288 
Supplement to the " Tropical Agriculturist'* [Oct. 1, 1899. 
COLOMBO SCHOOL OF AGRICULTURE. 
f From Mr. C. Driebery's lieport to the Director 
of Public Tiifitriictioii. ) 
No changes have taken place in the constitution 
of tlie Scliool of Agriculture during the past year. 
The Commission which was expected to deal with 
the question of re organising the Institution did 
not meet, and the work was carried on the 
the same lines and under the same conditions as 
before. With the appointment of another Com- 
mission to consider the laiger question of organis- 
ing an Agricultural Department for the Island, 
it is ti be expected that there will be some im- 
portant changes, whereby the scope of work and 
the usefulness of the School of Agriculture will be 
extended. 
The importance of Agricultural Shows from an 
educational point of view is admitted on all hands, 
and on the occasion in question the promoters 
took advantage of the opportunity to give practical 
demonstrations on special subjects, such as bud- 
ding and grafting, cream separating, &c., which 
greatly enhanced the importance of the Show 
as a medium of instruction Agricultural Shows 
are of rare occurrence in the Island, and the 
studentsof the School of Agriculture weresingularly 
fortunate in the fact that the last Show was held at 
their very doors, anti in being so closely associated 
with the undertaking from which, as an object 
lesson in their coarse of instruciion, they were able 
to derive the maximunr benefit, I have in my 
previous reports strongly urged the importance of 
regularly holding Agricultural Shows, which, had 
Government seen its way to guarantee a vote 
against possible losses, might have been held an- 
nually. As it wa«, the last show pnid its own 
expenses, and there was no necessity to draw ujion 
the guarantee which was so liberally made by Mr. 
Davidson, the Mayor. 
As in olher years, a large amount of correspond- 
ence was gone through in reply to letters received 
from correspondents in and out of the island, and 
in consulting others with the object of furthering 
the agricultural interests of tiie Colony. As an 
instance of such an intercommunication I might 
mention the fact of tiie opening up of a trade 
in kekuna oil ( Aleuritis iriloha ) to uieet the de- 
mand that has arisen from abroad for this long- 
neglected product. I have been working a good 
deal with other oils so as to bring such merits 
as they niio-ht possess to tlie notice of the trade, 
while the question of making plantain llour a 
marketable commodity has also engaged my 
attention. On this latter subject 1 have made 
two reports to Government. The nurseries 
of the Khea or liamie plant have been 
])ractically abandoned, owing to the lack 
of interest shown by local growers in the fibre 
industry. The more important introductions v\ 
the way of new plants are the Florida velvet 
bean {Miicuna pruricns), highly recommended as 
a soil renovator (though useful in other ways), a 
new variety of the sweet potato {the N(tncii:iuni) 
and seeds of the early amber sutrarcane. My 
thanks are <lue to the Director of the Koyal 
Botanic Gardens, Peradeniya, Mr. Williams of 
Henaratgoda, Mr. .John Ferguson, Mr. George 
Warr of New York, the U.S. Department of Agri- 
culture, Mr. Chinch of Japan and others, for 
seeds and jjlants presented to tlie .school. 
The reading room has been well supplied with 
figricultuial papers and lepoits and the publica- 
tion of the Agricultural Magazine, which com- 
pleted its ninth volume in June, 1898, is kept up 
with regularity. 
The ."-econd batch of students trained in the 
Forestry School passed out at the end of February. 
They are now enployed iu tlie Foreift Department 
as follows : — 
Mr. Fontyn, Forest Ranger, Kurunegala ; Mr. 
C B Karunaratne, Forest Guard, Hanwella ; Mr. 
B L Mendis, Forest Guard, Hambantota ; Mr. M 
A Fernando, Forest Guard, Passara ; Mr. K de 
Silva, Forest Guard, Kandapola. The first two 
were draftetl from the Department and the others 
were admitted from the School of Agriculture 
after a coni])etitive examination. The new cla.ss 
should have begun work in March, but owing to 
the delay in tlie arrival of the Forest Oiiieers 
who were to form the class, regular wojk did 
not commence till May. The new class, con- 
.sisting of Messr.s. J S Perera, M B Senevi- 
ratne, G K.ijapakse, W C Rowlands, W Ferdi- 
nands, and D E Tiathonis, was taken on tour 
by the Conservator of Forests in November and 
travelled to Kurunegala, from where the Sunda- 
pola, Aivandrum, RukgoUa, and Kalugalla forests 
were visited, and thence to Galboda, Nanuoya, 
and Haputale. 
There is nothing of special importance that I 
can refer to in the Training School and Practising 
Schools. The Veterinary classes were kept up by 
Mr. Sturgess, wdro reports that Mr. J. E. Fernando 
was the best student of the year and will have 
his recommendation for the Government Veteri- 
nary Scholarship when it next falls vacant. The 
Government Dairy has grown since my last report 
was written ; the demand for milk has increased, 
and adilitioiial accommodation had to be provided 
for the stock. On December 31,1898, the entire 
dairy herrt consi.sted of 81 cows, 94 calves, 
three stud bulls, and four draught animals. It will 
be observed that we have a large number of young 
stock on hand, many of them half-grown animabs^ 
wliich take up a good deal of room. On the re- 
commendation of the Colonial Veterinary Surgeon, 
Government have decided not to sell such younw 
stock v.'hich the dairy can sjjare, in Colombo, 
but to send them to the Provinces to be sold 
by the Revenue Ofiicers, wiiere it is expected 
tney will come under the notice of the smaller 
native landowners and cattlekeepers, by whom 
they will be purchased. The object of the new 
arrangement is a good one, but it is doubtful 
whether it will be attained in practice. For one 
thing the dairj' will not be a gainer by the sales 
being conducted in the Provinces instead cf in 
Colombo, where there is naturally more com- 
petition at the sales. Again, the wealthier land- 
owners of the Provinces, who have hitherto had 
to ])urchase our stock in Colombo, would under 
the new arrangements be able to .secure the 
animals at lower rates owing to comparative 
absence of competition ; while few, if any, of 
tlie small landowners who are expected to pur- 
chase the cattle can afford the ex])ense of keeping 
young stock for a year or two til! they can be 
made use of. But even if pmchased by such people, 
the animals would probably be allowed to lead 
the vagrant life of village' cattle, with the result 
that the ultimate object of the scheme will be 
frustrated. It would be a better plan for the 
Kacheheries to own the animals, which should 
be placed in 3harg3 of headmen, so that the animals 
maybe well cared for, and the villagers permitted 
to make use of them at nominal rates, if not free of 
charge. So far »o young stock Jias been sold iu 
