334 



| May 1907. 



AN ESSAY ON THE BETEL VINE. 

 Its Cultivation and Diseases. 



Mr. M. H. Mirando, Hon. Secretary of the Negombo Branch Agricultural 

 Society, and Muhandiram of Alut Kuru Korale North, has offered a gold medal 

 through the Parent Society for the best essay in English, Sinhalese or Tamil, dealing 

 with the cultivation of the betel vine — soil, planting, manuring, pests and diseases— 

 their prevention and cure— with a view to obtaining the experience of cultivators 

 and others conversant with the subject. The Secretary, Ceylon Agricultural Society, 

 is prepared to receive essays till the end of June. It is expected that the Government 

 Mycologist will shortly issue a leaflet dealing with the subject of betel disease, and 

 the exhaustive information which it is hoped to get together through this competition 

 will probably prove of value in the preparation of the leaflet. 



In view of the great risks to which so remunerative an industry as betel 

 cultivation is exposed, and the heavy loss occasioned by the disease or diseases 

 affecting the vine, the offer made by Mr. Mirando is one which the Society is only 

 too glad to accept in the interests of the numerous small cultivators who make a 

 living out of betel growing, and it is to be hoped that with the assistance of the 

 liberal donor of the prize and the technical advice of the Government expert in plant 

 diseases, it will be found possible to carry on the cultivation with less uncertain 

 prospects than at present. 



Minutes of the Board of Agriculture. 



The thirty-first meeting of the Board of Agriculture was held at the Council 

 Chamber at noon on Monday the 6th May, 1907. 

 His Excellency the Governor presided- 



The others present were : — The Hon. Mr. H. W. Brodhurst, the Hon. Mr. H.L. 

 Crawiord, the Hon. Mr. P. Arunachalam, Mr. J. Harward, Dr. J. C. Willis, Mr. E. B. 

 Denham, Mr. Francis Beven, Mr. E. T. Hoole, and the Secretary. 



Visitor :— M. Suppramanian. 



Business Done. 



1. The Minutes of the Meeting held on April 8th, 1907 were read and 

 confirmed. 



2. The Progress Report (No. XXX) was presented and taken as read. 



3. The Report on the Southern tour made by the Organising Vice-President 

 and the Secretary, printed in circular form, was laid on the table. Dr. Willis, at the 

 request of His Excellency, supplemented his minute on the report by some further 

 remarks on the respective functions of town and village Agricultural Societies. 



4- Reports by Mr. J. K. Nock and Mr. H. F. Macmillan on the Nuwara Eliya 

 Show, and by Dr. Willis, Mr. Nock and Mr. Hoole on the Badulla Show were tabled, 



5. The Secretary read a paper entitled "A note on the new system of culti- 

 vation in arid districts." 



Dr. Willis emphasied the necessity for cultivation, in the true sen se of the 

 term, as the only means of conserving moisture in dry districts. 



His Excellency the Governor also commented on the paper, remarking on the 

 importance of the points raised. 



6. Dr. Willis then addressed the meeting on the subject of a Rotation of 

 Crops suitable to Ceylon. 



His Excellency in the course of his remarks suggested the possibility of 

 improving the method of cultivation in vogue on high lands, by allowing Crown land 

 to the poorer villagers on reasonable terms, to be cultivated according to a rational 

 system of rotation. 



