66 
Supplement to the "Tropical Agriculturist." 1 ' [July 2, 1894. 
and con. The native implements of husbandly in 
vogue in Ceylon have been in use from time imme- 
morial, and while every year sees hundred of new 
patents for improved agricultural implements 
taken out in England, America and the Continent, 
the implements of our native cultivators remain 
the same as they were a thousand years ago. 
There are a great many things to be considered 
when the introduction of new or improved 
implements is thought of. The native cattle of 
the country are small in size, and by no means 
of great strength, and this is to be attributed 
to the negligence in the matter of breeding and 
to a want of proper attention to the feeding and 
care of animals. Again, it is necessary that 
the cultivator should have implements of the 
simplest make, such as, in his present ignorant 
and helpless condition, the husbandman would be 
easily able to repair, when they get out of order, 
for there are no capable blacksmiths to be found 
in most villages, and even if there were, it is a 
question whether the cultivator would be in a 
position to pay the cost of such repair. Thirdly, 
the conditions and methods of culture among the 
natives are in many ways peculiar, and any im- 
proved implements must exactly fit in with these 
conditions and methods. The question, then, we 
have to face is : is it probable that any new or 
improved implements can take the place of those 
which, albeit of a primitive type, have served 
their end for at least a thousand years ? It is pal- 
pably not good reasoning to say that because a 
method or fashion has existed for a long period 
and suited our forefathers, therefore it should still 
be retained and must be considered good enough 
for us. The conditions of life are changing 
every day, and though in this country the 
change in the agricultural surroundings of the 
people may be imperceptible, still there is no doubt 
but that it is taking place. The remoter parts of 
the Island are being made more accessible by roads 
and railways ; and education, both general and 
technical, is being carried into all parts of the 
country. These measures are in themselves 
calculated to give a great impetus to 
agricultural operations and enlarge the sphere of 
the cultivator's labours. If under the pressure of 
increasing population and greater competition 
the native agriculturist is to maintain the com- 
paratively easy position he has occupied hitherto, 
he must endeavour to be up to date in his 
modes of culture. The work of the School of 
Agriculture, through its trained Agricultural 
Instructors, is no doubt slowly having its good 
effect, while the latest development of the 
school, in the Government dairy, may be expected 
before long to have an appreciable influence on 
the mind of the native cattle owner, by its 
lesson in the management and breeding of stock. 
On the other hand, the introduction of new plants 
and seeds is bound to enlarge the sphere of the 
native cultivator's operations. With these 
changes in view, we are inclined to think that 
it is not too soon to carefully consider the 
question, as to whether some desirable improve- 
ments may not be effected in native implements 
of husbandry, and whether new implements, 
suitable to his changed conditions, may not be 
brought to the notice of the cultivator. Any in- 
novations will, of course, have to be but 
radually introduced, after close scrutiny of the 
rircum«tanr-i and careful study of the needs, of 
those for whose benefit they are intended : but 
when we note the good results that have 
followed the improvement in implements of 
husbandry in other countries, in saving of labour 
and time, and in the production of good tilth 
and its incalculable advantages, we are Induced 
to advise that the possibility of improving the 
ancient types of implements in Ceylon be taken 
into careful consideration and fully discussed. We 
do not specify any particular implement nor the 
direction in which its improvement lies : this can 
only be done (and that with the greatest caution), 
by an expert mechanic. Nor do we approve 
of implements in use in other countries 
being transferred, without due consideration of 
their suitablity as regards form, size, weight and 
capacity for particular work, into this country. 
We only contend that the subject of the im- 
provement of implements of native agriculture 
is worth the attention of those who are inter- 
ested in the rural economy of the Island and 
in the development of its resources. 
Since writing the above we have 6een Pro- 
fessor Primrose M'Connell's interesting and ex- 
haustive paper on " Tillage Implements old 
and new,'' which wo hope to notice in our 
next issue. 
OCCASIONAL NOTES. 
In t he Administration Report of the General 
Manager of the Ceylon Government Railway for 
1892, reference is made by Mr. A. E. Brown, 
Locomotive Engineer, to native wood sleepers sup- 
plied by the Forest Department, which lie charac- 
terises as unfit for the purpose ; and from an econ- 
omical point of view as inferior to imported creo- 
soted pine sleepers. The latter has been in use 
from the inception of Railways in Ceylon, and 
has cost the Government 100 per cent more than 
locally-produced sleepers would have done, had 
the proper and more durable kinds of wood 
been used. The trials made were from (1) Mur- 
raya Exotica (Sin. Etteriya, not Etaheraliya, which 
is a misnomer); (2) Carallia Tntegerrima (Sin. 
Dawata) ; (3) Ficus Arnottiana (Sin. Alubo or 
Kaputu-bo) ; and (4) Xauclea Coadunata (Sin. Bak- 
mi) all magnificent trees growing in great abun- 
dance in the Western Province, but fhe last in the 
vegetable world, that could be used as timber for 
building purposes or underground work, much less 
as railway sleepers. How comes it that no trials 
made with the wood of (1) Bassia longifolia (Sin. 
Mee) ; (2) Mesua Ferrea (Sin. Na) or iron-wood ; 
(3) Mimusops Indica (Sin. Palu) or wild satin; 
(±) Vites Altissima (Sin. Millila or Milla), and a 
number of others too numerous to name, all 
very hard grained wood, which are to be found 
in abundance in different parts of the island, 
enough to supply the requirements of our rail- 
way as long as it lasts ? As damp and white 
ant-proof timber, creosoted or not, these are 
known to have very few or no equals in other 
countries. It would not be exaggerating, there- 
fore, to say that each of these would outlast a score 
of pine sleepers. It is a common practise on old 
coffee estates which are now in tea, to obtain 
firewood for the machinery from dead na, milla 
and mee trees that had been cut down whilst 
