Siiippkment to the Tropical ^gncultunst." [January i, 1892. 
not really that, but that the plough gripped 
into the ground which had to be turned over 
and thus made it heavy. For the new sort of 
plough they wanted good wholesome strong 
beasts with a good hump, that could hitch well 
on to the plough and pull it well. He thouglit 
there was a great deal to hope for in the breeding 
of improved cattle, and he was glad to see that 
attention was being paid to it. At the same time 
he pointed out that he thought the difficulty on 
that point was unnecessarily exaggerated in 
native newspapers ; and really after all perhaps 
the general improvement of tlie cattle and above 
all the preservation of the cattle against the 
everlasting recurrence of disease and the loss 
of cattle by murrain, was more a matter for the 
veterinary department of the College thau any 
other. Many cattle were lost every year by 
murrain, and how the supply was kept up was 
a mystery to him. 
On Mr. Gheen's having resumed his seat, 
H. E. the GovEBNOR said : — In every meeting 
in Ceylon in which Mr. Ferguson is present the 
company would be dissatisfied, and the 
object of the meeting would be incomplete unless 
Mr. Ferguson addressed the meeting. I must 
therefore ask Mr. Ferguson to address us. 
Mr. A. M. Ferguson, who was received with 
applause, then stepped to the front and said that 
at the invitation of his friend Mr. Drieberg he 
felt honoured and pleased to come there, and 
doubly so after the very kind remarks wliich 
His Excellency had addressed to him in calling 
upon him to offer some observations. The meeting 
and the institution with which it was connected 
were exceedingly interesting, as they might 
imagine, to one whose memory went back to a 
period when education in its most elementary 
forms was comparatively in its infant stage — 
when the instruction by which education was 
gained — a knowledge of reading and writing was 
in its infancy. Here they had young men re- 
ceiving a really practical education for the busi- 
ness of life, and going forth into the various 
parts of the country carrying their knowledge 
with them and disseminating it wherever they 
went : to their own farms or to private employ- 
ment, or still better as agricultural instructors in 
the service of Government, alwas imparting know- 
ledge of immense consequence and great value 
to the people if the people would only receive- 
instruction from them. The Rembrandt-like pic- 
ture which His Excellency drew of ]3addy cul- 
tivation in this country was, alas too true ; and 
sometimes the idea had been thrown out that 
the soil was so essentially poor that it could not 
be improved. He felt greatly relieved that he 
liad been preceded by Mr. Green, who had put 
the matter very largely in its true light. The 
(ixperiments showed that the yield of paddy could 
be doubled, and tripled, and quadrupled even, by 
careful cultivation ; and one of tlie great lessons 
which the agricultural instructors would have to 
impress ujjon the people was steady, regular, un- 
tiring iTid ustry. At present there Avas a groat spurt 
and tlien a collapse ; the Sinhalese would work day 
and niglit for a time in order tliat they might 
lie liy in a state of torjndity for tlie rest of the 
year, and th(! duty sliouhl be impressed upon them 
of regular industry and attention to their land, 
As Mr. Green showed there was too much left 
to be done by water which was an excellent 
thing in its proper place, but which, as Mr. 
Drieberg had sliown in his report, when it water- 
logged the land was sterilizing and beyond that 
in.sanitary. There was much that the people 
could be taught not only in paddy growing but 
in other branches. The Director of Public Instruc- 
tion had requested him to deal with the value 
and importance of horticulture. Humboldt cal- 
culated that an acre of well-cultivated plantains 
would yield as much nutriment as forty acres of 
wheat, and he need not dwell on the vast possi- 
bilities thus presented. Here we had as fine 
oranges as any in the world, if only justice were 
done to them, and they were allowed to ripen on 
the tree. Dr. Bonavia came over here, got some 
ripe oranges, kept them for a month, took them 
over to India and they turned out as fine oranges 
as any in the world. Grafting of oranges and 
mangoes were almost unknown here, but any 
person travelling through India would find that 
a great propotion of the waaltli of the people 
consisted in mango groves, every tree being care- 
fully grafted, and if the Director of this institution 
could instruct liis pupils how to improve horti- 
culture by pruning and grafting, and the pupils 
carried that knowledge into the villages, the 
people would have when in a bad year through 
floods or some cause that could not be helped, 
the paddy crop failed, something else to fall back 
upon. (Applause.) Allusion had been made to 
itinerating students, and that reminded him that 
in the agricultural papers of which he received 
many from all parts of the world, he constantly 
saw most interesting references to itinerating 
dairies. He hoped the day would come when 
such a thing as an itinerating dairy would be 
possible here ; when they would have instructors 
going about with superior cows and superior 
utensils, and at various centres, instructing the 
people to make the best use of what was now 
grossly neglected. More than 50 years ago he 
lived in (Jva in the house of a native headman 
who had probably 00 cattle, and he could not 
get a drop of milk. The Sinhalese made very 
little use of what ought to be a great and whole- 
some and nutritous article of food — the produce 
of the dairy, and he hoped there might be an 
improvement in that respect. With regard to the 
cattle the duty of the instructors would be to 
press on the people the lesson that a few good 
cattle were better than a large number of 
skeletons such as one so often saw. They allowed 
the cattle to breed, and they did not ask whether 
they had sufficient for tliem in the shape of 
grass and fodder. Tliat reminded him to suggest 
to H. E. that it might be profitable in some 
cases to use the irrigation water in the cultivation 
of meadow grass for the cattle. When he had 
the honor of speaking last in connection with 
this institution he mentioned Java, which was 
in the same latitude south as Ceylon was north 
of the equator ; and there they had most splendid 
ponies and not only so but horses of the very 
finest description. He thought attention might 
well be directed to the breeding of horses here 
as well as cattle. (Applause.) In conclusion he 
said lie felt exceedingly glad he had been spared 
to see such an institution as this in Ceylon and 
the prospect of a technical institute and other 
