THE 
flGI^ICUliTUnflLi ]V[flGAZIflE. 
COLOMBO. 
Added as a Supplement Monthly to tJie " TROPICAL AG-RIG ULTU BIST." 
The following pages include the Contents of the Agricultural Magazine for 
September : — 
Vol. XV.] 
SEPTEMBER, 1903. 
[No. 3. 
COTfOK CULTIVATION. 
|T the present moment the question 
of cotton cultivation is occupying 
the close attention of local authori- 
ties in common wiili those of other 
British Colonies, as a result no 
doubt of the action taken by the 
■A 
British Cotton Grovrers Association with a view to 
secure produce independently of the American 
States. As far as this island is concerned, 
there is little doubt that the agitation for 
British-grown cotton will bear fruit before 
very long. The late visit of the Director of 
Botanic Gardens in Ceylon to America, was 
no doubt with a view, among other objects, of 
mastering the details of cotton cultivalion which, 
for some reason to be yet discovered, has hitherto, 
and since Dutch occupation, proved a failure 
as far as experiments on a more or less limited 
scale went. The odds are certainly in favour 
of Ceylon as a cotton-growing country, and what 
is only required to prove the fact is organised 
action by competent authorities, who are qualified 
to examine into and settle such details as the best 
varieties to cultivate, the best localities for grow- 
ing the cotton plant, and the proper seasons for 
carrying on cultivation. We understand that 
already the Director of Botanic Gardens has 
made a tour of inspection of the likely districts for 
the growth of cotton, districts that have so long 
suffered under the disadvantages of inacessibility, 
which, however, no longer obtains as a result of the 
railway extension from Kurunegala via Auuradha- 
pura to Jaffna. The regions tapped by this railway 
ecared by the sagacious policy of Sir West Eidge- 
way, are known to have yielded large crops of agri= 
cultural produce in days of old, and the object of 
that policy ia, stated shortly, to restore the largt 
areas so long abandoned to their former status as 
crop yielding areas. In favour of this movement 
there may be said to be three factors, viz., tli« 
restorations, now in progress, of the damaged 
tank irrigation system, the provision of the means 
of conveyance for men, animals and produce, 
and the improved condition of the soil that has 
80 long been lying fallow. The similarity of 
conditions as regards climate and rainfall that 
obtain in the newly-opened regions and parts of 
India and other countries where cotton cultivation 
is successfully carried on, goes to favour the 
project, and assuming that Government are 
prepared to push it beyond the experimental stage, 
there is uo reason why the wastes of the North- 
Central Province should not within the next 
few years present a vast stretch of cotton 
fields. The chief point, to which it behoves the 
Government to direct its attention, is to provide 
or foster a suitable agency — which should in the 
first instance, if possible, be a local agency — 
for the produce ; and we would be inclined to 
favour the example set by the Australian Govern- 
ment, viz., the offering of a premium for produce 
during the initial stages of the new industry. 
These are, however, matters of detail which are best 
left to those who are most competent to advisa 
the Government in the matter. 
In this connection we have had our attention 
drawn to the experiments carried on with different 
varieties of cotton, indigenous and imported, at 
the Government Experimental Farm, Cawnpore, 
with a view to discovering which are the most 
