THE 
AGmmiTumi mac 
COLOMBO. 
Added as a Supplement Monthly to the " TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST." 
Ajiril : 
The following pages include the Contents of the Agricultural Magazine for 
Vol. XIIL] 
APEIL, 1902. 
[No. 10. 
TOWN AND VILLAGE SHOWS. 
IGRICULTURAL Shows as held 
I at Colombo, Kandy and Galle 
[ are uudoubtedly very imposing 
spectacles. The attendance at 
such Shows is generally very 
large, the exhibits very numerous, and the 
attractions very great. But can it conscientiously 
be said that they attain the object they are 
intended to serve ? We think not. In saying 
80 we do not intend to assert that they are 
altogether barren of good results, for some benefit 
is bound to accrue to visitors who are given 
the opportunity of seeing collections of the best 
of the island's produce, and what the possi- 
bilities are of careful and methodical treatment 
of plants and animals. 
But to serve its purpose a Show should be 
the i-endezvous not merely of people of fashion — 
who come to admire, to criticise and to be 
amused, certainly not to learn— but also for 
bona fide cultivators of the soil, the real tillers 
of the land, whom we are trying to bring within 
the educative influence of Agricultural Shows. 
It is these people we want to see well to the 
fore at Agricultural Shows, comparing notes with 
one another, asking and giving imformation as to 
the best way of cultivating a particular plant, 
enquiring where the best seeds are obtainable, 
what the best seasons are for growing them, 
the best manures for fertilizing, and in fact the best 
way of treating a crop generally. We want 
the opportunity to be also taken for the exchange 
of good seed, a most important factor ia im- 
proving cultivation. 
We have had some experience of large Town 
Shows, and we regret to state that such 
experience has not led us to form a very high 
opinion of their utility or influence for good. 
In towns the men of influence and money 
generally succeed in ousting the real producer. 
The prizes being good and the opportunity to 
attract notice favourable, sach men neglect 
nothing to bring themselves into prominence. 
Frequently they appropriate the produce of the 
villagers and pass it off as their own, while 
they even go the length of purchasing in the 
open market the best specimens that money 
can buy, and exhibiting them as the fruits of 
their own skilled labour. The feelings of exhibi- 
tors to one another at such big Shows are, so far 
from being those of friendly competitors, 
rather of uncompromising rivals, jealous and 
impatient of one another's success. 
The dissemination of seeds and plants of good 
varieties of plants is by some people considered to 
be detrimental to their interests, and success- 
ful methods of cultivation are to them 
"diplomatic secrets" not to be revealed. The 
anxiety to win awards is so great that normal 
standards ot rectitude are ignored and unscru- 
pulous means employed. We have had a com- 
petitor, in his chagrin at failure to secure a 
coveted medal, come to us with the absurd 
request that he may be permitted to purchase 
a spare medal or two. How under such cir- 
cumstances, could conscientious promoters of 
