THE 



TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST 



AND 



MAGAZINE OF THE 



CEYLON AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Vol. XXVI. COLOMBO, MAY 15th. 190G. No. 4. 



Some Possibilities of Improvement in Village Agriculture. 



I 



It is well to remark at starting that we intend in these articles only to 

 consider some of the possibilities of improvement in village agriculture, not all 

 or even most of them. Without capital it is, of course, almost idle to look for im- 

 provement ; the poorer villager cannot afford to try experiments nor even to 

 adopt an improved crop or method, if any monetary outlay is at present required. 

 Though he may know that an expenditure of ten cents will bring in a rupee, 

 he must first have the ten cents. Experimental gardens and other similar methods 

 of work for the improvement of agriculture and horticulture can do little for 

 the poorer villager until this primary difficulty is got over. They may introduce 

 or breed better varieties of plants than those the local cultivators use but the 

 latter cannot afford to buy them, while if they are presented to the villagers, they 

 are undervalued. A common experience in Ceylon has been to give good seed 

 to a villager and then to find that he has eaten it in his curry or sown it 

 somewhere that it has no chance of success. 



One great, and perhaps the commonest, mistake that is made in endea- 

 vouring to introduce improvement in agricultural crops and methods is trying 

 to go too fast. Evolution works now, and always has worked, by almost inde- 

 finitely small steps. Agriculturists, more especially Southern Asiatics, are about 

 the most conservative of mankind. Great harm has been done to the cause of 

 true scientific and lasting progress by enthusiasts anxious to go rapidly, forgetting 

 that the gap between the native and the European— if indeed it can ever be, or is 

 to be desired to be. bridged — is to be measured in centuries. Similarly unsound 

 ideas have also been at the root of the ruin of many well-considered schemes for 

 agricultural improvement. Instead of fixing upon a definite system, and 

 adhering firmly to it for long periods till it has had a chance of showing results, 

 we treat it only too often like children treat the plants in their gardens, 

 digging them up at frequent intervals to see how they are getting on, and soon 



throwing them away because they have not grown unnaturally quickly to suit 

 their wishes. 



When we take a general survey of village agriculture, it is easy to see 

 that there are many points in which improvement is possible. Such are :— • 



(1) The variety of products cultivated. 



(2) The kinds or varieties of particular crops cultivated. 



(3) The methods of cultivation. 



(4) The cleanliness of cultivation and freedom from weeds and disease. 



(5) The preparation of the produce for sale ; and so on. 



