April, luoy.] 



829 



Fibres* 



end of September the crop may be 

 pulled out after taking the third picking. 



Picking at the Experiment Station 

 costs Re. 1 per 100 lb. seed cotton (i.e,, 

 fibre and seed), whereas in America it 

 costs 75 cents American (or fully double), 

 and in Egypt 10 piastres (2 shillings) for 

 the same quantity. An average boy 

 should pick 00 pounds a day. 



Implements.— It has been clearly de- 

 monstrated by the Superintendent of 

 the Experiment Station that the most 

 economical way to cultivate crops in the 

 North-Central Province, after removing 

 the trees, is by implements drawn by 

 cattle. The writer would consider it 

 necessary to have the following imple- 

 ments for every 100 acres under cotton, 

 owing to the short period between 

 the end of the monsoon and the 

 suggested planting season. With regard 

 to the implements at present in use, the 

 writer would suggest nothing except an 

 increase in number :-— 



Four ploughs which will be capable oi 

 dealing with 100 acres in twenty-five 

 days, three American disc cultivators, 

 one light Cambridge roller, two ridging 

 ploughs, and two drill cultivators. 



In the North-Central Province the 

 tillage operations can be accomplished 

 at the following cost, provided the land 

 is comparatively clear of stumps :— 

 Ploughing, Rs. 5 per acre ; cultivating, 

 60 cents per acre ; ridging, Rs, 2 per 

 acre ; drill cultivating, 60 cents per acre. 



(Note.— The above rates are fixed on 

 a basis of Rs. 2 per yoke of oxen and 

 men.) 



Labour. — From personal observations 

 and particulars obtained from the 

 Superintendent there does not seem to 

 be any scarcity of labour, provided 

 one is prepared to pay a slightly higher 

 rate of wages than on the planting 

 estates ; but this is compensated to a 

 large extent by having the coolies 

 without advances, this being the case 

 on the Experiment Station. The pro- 

 bable extension of railway and roads 

 may at any time render it necessary 

 to obtain indented labour under advan- 

 ces, but the fact must not be lost sight 

 of that at present there is no compe- 

 tition for agricultural labour in the 

 North-Central Province. 



As regards living conditions for 

 coolies, it may be noted that food is 

 cheap, excellent fish abounding in the 

 tanks, local rice delivered on the estate 

 under normal conditions at Rs. 4*50 

 per bushel, being much cheaper than 

 in other districts of the Island, owing 

 to the large area of the crop culti- 

 vated by the local villagers ; the only 

 42 



commodity that rules high being coco- 

 nuts, which are sold on an average at 

 8 cents each, but there is every pro- 

 babilty of their becoming cheaper, as 

 the crop grows well in the Province. 



With the use of implements and 

 cattle, manual labour is reduced to a 

 minimum during the growing season, 

 and it is possible to get local labour to 

 plant and harvest the crop, unless it 

 interferes with the reaping of village 

 paddy. The suggested time of plant- 

 ing will not clash with the village 

 harvest as formerly, when cotton was 

 planted in October and harvested in 

 March and April. 



Local irregular village woman labour 

 can be obtained at 30 cents, and estate 

 labour on an average of 43 cents. In 

 the writer's opinion, with tactful 

 management, the various labour pro 

 blems will be easily solved. 



Financial Considerations. 



The land may be thoroughly cleared 

 of trees and stumps for Rs. 50 per 

 acre, or all trees under 12 inches dia- 

 meter cut and burnt at Rs. 25. To 

 facilitate the future tillage operations 

 it would be advisable to thoroughly 

 clear the laud, and no doubt a stump ex- 

 tractor would minimize the cost of 

 clearing considerably. It is always ad- 

 visable to keep in mind that good 

 roads, cheap railway carriage, and over- 

 sea f i eight are matters of the utmost 

 importance in placing the crop on the 

 market. Ceylon being favoured in this 

 respect, the writer considers that the 

 commencing of cotton plantations in 

 the No^th-Central Province is out- 

 side of the sphere of the native resi- 

 dents, as capital is required to buy and 

 clear land. 



Cotton has a distinct advantage over 

 tea and rubber, in the fact that re- 

 turns can be obtained immediately 

 after clearing, as the crop only occu- 

 pies the land for seven months. 



Assuming that the crop return is 300 

 pounds of fibre per acre at 8d. per lb., 

 which in the writer's opinion is a low 

 estimate, the profit should at least be 

 £4 10s. per acre, reckoning the cost of 

 actual tillage of harvesting (not includ- 

 ing ginning, baling transport, and ship- 

 ping) at Rs. 50 per acre. 



The amount of capital required to 

 take up land depends to a large extent 

 on the value put on the land by the 

 Government, but this matter is outside 

 the sphere of this report; the above 

 figures are based on an assumption of 

 Rs. 20 per acre, and a water tax of 

 Rs. 2. In Egypt average land produces 

 500 lb. of fibre per acre, bat there is 



