January, 1909.] 



59 



Live Stock. 



been introduced ; everything now rests 

 in the hands of the skipper of this well 

 equipped and well manned ship, 1 say- 

 without any hesitation that if it is in 

 capable hands, in four years ' time it will 

 start paving the royal road of improving 

 the cattle in the Island. This, of course 

 cannot be done as if by a magician's 

 wand but by slow and sure progress. It 

 cannot be expected that what has been 

 going backwards for decades can be set 

 right in a year or two, but I have no 

 hesitation in sayiug that 10 to 15 years 

 will show very beneficial results. Now 

 the question is : Can this be practically 

 done? I must own that this is a very 

 difficult question, but I shall make some 

 few suggestions which no doubt can be 

 vastly improved on by better brains 

 than mine. 



I would suggest that stud bulls be sent 

 from the farm (the progeny of the 

 imported stock) in the hands of trained 

 instructors, to different districts (accord- 

 ing to bulls available), and that cattle 

 owners be allowed the free use of the 

 animals for stud purposes. The in- 

 structors will teach the people the object 

 of this mission, instruct them as to the 

 best methods of improving their own 

 herds, tell them of the better prices that 

 cau be obtained by breeding better 

 cattle, tell them of the large quantities 

 of milk that cau be got, try and induce 

 them as an object-lesson to visit the 

 farm, and in fact in a hundred and one 

 ways show them that this is being done 

 for their advantage, and teach them to 

 help themselves. I am certain that 

 plenty of advantage will be taken of the 

 free stud bulls, which is undoubtedly a 

 very good start. Things must not by 

 any means be allowed to flag ; every- 

 thing must be kept up to almost boiling 

 point. The local branches of the Agri- 

 cultural Society must be shaken up from 

 their lethargic state, and induced to 

 preach and in every way possible drive 

 into the people the advantages of im- 

 proving their cattle. They can also 

 help by gettiug up Agricultural Shows 

 where prizes are offered for the best 

 types of cattle under the new process. 

 The farm will have its best on exhibit 

 at these shows. The Parent Society will 

 no doubt give all the aid it possibly can, 

 as no doubt it will at once see the great 

 importance of the subject, even sur- 

 passing that of agriculture, and silk- 

 worm growing. I am sure that the 

 greatest enthusiast of the two fore- 

 going subjects will agree with me that 

 this is a subject before which theirs 

 must take a back seat, as it is one of 

 vital, importance to the welfare of the 

 whole Island. Even the goddess of 

 nicotine that so many of us worship 



many times a day must take a back seat, 

 to the goddess that supplies lactic fluid, 

 and the gods that renovate the lost 

 energies of the human man, and promote 

 the motive power for either drawing 

 him or his worldly possessions. 



There is no doubt that ocular demon- 

 stration is of far greater importance 

 than preaching ; especially when dealing 

 with the ignorant masses, this must be 

 taken full advantage of in driving out 

 the prejudices and lax methods of the 

 people. Now in a very few years the 

 farm will not only be able to supply 

 free sires, but be able to sell both stud 

 bulls, and dairy cows, as well as some 

 draft cattle, etc. In tact, in a very few 

 years it will be a self-supporting in- 

 stitution not only paying its way but 

 having a balance in hand and year by« 

 year enlargening its scope of useful- 

 ness, to ultimately have to its credit 

 that it was by its means that the 

 cattle of Ceylon were brought up to a 

 high standared of perfection. 



The farm could be worked to some 

 extent in conjunction with the Colombo 

 Government Dairy inasmuch as supply- 

 ing them with cows, which uo doubt are 

 now procured at big prices from India, 

 and also be made the Colombo Depot for 

 stud bulls and cattle for sale, etc. Once 

 theifarm is thoroughly established and 

 paying its way other smaller farms 

 must be started in other districts, under 

 the supervision of trained young men 

 from the parent institution. This is of 

 great importance as they will not only 

 teach the people how to improve their 

 stock by breeding, but will teach them 

 how to grow food, aud make silage. 

 These farms should experiment and find 

 out what grass, etc, do best in the 

 particular districts. Teach the people 

 how land is to be prepared for cultiva- 

 tion, induce them to visit the place and 

 see how things are being done, in fact 

 lay down the foundation of real agri- 

 cultural instruction and development, 

 A certain number of farm implements 

 of the most suitable types (which have 

 been tested at the parent farm and 

 found to be the ideal necessity) can be 

 lent to the people free of charge, and 

 they be taught the use of them. Agri- 

 cultural banks so much discussed a little 

 while ago can be started in a small way 

 in conjunction with the farms, first of 

 all by lending first-class seed grain and 

 other suitable seeds, to be returned with 

 a small percentage of interest, and there 

 is no saying how farthese and other allied 

 institutions can be developed, they are 

 carried out in a practical manner, by 

 thoroughly experienced agriculturists, 



