November, 1911.] 



395 



Edible Products. 



may add that in such cases a reference 

 to the rainfall returns almost invariably 

 bears out the results given. 



Under these circumstances I think I 

 may claim for the statistics lam about 

 to deal with, that they are a fair and 

 accurate representation of the progrsss 

 of Paddy cultivation in Ceylon during 

 the last fifty years. 



As regards the use of the term 

 " acreage " in the Blue Books and in my 

 returns, a word of explanation is neces- 

 sary. Iu ordinary parlance and in re- 

 ference to such crops as Coconuts, 

 Coffee, Tea, etc., it indicates the area 

 planted with these products independent 

 of the number of crops gathered in the 

 year. But in the Blue Book returns for 

 Paddy the practice is different and not 

 always the same. As is well hnown, 

 especially in Matara, a large proportion 

 of the aswedumized or arable area is 

 cropped twice within the twelve 

 months ; while in parts of the Western 

 Province three crops are taken off the 

 same parcels of land. InBatticaloa, on 

 the other hand, only a comparatively 

 small proportion (if any) is cultivated 

 twice, and though there are three crops 

 within the year, they are raised on 

 different lands. 



In the North-Central Province, also, 

 heretofore no land has been cultivated a 

 second time (as recently reported by the 

 Government Agent). Again; in the 

 Western Province figures, the acreage 

 sown with Paddy tor each harvest is 

 added together and the total shown, 

 In 1888 this was 68,000 in the Colombo 

 District, whereas the whole aswedu- 

 mized area is about three-fourths 

 of this. On the other hand, in the 

 Central Province, the area reported as 

 sown never exceeds the arable area, and 

 so I conclude any twice sown land is 

 only taken into account once. 



As the extent cultivated a second time 

 within the year is on the increase, 

 especially in the irrigated districts, 

 it is important to get reliable in- 

 formation in this respect. The Head- 

 men who prepare the returns in the 

 first instance might be required to 

 • give it. But whether it is so supplied 

 or not, it if necessary to secure uniform- 

 ity, and therefore desirable that some 

 definite ruling of Government on the 

 point should be promulgated. Mean- 

 while I draw attention to the matter, 

 as agricultural statisticians are ac- 

 customed to deal with acreage as test of 

 progress, and I think it is to this fact 

 may be traced the adverse opinions 

 generally held as to the progress of 

 Paddy cultivation during recent times, 

 and the disappointment that greater 



extension did not follow on the abolition 

 of the Grain Tax. 



Some years ago at an Agricultural 

 Exhibition at Matara, when addressing 

 an audience familiar with the subject, I 

 pointed out how the production of 

 Paddy had been doubled in that dis- 

 trict, thanks to Irrigation, with hardly 

 any addition to the arable area. The 

 statement has been, I hear, impugned ; 

 it was true at the time ; and though 

 owing to probably incessant cultivation 

 there may have been some falling off, I 

 am glad to find that the average crops 

 are still at least 50 % above what they 

 were in pre-irrigation times. 



In view of these circumstances it seems 

 to me that the progress and develop- 

 ment of Paddy cultivation in Ceylon 

 must be measured by the increased pro- 

 duction rather than by the additional 

 area brought under cultivation. 



The Weather and Rainfall 

 is another collateral but important sub- 

 ject which calls for attention at this 

 stage. In Rhys David's translation of 

 the first fifty Jatakas, it is recounted 

 how on one occasion " the lion main- 

 tained that the dark half of the moon 

 was cold, while the tiger thought it 

 was cold in the moonlight half, neither 

 seeing until the Bodisat told them, that 

 it was not the moon but the wind 

 which brought the cold." And so it 

 has been with the discussions over 

 paddy cultivation ; some ascribed the 

 slow development to " the apathy of the 

 native," and others to inferiority of 

 soil, yield, etc. There has been a general 

 idea that water was required in the dry 

 districts and irrigation was recessary, 

 coupled however with doubts "if it 

 would pay." But due regard has not been 

 paid to the rainfall, and especially as, 

 as already stated, much criticism of the 

 reported results ignored its consider- 

 ation. Irrigation has its usefulness un- 

 doubtedly in storing and eking out the 

 rain, but it by no means takes its place, 

 and there is nothing like a plentiful 

 fall to produce bumper crops. 



So in my opinion no examination or 

 criticism of the returns of paddy cultiv- 

 ation and production is worthy of 

 acceptance which is not accompanied by 

 a careful reference to the concurrent 

 rainfall. Nor can the ordinary returns 

 in any calendar year be used for this 

 purpose. The true agricultural year in 

 Ceylon is the Sinhalese one, and the 

 corresponding rainfall rei urn should be 

 that for the twelve mouths ending on 

 the 30th April of each year. This would 

 include two complete monsoons and the 

 climatic influehce which govern the two 



