442 
Supplement to the "Fropical Agriculturist." [December i, 1889. 
also mention that two of our students were selected by 
Col. Olarke as Forest Hangers, and the knowledge of 
Botany; soils, and entomology imparted here is of great 
use towards the requirements of the Forest Department. 
The practical work of the school is still carried on under 
the able supervision of Mr. A. W. Jayawardene, who 
was, as is known to Your Excellency, trained at the 
Saidapet Farm in the Madras Presidency ; and the wil- 
lingness and zeal displayed by the students in doing 
their own share of the work with their own hands 
were an agreeable surprise to me, and are un- 
doubtedly a healthy sign, considering the dislike to 
manual labor previously exhibited by well-born na- 
tives, and with which the D. P. I. had originally to 
combat. During the year the school lost from the 
staff of its masters, the valuable services of Mr. Lewis, 
who was promoted to a Sub-Inspectorship of Schools, 
but it has gained a useful helper in the person of Mr. 
W. A. De Silva (who lately reflected on the Schooli 
the honour of winning the open prize offered by the 
!' Independent " newspaper forjthe best essay on " cotton 
cultivation.") There are up to date 10 agricultural 
instructors in various parts of the island, six of whom 
are paid by Government and 4 privately. The 
valuable encouragement given, and the great interest 
shown by more than one Government Agent, in the 
pushing on of agricultural work, is a matter of con- 
gratulation. Many of our instructors have carried on 
experiments with other products than paddy, with 
a view to impressing on native cultivators the pos. 
sibility of their cultivating these products remunera- 
tively. The success of Mr. Rodrigo's arrowroot cultiva. 
tion, and Mr. Lawrence Perera's cotton cultivation 
are worthy of mention ; while experiments with dholl 
by most of the instructors have proved that a whole- 
some and nutritious food-stuff can be produced with 
little trouble. With the multiplication of crops 
capable of successful growth by the natives of the 
island, there will obviously be less risk to our cultivators, 
while the resources of the soil will be taxed to a less ex- 
tent. A new feature in the means of diffusing agricultural 
knowledge is the " Magazine of the School of Agri- 
culture " which was started in July last, and is still 
spread after a six months' term of probation to live, 
it is hoped, a long and useful life. There are both 
an English and a Sinhalese edition, and from the 
manner in which the publication has been received 
and eucouraged by landowners and others, I am 
sanguine of its object, — to circulate useful information 
among the agricultural classes — being realized. I have 
again to thank Your Excellency for the honour of this 
visit, and to hope that still more substantial success 
— even such as will eventually tend to elevate our 
cultivators from their present precarious condition to 
a securer position — may yet have to be reported to 
you. 
HOW DOES SCIENCE HELP AGBICULTUBE* 
VI. 
By C. Dhiuijehg, b.a., f.h.A.S. 
One of the drawback*, and very often the greatest 
drawback, in the way of successful cultivation ia th 
damage dene by insect pests. Instances are innumerable 
of insects causing whole-sale destruction of crops, and 
bringing utter ruin to cultivators. In Europe and 
America, the Turnip and Hessian flies, and the Colorado 
beetle, have been the great enemies of farmers, and 
no trouble and expense have been spared in the investi- 
gations into the nature and habits, and the best means 
for the destruction of these pests. Commissions have 
been appointed to enquire into the subject, and 
scientific men have devoted their attention solely to the6e 
enemies of farmers. The science which deals with 
the classification, life-history, and habits of insect-pests 
is entomology, and closely connected with the subject 
is the name of Miss Ek-anor Omerod, who holds the 
post of consulting entomologist to the Royal Agricul- 
tural Society of England. Miss Omerod's valuable 
reports are published in the Society's Annual Journal, 
and she is also the author of works on the insect pests 
not only of England but of certain colonies, which are 
considered standard books of reference on the subject. 
Considering the vast destruction which insects are 
capable of bringing about, it is most desirable that the 
insects of every country which are known to be de- 
structive to vegetation should be studied in regard to 
their habits and modes of propagation, with a view to 
their being dealt with most effectually when necessity 
demands. It is ahealthy sign that the study of the sub- 
ject of entomology is beginning to be encouraged in 
Ceylon, and that knowledge is being circulated by 
means of the Newspaper press, so that cultivators may 
know as much as possible about the enemies with 
which they have to contend. A work has lately been 
published in India on insect-enemies, and will be found 
to be of great value to agriculturists. Some of the 
pests dealt with are such as do much damage in our 
own island, but there are a number of other destructive 
creatures in Ceylon which have yet to be studied. 
Many of them with no distinctive names ; and obser- 
vations with regard to which must reveal facts that 
are certain to be of great benefit to our local agricul- 
turists. The pests which attack tea and coffee have 
been and are being studied by capable persons, and it 
is to be hoped that the insects which infect other crops 
than these, and especially paddy, will not escape 
observation, and will in time be dealt with. More 
knowledge regarding these latter is much required be- 
fore any remedial measures can be adopted. In a 
country with a climate suoh as ours, circumstances and 
surroundings are far more favourable to the develop- 
ment and spread of insect than in more temperate 
regions. The abundance of insect-life is indeed one 
of the striking characteristics of tropical countries to 
those who come eastward for the first time. Warmth, 
dense vegetation, and uninterrupted verdure, all these 
go to favour insect-life. 
Thus it is all the more necessary that the life and 
habits of tropical insects should be studied. For cul- 
tivation may often be regulated accordiug to the 
periods during which particular insects appear in their 
destructive form, so as to— so far as is possible,— delay 
