DECEMBER, 1909,1 



545 



MiscellaneoiiSi 



as 1 have tried to point out, depends 

 mainly on Mm, The science of agri- 

 culture is of modern growth, but already 

 immense strides have been made under 

 its auspices in Western countries. I am 

 most anxious that the benefits should 

 be extended to India which stands in 

 the greatest need of them. It is natu- 

 ral and right that you should accept 

 help and guidance from Government in 

 these matters, and the Agricultural De- 



Eartment, which owes so much to my 

 onourable colleague Sir J. Muir Macken- 

 zie, is a proof that we recognize our 

 responsibilities. It is a new department, 

 and it is a baby in comparison with the 

 giant organization maintained in the 

 United States, but if you read the 

 annual report, as I trust you all will do, 

 you will see that valuable work — edu- 

 cational, experimental, and denion- 

 strational— is already in progress. I hope 

 that the members of this Conference 

 will take the opportunity of visiting 

 the College farms and gardens in the 

 neighbourhood, and will see for them- 

 selves what Government is trying to 

 accomplish for the good of the people. 

 We want you to give and to receive 

 advice, and our officers aie ready now 

 and always to discuss agricultural mat- 

 ters and to 



Distribute the Special Knowledge 

 that they have acquired in the science 

 of agriculture. A general solution of 

 the many problems is rarely possible. 

 Each may require a solution depending 

 upon local conditions, local customs, and 

 even local prejudices. The success of a 

 process or of a plant in other countries 

 does not guarantee success here, where it 

 may be necessary to change the process 

 or to produce a special plant in order to 

 suit the conditions of climate, soil, and 

 requirement. The needs of the Deccan 

 differ in many respects from those of 

 Gujarat and of Sind. You will, there- 

 fore, sde the importance of experiments 

 scientifically carried out by a central 

 body, and you may be able to give 

 valuable assistance by communicating 

 with the Department. I am glad to 

 know that some of the Chiefs and Sar- 

 dars in the Presidency are actively in- 

 teresting themselves in the improve- 

 ment of agriculture, and 1 am sure they 

 will co-operate with us for the general 

 good. The main requirements are capi- 

 tal, labour and knowledge, but above 

 all knowledge without which capital 

 and labour would be wasted. Only a 

 century ago there were large tracts 

 which lay waste for years as the result 

 of the devastation of armies and of de- 

 population. These tracts have been 

 brought under cultivation, but the 

 69 



Improving Process 

 which in England and other countries 

 has been brought about by a combin- 

 ation of labour and capital, and in Japan 

 mainly by highly intelligent labour 

 alone, has been absent. While, there- 

 fore, there are many good and industri- 

 ous cultivators, production has been 

 disappointing, and there has been a 

 series of indifferent years which might 

 have caused despair among people less 

 sturdy and less hopeful than the 

 Mahrattas. Losses due to bad seasons 

 lie beyond our power to prevent. All 

 that Government can do is to extend 

 irrigation, and you may be sure that 

 we shall spare no effort and no argu- 

 ment to obtain sanction for the great 

 Deccan projects now being elaborated. 

 I allude especially to the Gokak and the 

 Nira right bank schemes which will com- 

 mand respectively 490,000 and 700,000 

 acres, while the latter will safeguard the 

 most famine-stricken districts of the 

 Deccan. If these great works did not 

 immediately earn the prescribed rate 

 of interest, as I believe they would, the 

 indirect benefits would be so immense 

 as to demand their construction. Apart, 

 however, from the extension of large 

 irrigation works, there is much that 

 could be done to reduce loss in bad 

 seasons and to ensure a great increase of 

 production when the rainfall is favour- 

 able. Our jagirdars, inamdars, land- 

 lords, and substantial cultivators will 

 find that it will pay to apply capital to 

 the improvement of their lands. Level- 

 ling and bunding the erection of tals to 

 prevent wash, fencing to protect the 

 fields from the cattle and the cattle 

 from the fields, the digging of wells 

 to utilise subsoil water, the harnessing 

 of nalas to catch surface water, the in- 

 stallation of pumping plant on river 

 banks, these are some of the require- 

 ments, and if they are approached with 

 knowledge, they will prove safe and 

 profitable investments. Similarly in the 

 use of manures, in the 



Selection of Seeds 

 in sowing, where there is now much 

 waste, and in improved tillage there is 

 ample scope for progress. The last 

 annual report of the Agricultural De- 

 partment points out that if jowari seed 

 is treated with sulphate of copper, cost- 

 ing one anna an acre, there will often 

 be ' a profit of a hundred-fold and more.' 

 Here is a way in which the investment 

 of capital on an insignificant scale will 

 prove remunerative. As to investment 

 on the larger scale, such as the purchase 

 of iron ploughs and of pumping or cane 

 crushing plant, you will find some use- 

 ful information in the report. Even in 



