770 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST 4 . [May i, 1888. 
purposes of weaving. England, France, and Ger- 
many import raw material from these coun- 
tries, and the manufactures are brought back 
and sold to us at high prices. But Ceylon being 
nearer to these markets, goods can be made at a compa- 
ratively cheap rate if weaviog is accomplished by machi- 
nery * * *. In India similar Companies are known to 
earn from 10 to 12 per cent profit per annum, after de- 
ducting all expenditure. But we are inclined to say that 
10 per cent profit is quite sufficient for those who can 
easily afford to invest money. Besides, they will have the 
advantage of buying their clothes cheap. The people 
will find employment, and dyeing materials will find 
a ready sale. The large sums of money given to India 
and other countries would be saved and circulated in 
the colony itself. We are surprised to find that ne 
other Sinhalese gentleman than Mr. Proctor de Baram 
is appointed as a Director of this Company. Why 
leave out Messrs. Soysa, Peris, and like millionaires ? 
We hope that the natives of this country will give 
every support in their power to make this Company 
a success. — The " Dinakaraprakasa " of April 11th. 
The above is a translation of an editorial in a 
leading Sinhalese paper on the' new Company, and 
we think the editor does well to point out that 
a number of the leading and wealthy natives in 
the community have not as yet come forward 
and done what would seem to be a duty specially 
devolving upon them. Under ordinary circum- 
stances the native population might fairly be ex- 
pected to look up to such men and to follow 
their example, but when the natural leaders of 
the people hold back, it clearly becomes necessary 
to rouse them to a sense of the obligations which 
they owe in the positions in which Providence 
has placed them. 
With all new industries there is, in the introduc- 
tion of them, a certain amount of uphill work to 
be performed, and doubtless in the case of the 
Cotton Mills industry, it will be found that there is 
no exception. We are glad to learn, however, that 
with respect to the scheme now before the public, 
applications for shares continue to come in steadily. 
The natives, other than those above referred to, 
are doing their part, and even the planters are 
coming forward and contributing substantial sup- 
port, but other Europeans in the country seem 
slow to make up their minds to subscribe and to 
take part in so commendable an undertaking. Why, 
it is difficult to assign a reason, when it is remem- 
bered that the objects to be attained are 
such that only good can accrue to the island 
generally. 
In years gone by, men used to combine and bear a 
hand in all that was, devised for the benefit of the 
Colony. Public posts, men readily made sacrifices to 
fill, and there used to be little difficulty in finding 
competent persons to give their time and services 
for the work, say, of the Legislative Council, 
the Chamber of Commerce, the Friend-in-Need 
Society, the Committees of Missionary, and other 
Societies we could mention. But now-a-days, many 
of our Colonists seem to be of a different stamp, and 
in some instances at least, there prevails a selfish in- 
difference to all, but what affects the individual 
directly, and unfortunately, while the high motive of 
old days is wanting, the material benefit of "number 
one" appears to be a first mainspring of action. Critics 
of course only live to criticise, but some 
there are who seem to wish that anything in 
which there is any good, may not prosper, but rather 
the reverse. Others there are who, whilst expressing 
their best wishes that you may succeed, never 
think of putting their hand in their pocket, or of 
lifting a finger to help in making progress easier 
or more assured. They indulge in gloomy prog- 
nostications, deluded all the while with the idea 
that such may be taken for wisdom. Others for- 
get that they, — all but drones in the colonial hive, — 
only study how easy they can make their life here, 
and spend their days in striving to minister to 
their own personal comfort. The true Colonist on 
the other hand, will welcome all that is for the 
gcod of his adopted country, and exert himself to 
the utmost in assisting the development of every- 
thing that is industrial and elevating, which will 
contribute to the moral and material welfare of 
the people. 
The cotton industry, that is now being set on 
foot, is essentially one in which nearly all may 
take part. Those who have money may give ma- 
terial help, and those who have got little, can do 
something towards promoting and extending the 
growth of cotton. The boon that this would 
be to the natives throughout the length and 
breadth of the land, is very great. Some- 
thing is wanted to take the place of the de- 
funct native coffee tree. Something that would give 
as little trouble in the growth and preparation for 
the market as did coffee. The cotton plant is 
eminently adapted for this. It is merely necessary 
that the ground, cleared of jungle and weeds, 
should be ploughed or hoed. The seed is then sown 
broadcast and covered, and in a few months the 
plant grows up to maturity. In due time the 
cotton pods form, the bolls open, and the cotton is 
picked. The next process is the "ginning," and 
this is done in Southern India by the native 
"Churka," consisting of two revolving rollers worked 
by hand, by which the seed is separated from the 
fibre. In Tinnevelly every household is provided 
with a number of these, and in the cotton season 
all the members of the family are employed, — men, 
women, and children, in preparing the staple for 
the market. The seed, as is well known, is valu- 
able as food for cattle, and in course of time, oil 
might be extracted from it, as is done from Egyp- 
tian and American seed. When once the seed is 
introduced and cotton growing is started, there will 
be a supply of the seed for the annual planting 
for all time, but the introduction will require 
initiatory effort, and some degree of perseverance 
In this we think it would be the duty of the Gov- 
ernment to help to the utmost of its power. If 
this is done there cannot fail to be some good 
return to the native population of Ceylon. 
As to the practical cultivation of cotton here, we 
may have a good deal to say by-and-bye. What 
has been done by way of experiment in times past 
will be found summarized in our " Agricultural 
Beview" prepared for our "Handbook and Direc- 
tory" of 1877-78. The Administration Beports for 
certain districts — notably Hambantota— may also 
be consulted with advantage. Anything that can 
be done ' must be through native agency, and no 
better beginning can be devised than for Govern- 
ment to import good seed for distribution under 
the auspices of their Director of Public Instruc- 
tion and "Agriculture," and through the Assistant 
Agents of Hambantota, Trincomalee, Puttalam and 
Manaar and the Agents for the Uva, Eastern, 
Northern and North-Central Provinces. One fact 
which we found established even in the Southern States 
of America — the greatest cotton-growing country in 
the world — must be even more emphasized in 
Ceylon. It was put by an American friend of ours 
in Bichmond, Virginia, as follows: — 
" Cotton, iu one sense, is the most valuable crop that 
is grown. It furnishes laborers with employment 
from the day it is planted until it finally ends its 
career in the paper mills, and printing offices : but cot- 
ton will bankrupt and ruin any man or country that 
attempts to make it pay for the horses, mules, hay, 
meat, bread, molassea, aud almost every other article 
of daily consumption, from the profits of an ' all cotton 
crop,' " 
