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and trial on a very small scale— of products likely to be useful, there have been added 

 Experiment Stations for the study of methods of cultivation and preparation of 

 products already grown in the island, upon a commercial scale, as well as for the 

 trial of "new products" which may yet become of value in Ceylon agriculture. 

 Such experiments are better suited to a properly equipped scientific institution, 

 which is not obliged to show a profit, than to private individuals, especially as such 

 work is becoming daily more technical, and agriculture more scientific. 



The Experiment Station then, deals with such questions as " what is the best 

 manure for cacao on the soil there existing?" "what is the best way of cultivating 

 lemongrass?" " what is the cheapest way of curing cacao to get the best price?" 

 " what is the best shade tree to use among tea? " and so on. The usual way of tackling 

 such a question is to have two plots, of whatever size may be sufficient to give results 

 that are fairly reliable, one without any treatment, the other with the treatment 

 that is the subject of experiment, and to compare the result of these two plots over 

 a series of years. Should the plot treated in the new way always show a smaller 

 return than the untreated one, it is fairly evident that that method of treatment is 

 a failure, if the reverse, that it is a success. 



It is no part of the ordinary duty of an Experiment Station to show model 

 plots— the important thing is the comparison between the plot treated in a particular 

 way, and the plot untreated. Naturally the plot will be kept in as good condition 

 as possible, but visitors must clearly understand that the Experiment Station is not 

 necessarily a place where they come to learn the very finest way of laying out and 

 cultivating their crops. Nor must they expect results in a very short period ; it often 

 takes several years to obtain a result of any definite value. Nor again, should they 

 regard everything that is going on as a subject for imitation, unless they realise 

 that it is experimental; many, if not most of the experiments, will probably be 

 failures, and in any case, the results will require modification to suit the particular 

 circumstances of the new place. 



The results of the experiments have to be carefully worked out, and 

 are then published by the institution, and people who try the experiments going 

 on upon the Experiment Station for themselves must realise that they are trying 

 experiments, and when they fail, as they perhaps most often must fail, should not 

 blame the institution, which cannot and will not take responsibility for unpublished 

 work. As an illustration of this, take the experiments now going on at Henaratgoda 

 upon tapping rubber trees above six feet from the ground. These are old trees 

 and the process is as yet simply an experiment, yet people have seen it going 

 on, have gone off and tapped young trees in the same way, and now blame 

 the Department for their failures. 



