THE 



TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST 



AND 



MAGAZINE OF THE 



CEYLON AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Vol. XXXII, COLOMBO, APRIL 15th, 1909, No. 4. 



Reviews. 



THE EXPERIMENT STATION, 

 PERADENIYA, 



A revised list of the Plots on the Experiment 

 Station, Peradeniya, by R. H. Lock : Circulars 

 and Agricultural Journal of the Royal Botanic 

 Gardens, Ceylon, Vol. IV., No. 18. 



The writer of this note does not pro- 

 pose to criticise his own publication. 

 The appearance of this circular, which 

 consists almost exclusively of a compila- 

 tion from the work of others, is merely- 

 taken as the text for a few remarks on 

 the history and position, functions and 

 work of this agricultural institution. 

 The writer, however, feels justified in 

 remarking that he has had rather special 

 opportunities of becoming acquainted 

 with his subject, having had facilities 

 for closely examining the whole estate 

 during the two first years of its occupa- 

 tion by the Ceylon Government ; whilst 

 during the past year he has had the 

 advantage of revisiting it after a con- 

 siderable interval and noting the marked 

 improvements and extensions of work 

 which have been carried out. 



The historic estate of Gangaruwa, first 

 opened in coffee by Sir Edward Barnes, 

 and more recently cultivated in cacao, 

 coconuts and other products, was taken 

 over by the Government of Ceylon on 

 May 1st, 1902, in order to be developed 

 as an experimental plantation for the 



benefit and instruction of the natives 

 and planters of the country. After care- 

 ful consideration it was decided by 

 Government that the title " Experiment 

 Station, Peradeniya,' was the one best 

 suited to describe the position and func- 

 tions of this institution. To this ques- 

 tion of a name we venture to direct 

 special attention, because it is one upon 

 which there exists some misapprehension 

 and the station is often miscalled, both 

 in the press and in conversation. 



At the outset practically the whole 

 attention of the small staff had to be 

 devoted to a single large experiment, 

 which occupied the greater part of the 

 cultivated area for some years, and can 

 be said to have only recently been com- 

 pleted. In 1902, the Cacao canker, then 

 rampant in many parts of Ceylon, had 

 thoroughly established itself on Ganga- 

 ruwa estate, so that practically all the 

 cacao trees over 150 acres were affected 

 by this scourge, and the crop had sunk 

 to a figure which represented a dead loss 

 to the estate. 



Vigorous measures were immediately 

 undertaken, an account of which is to 

 be found in the Reports of the Controller 

 of the Experiment Station and of the 

 Government Mycologist for 1902 and 

 the years immediately following. As 

 the direct result of these measures the 

 cacao canker may now be said to be 

 under complete control, whilst the con- 

 dition and cropping power of the plots 

 under experiment may be said to be as 



