688 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [April 1, 1904. 
THE GOVEENMENT DAIEY COMMITTEE. 
THEIK CONOLtFSIONS. 
{Extract from the Committee's Report.) 
From the evidence before us we conclude that the 
Aden breed of cattle should be tried, if they can 
be obtained ; that for the present the Sind. breed 
of cattle is the best which can be easily obtained ; 
that with the present condition of the Dairy it is 
cheaper and better to import and keep on im- 
porting than to try to rear Sind cattle ; that under 
the existing circumstances it is not advisable to 
waste time and money in trying cross breeding ; 
that a drier diet as set forth in the rations should 
be tried, and that experiments should be made 
with various rations to see which produces the best 
milk ; that a large number of improvements are 
required at the present Dairy; that we do not think 
it is possible to very markedly improve the quan- 
tity or the quality of the milk in the present Dairy 
owing to the poverty of the soil. We 
conclude that there are three possibilities 
before Government :- (a) To do nothing and 
let maoters go on as they are going on at 
present, except that the Model Farm should not 
be considered part of the Dairy. (6) To improve 
the present Dairy, (c) To move the Dairy. That 
after careful consideration a piece of available 
land near the main line of the railway be selected 
and experiments made and the following points 
investigated -.—1 Analyses of the soils, 2 Experi- 
ments with good grasses, 3 Investigation of water 
supply, 4 Trial of Sind cattle on the selected patch, 
5 The production of a pasture and the growth of 
fodder grasses, 6 Again, the trial of some 
of the cattle on the pasture and the fodder 
produced, 7 The erection of a model dairy 
on modern lines, 8 The milk to be sterilised and 
sent by rail to destination, 9 The whole institution 
to be put under the supervision of an agriculturally 
trained man, 10 To try to improve Sinhalese cattle, 
as in such an institution it would possibly be 
cheaper to rear than to import cattle. 
We have carefully considered these points, and 
we are of the opinion that the Government of 
Ceylon should possess a dairy which should be a 
model to the inhabitants of tlie island, and that to 
let matters alone is not to be advised. We consi- 
der possibility (6) as too expensive. We are of the 
opinion that possibility (c) done after due consider- 
ation and with care is the best and cheapest, for 
the whole cost of the experiment, the new build- 
ings, the removal, and even if necessary the 
purchase of land, though we would rather advise 
that available Government land be used, could be 
met by selling portions of the Model Farm and of 
the Dairy land, both of which are extremely 
valuable and increasing yearly in value as build- 
ing lots. 
A NEW PLANTING CO. FOR THE STEAITS. 
MR J E A DICK-LAUDER A DIRECTOR. 
We have received a prospectus of a new 
Company being brought out by Messrs Taylor, 
Noble, and Co., Loudon, called the Wellesey 
(Penanp) Estates Company, Ltd. Tlie Company 
has been formed with a share capital of £160,000 
for the purpose of acquiring and developing the 
three important properties known as the Alma 
Estate the Pyre Estate, and the Batu-Kawan 
Estate in the Wellesley Province, Straits Settle- 
nient. The total area is 13,159 acres, 7,260 acres 
of which is cultivated and 5,899 uncultivated* 
The chief products are Sugar, Tapioca, Coconut and 
Citronella. The soil and climate are well suited 
to the cultivation of cotton aud India-rubber, and 
it is intended to devote increased attention to these 
crops. It is suggested that considerable additional 
p-jofits can be derived by the ei-ecdon of a Coco- 
nut Oil and Fibre Factory, a Desiccated Coconut 
Mill, Citronella Oil Distillery, Brick Kiln, &c. 
Portions of the land are suitable for sale as 
building lots, and it is also intended that small 
lots be sold to natives at remunerative prices. 
Among the Directors is Mr John E A Dick- 
Lauder, retired planter, Managing Director of the 
New Dimbula Co Ltd, while the names of the 
Local Committee of Management in Penang will 
he familiar to many:— Messrs J M Vermont, C.M.G., 
Planter, Penang, late Member of the Legis- 
lative Council. Henry Aylesbury Walker 
Aylesbury, of Tepah, Perak, Gentleman. F O 
Hallifax, Representative of Patersou, Simons 
& Co, Penang. Leopold Es-Chasseriau, Alma 
Estate, Province Wellesley, Penang, Planter and 
Emile Es-Chasseriau, Alma Estate, Province 
Wellesley, Penang, Planter. 
_ ^ 
DEATH OF AN OLD CEYLON COFFEE 
PLANTER, 
SON OF THE LATE SIR ED. BARNES. 
Mr Richard Hawks worth Barnes, who died on 
Feb. 27 at his residence, Heatherlands House. 
Parkstone, Dorset, iu his 74th year, was the 
youngest son of thelate Lieut. -Gen Edward Barnes, 
who was at various times Governor of Ceylon, 
Camtnander-in, Chief in India, arid also Adjutant- 
General at Waterloo, his mother being a daughter 
of Mr Fawkes, of Parnley Hall, Yorkshire. He 
was educated at Eton and Cambridge, where he 
took high honours. As a young man he spent 
much of his time at Farnley Hall, where he met 
many celebrated men of the tiiue, among others 
Mr Ruskiu, whose personality greatly influenced 
him. In 1852 he went out to Ceylon as a coffee 
planter. While there he formed large botanical 
and natural history collectioos, and also set' up a 
meteorological observatory. In 1865 he was able 
to warn the Madras Observatory by telegram 
that a severe cyclone would reach their coasts in 
three days, by which means all vessels there were 
enabled to reach safe waters, and many lives were 
saved. Since returning to England in 1867, Mr 
Barnes spent the greater part of his time in the 
study and practice of meteorology.— 0, Mail. 
* 
INDIAN COTTON-GROWING EXPERIMENTS. 
A very useful report has been prepared by Mr. 
Mollison, Inspeotor-General of Agriculture, on the 
results of recent experiments in cotton-growing in 
Behar, with a forecast of the further experiments it 
is intended to carry out. The experiments have been 
in progress for a couple of years, and the conclusions 
so far reached may be briefly summarised. Where 
seed can be shown in small plots with irrigation early 
in May, it is probably that Egyptian cotton can be 
profitably grown ; such seed sown later is likely to be 
damaged by cold and frost. Peruvian varieties which 
have been tiled ripen later than Egyptian, and are 
therefore, less suitable for Behar. American varieties 
of the upland type acclimatised, ripen much earlier 
than Egyptian or Peruvian, and as a result of the trial 
of about forty kinds of seed it appears that acclimatised 
yajieties are less risky in a bad year than newly, 
