290 
Su])plement to the " Trojjlcal Agi kali ur int." [Oct. 1, 1899. 
manure ■which is generally allowed to run to 
•waste and often becomes a serious nuisance. In 
garden cultivation this manure will be of the 
greatest value. If the younger members of the 
family could be induced to take an interest in 
gardening, I anticipate a great improvement 
in the character of the future men of the village?. 
1 have stated so much in order to point out iu 
what direction we should work for improvements 
in native agriculture. How easy will it be to 
bring about reforms in this line if all our 
Mudaliyars and Katemahatmeyas are trained agri- 
culturists. They will then have model gardens 
round th jir walauwas and could exercise their in- 
fluence among the villagers in distributing the 
various products that are useful to the people and 
showing them how, and encouraging them to grow 
them. The experimental garden that I have 
started in my own property in Kandy with 
the view of helping the teachers in my district 
is, I am glad to say, already beginning to bear 
fruit. I have put almost every bit of it into some 
use and various products are grown with success. 
Some of the teachers who have visited the garden 
have taken a lesson from me, and are trying 
to establish similar gardens in connection with 
their schools. The most prominent school gardens 
so far as I can remember just now are those 
at We-onda, Morape and Pannela. I am parti- 
cularly pleased with the garden of the We-onda 
teacher. My time is so much taken up with 
examination work that I do not find sufficient 
opportunity of attending to agricultural work 
ct£ this nature. School teachers must be taught 
in the first place, as most of them are as ignorant 
as the villagers themselves on those matters. 
Ceylon in my humble opinion is not yet ripe 
for an Agricultural Department on as elaborate a 
scheme like thoie which are at work in America, 
Australia, &c. Let the Government by all means 
appoint a consulting entomologist, and if funds 
are available an agricultural chemist too. Their 
services can be profitably utilised in connection 
with the Agricultural School also, and should 
add much dignity to that institution. A re- 
organised Agricultural School in conjunction with 
the Royal Botanic Gardens as at present con- 
stituted are amply suflicient to effect the neces- 
sary improvement in native agriculture. 
I could submit the following recommendations 
in this connection : — 
1. The School of Agriculture should remain 
under the control of the Director of Public 
Instruction. A few gentlemen should be ap- 
pointed as an Advisory Board, which should 
consist of the Director of the Koyal Botanic 
Gardens, Scientific experts, Government officials 
and leading cultivators. 
2. The school should be allowed to remain 
where it is at present, for various reasons, and 
with the Government dairy attached to it. There 
is every prospiect of reviving the old Normal 
School also in the same place. The students, 
however, should be taken to different parts of 
the island at stated periods during the year 
with the view of giving them lessons in Practical 
Agriculture on a large scale, as may be illustrated 
by such experimental gardens as may be established 
or shown in actual cultivation on a commercial 
scale. The period of training should extend over 
three years. 
3. The Syllabus of Instruction should be re- 
vised, and the services of a really competent 
Practical Instructor trained at the Saidapet 
Agricultural College at Madras should be engaged. 
Mr. Jayewardene, the late Practical Instructor, 
who had received only a year's training at the 
Saidapet College, proved to be an acquisition 
to the school, and since he resigned his post the 
want of a good instructor has been much keenly 
felt. 'J'here are a gre;it many things that the Cey- 
1 .i.ti-e can learn from the Indian Agriculturist. 
A man trained at Saidapet College is just what 
is wanted here. His sulary rnny begin with 
R150 a year and rise by annual increments to 
R200. The present Practical Instructor is an 
old boy of the school, and he can be easily 
provided with a place elsewhere. The Syllabus 
may be revised to include the following subjects 
only : — 
1. English language, such as Reading and 
Essay writing. 
2. Theoretical and Practical Agriculture. 
3. Cliemistry, Botany and Geology. 
4. Veterinary Science and Entomology. 
5. Dairy farming including cattle manage- 
ment, butter-making, &c. 
6. Elementry surveying. 
7. Arithmetic and Book-keeping. 
4. The Superintendent will be directly res- 
ponsible for the working of the School. Ilis time 
will be fully tuken up with the general manage- 
ment of the school, dairy, &c.; he must be provided 
with a competent stuff of teachers to assist him 
in the teaching of Science, &c. 
5. Provision must be made to allow both the 
Superintendent and the Instructor to travel about 
in the country with a view to studying its agri- 
cultural requirements. 
6. In every district which is iu charge of a 
Mudaliyar or a Ratemhatmeya there are a certain 
number of Government Schools over which they 
exercise some supervision. Each school should 
be provided with an acre of land, and the schorl 
bungalow should, if possible, stand on it. This 
land should be laid out and planted in such a way 
as to serve as a model for the boys to copy. 
7. Every boy attending school should be en- 
couraged to have his own little garden near his 
house, the plants to be grown there should be 
supplied to him from the school garden. These 
gardens should be periodically visited by the 
teacher or the Agricultural Instructor. 
8. Prizes should be offered to the best-kept 
garden and small annual Agricultural Shows held 
in connetion with schools ; at which the boys 
must exhibit the products from their own 
garden. The prizes offered need not be expen- 
sive ; books, slates, paper, pencils, &:c. will be 
sufficient to begin with, and such prizes will be 
much appreciated by the boys. A separate vote 
should be allowed by Government to meet the 
expenses of prizes, &c. 
9. These Agricultural Shows should be gra- 
dually extended, so that others, besides school 
boys, m ly exhibit and compete for prizes. A 
fresh impetus will thus be given to village 
school education. 
