, Southern Cir- 

 cle, has been sent to us for publication by Mr 

 M E Couchman, ICS, Director of Agriculture: — 



For some time the Agricultural Department 

 has been advising ryots to adopt the system of 

 planting paddy with single seedlings. In the 

 Kistna Delta this is, and has always been, the 

 ordinary practice, and few better paddy crops 

 are to be seen in the Presidency. Single seed- 

 ling planting has also gained a footing both in 

 Tinnevelly and in the Tanjore Delta, and in 

 both these Districts some thousands of acres are 

 now planted in this way. 



Ten varieties of paddy, which are cultivated 

 in the south of the Presidency, in the samba 

 and pisamun season, were last season grown by 

 planting with single seedlings. With the excep- 

 tion of the Jeenaka samba (a very fine paddy 

 which makes up for its low yield by the ex- 

 cellence of its grain) all have yielded better than 



