April, 1009. j 



Miscellaneous. 



and'possesses a certain amount of brain 

 power which is wanting in annual or 

 machinery that must be guided by man. 



At present, then, to the ordinary 

 raiyat, with the present scale of wages 

 for Agricultural Labour in this Province 

 and the present arrangement for repair- 

 ing implements in vogue throughout all 

 the Districts, we cannot recommend any 

 implements other than are in use 

 amongst the raiyats of this Province 

 already, viz., Plough, Yoke, Ladder, 

 Kodali, Khurpi, Bhida, Don Mote Swing 

 Baskets, etc. 



P. SMITH, 

 Deputy Director of Agriculture , Bengal. 

 AGRICULTURAL PROGRESS. 



Official Reply to the Ahmedabad 

 Conference. 



The following correspondence is pub- 

 lished by the Bombay Government re- 

 lating to suggestions made at the Agri- 

 cultural Conference held at Ahmeda- 

 bad in November last :— 



Letter from the Director of Agricul- 

 ture, dated 31st January:— 



"I have the honour to forward here- 

 with two copies of proceedings of 

 the Agricultural Conference held at 

 Ahmedabad in November last, and 

 to state that copies thereof are being 

 distributed to the gentlemen who were 

 invited and to officers of the Revenue, 

 Agricultural and Irrigation Depart- 

 ments ; copies will also be distributed 

 to newspapers, public bodies, &c, ac- 

 cording to the sanctioned list." 



Government Memorandum to the 

 Director of Agriculture, dated 7th 

 March :— 



"The uudersigned presents compli- 

 ments to the Director of Agriculture, 

 and with reference to his letter No. A. 

 538, dated 31st January, 1908, forward- 

 ing a copy of the Proceedings of the 

 Agricultural Conference held at Ahmeda- 

 bad iu November, 1907, is directed to 

 invite his attention to Government 

 Resolution No. 11991 dated 5th December, 

 1907, requesting him to submit a sum- 

 mary of the important suggestions 

 made aud discussed at the Conference, 

 and to intimate that a further commu- 

 nication from him on the subject will 

 be awaited by Government." 



Letter from the Director of Agri- 

 culture, dated 9th May :-- 



"In reply to your memorandum No. 

 2529, dated 7th March, 1908, I have the 

 honour to state that I have not 'ost 

 sight of the necessity for working up 

 into practical shape some of the sug- 



gestions made at the Agricultural Con- 

 ference at Ahmedabad, but there is so 

 much work going on in this Depart- 

 ment at present, that it leaves little 

 time for reporting. The suggestions 

 made at the Conference are so far-reach- 

 ing and cover so wide a field that I 

 am not prepared on the very limited 

 experience which this Deparment has 

 at present acquired to make any very 

 definite suggestions for immediate 

 action. So far as I can, I will give 

 my views on the points indicated. 



"The important suggestions made at 

 the Conference may be briefly summa- 

 rised as follows :— 



(a) The creation of museums for the 

 exhibition annually of cotton samples ; 



(b) Offers of large prizes at Agri- 

 cultural Shows for exhibits of cotton 

 in bulk with a view to the encourage- 

 ment of the growth of good stapled 

 cotton on a commercial scale ; 



(c) Encouragement of such cultivation 

 by the purchase by Government of such 

 improved cotton or the seed of such 

 cotton at high rates ; 



(d) The establishment of modelfarmsf or 

 the geueial training of agriculturists ; 



(e) The more extended use of verna- 

 cular newspapers for the spread of 

 scientific agricultural knowledge ; 



(/) The introduction of a percentage 

 notation for the use of the trade in 

 all reports on crop estimates ; 



(g) The encouragement of Agricultural 

 Associations. 



" As regards (a), I thiuk that the pro* 

 posal was in part due to a mistaken 

 idea that the improved varieties of 

 cotton on the Government Farm were 

 iu a more advanced state of develop- 

 ment than is the case. This mistake 

 was not unnatural; but the Government 

 are aware that our improved cottons 

 are still in an experimental state, and 

 have yet to demonstrate their value 

 as a field crop on a large scale. I will, 

 however, have sample bundles of such 

 cottons made from this year's pickings, 

 and will consult with the representatives 

 of the cotton trade iu Bombay and 

 Ahmedabad as to the best use that can 

 be made of them. The question of a 

 museum will also be discussed. 



" As regards (b), the remarks made in 

 the last paragraph in a great measure 

 apply. I will consider the question of 

 applying the suggestion to Broach cotton 

 grown in Dharwar and Egyptian cotton 

 in Sind next year. 



" As regards (c), we should be prepared 

 to adopt this proposal, if necessary, in 

 the initial stage of the introduction 

 of any new variety, but I may remark 



