&4 THE TROPICAL 
the teaching was not by scientific me- 
thods ; it had iiesvi too dogmatic. A child 
should not be ci linmed with ini'oruia- 
tion ; it should be taught to observe for itself. 
Formerly we had attein[)ted to go too fast, 
but in this scheme we were preparing to 
go slowly, and more surely. 
At the conclusion of Mr. Wiliis' lecture there 
was general appiause. The seriousness witli 
which it had been listened to was reliev^ed by 
Mr. Philip Morgappah who made a few 
remarks on the l>enents to character that 
resulted from a life devoted to agriculture. 
Mr. Jayatilleka said he thought the 
scheme more applicable to village schools than 
to town schools, for town sciioois rarely pos- 
sessed the luxury of a. garden'. 
Mr. W A DE BiLVA remarked that the 
scheme was not really new. It had been tried 
here before and had failed, but no doubt 
Mr. Burrows and Mr. Willis tojjether would 
make it succeed. The practical difficulty 
had been in getting gardens ; also in 
getting time. The teachers could seldom 
devote more than half-an-hour to this lesson, 
and the boys needed all their time to prepare 
for the ordmary school examinations. 
Mr. F Lewis said tha.t one of the many 
difficulties in the way of teaching agricul- 
ture in Ceylon was the many kinds 
of climate to be found here. For instance, 
the rainfall in Anuradhapura was totally 
different from what it was in Colombo. 
No doubt there was a great deal of ignorance 
of agriculture among the natives A native 
knew much more about the cultivation of 
paddy than a European, yet he had never 
learnt to select the seed. Year after year 
the ground was sown with the same seed, 
and the crops grew poorer and poorer. 
But at Tissamaharama, where seed had been 
imported, and the laud allowed to lie fallow 
for a time, the good results had been 
shown by the great increase in the 
crops. 
Mr. S. M. BuRBOWS said that it was their 
intention that the experiment should be 
extended not only to Government Schools 
but also to Grant-in-Aid Schools. In his 
opinion nature study was applicable to town 
schools as well as village schools. In town 
schools there was a possibility of forming 
School Museums in which botanical specimens 
would take a large place. It was true, as 
Mr. de Silva said, that former schemes had 
failed, because they had not been given a 
fair chance. This time the scheme would 
only be developed in those schools which 
possessed or could possess gardens ; and time 
for the proper study would be made in the 
curriculum. One good result he hoped from 
this scheme was that children would learn to 
love school. 
After a short 
SPEECH FROM THE BISHOP OP COLOMBO 
—a very graceful one, in which he spoke 
of a knowledge of agriculture cheering 
old age; of a story from Virgil of ,an old 
man who had not enough land for grazing 
or ploughing, but only enough to grow lilies 
and cabbages, and yet who was as happy as 
a khig and felt himself rich, — the meeting 
was concluded with a vote of thanks to the 
lecturer and chairman. 
AGRICULTURIST. [Aug. L 190L 
THE CESS (FOR INDIA) AND THE 
TEA CRISIS 
EXP;..PaENCEDGARl)KN' MAN A.GErtS AT aiEIB WITS' 
END "iO DO BF.TTKR THAN THliY HAVE DONK. 
THEY LOOK TO A DOUBLE CE.SS FOR INDIA 
ANDCKYLON. COLOMBO SHOCLD BE THE 
GREAT DISTRIBUTING CENTRE FOR 
INDIAN AND CETLON TEAS, 
(From the lAdian Garden Manager's point tt 
vieio. ) 
I have received, &\v\ gone through, the May 
number of the Tropical Agriculturist. You 
have never been b ickward in yivinj; all the 
news on planting tuples, bat still a stranger 
reading that number from cover to cover would 
not learn that there i.s ^ a "Tea Crisis." The 
article on page 759 by a specialist touches lightly 
on the matter. Your .vjif .ualist was not in favour 
of renting tea ; he would advise estates to " aban- 
don outright " any unprofitable area. This is a 
remedy for each estate, and not for the industry. 
On page 751 yoa have a letter to " Planting Opin- 
iou" from Mr. Asiiiton who decries the voluntary 
system of subscriptions and says that a Cess is 
necessary. Mr Ashton is the Chairman of the 
I T A., iuid this letter, " ex-cathedra," gives his 
views. He points out the way to safety. He says 
that mijiiey is required and cannot be obtained 
hj vol-uitary subscriptions. This letter was 
v.ril:(e > in March; subsequent to that time the 
rsducti(;n scheme was adopted and dropped owing 
to the failure of Ceylon.* 
On page .371 of " Indian Gardening and Plait- 
ing I have found a fresh scheme proposed by 
other members of the I T Association. They ask for 
FREE GIFTS OF TEA. 
This is in the face of the declaration by 
their Chairman that the voluntary busi- 
ness is a snare and delusion. The scheme pro- 
posed \% one which is sure to succeed in its object, 
i.e. to make prolits for the subscribers, but 
everyone knows that private sale of tea is cer- 
tain to succeed, if undertaken on sufficiently 
large a scale— yicZe Lipton, Mazawatte, &c. But 
this will not help the industry. The dead silence 
which has succeeded the letter by Mr. Ash ton has 
encouraged me to take up the cudgels and I am 
endeavouring to stir up all concerned ; 1 have 
dreaded attacks on my " blooming cheek," but 
am ready to face anybhing. In his interview with 
" Tea " (the new paper), Mr, Rutherfoid said that 
there would have been no overproduction if India 
had had a Cess. This is a "tall" saying 
because after all India did subscribe a 
considerable sum, and the small difference 
between the amount subscribed and -what would 
have been obtained from a cess at the san.e rate 
as Ceylont would have made practically no diflfer- 
ence in the great surplus which we failed to 
place on New Markets.— I am a plain, practical 
Planter like hundreds of others who toil, and 
have toiled, to make the industry what it is. 
We— I dare to speak for the rest— do not under- 
stand the cause of the failure to produce and 
adopt any scheme which shall at least give hopes 
* Ceylon is practically carrying out the redaction 
through finer plucking.— Ed. T.A, 
t The difference for all the years the Oess has been 
levied in Ceylon would have been very considerablt — 
Ed, T.A, 
