September i, 1890.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
189 
Silva’s pamphlet on the treatment of oattlc, 
with the manuscript remarks of our corres- 
pondent “ Ttiuh.” Considering that Mr. de 
Silva, writing for natives, was bound to deal 
with the very elements of the subject, we think 
his performance creditable and calculated to 
be of considerable use. We find that he antici- 
pated our suggestions respecting the cultivation of 
water grass and the clearing of village feeding 
grounds. Amidst much stringent comment 
our correspondent approves of a good deal 
of Mr. da Silva’s observations and recom- 
mendations on the treatment of cattle in health. 
But, as we anticipated, when epizootic disease 
comes, “ Truth” would not palter with it by 
treatment; he would stamp out disease with the 
life of the animals affected. The extent to which 
this would have to be done and the enormous 
amount of the remuneration necessary would be 
the difficulties. 
When cattle murrain breaks out in Ceylon (generally 
in years of abnormal weather), it does not appear in 
one or a limited number of localities, where a few 
affected herds could be sacrificed and the disease 
stamped out. Disease occurs in so many centres 
simultaneously, and becomes at once so widespread, 
that the stamping out process would require the ex- 
termination of the cattle of whole districts, a process 
which would be too costly for Government to resort to 
(if the principle of compensation were recognized), 
even if popular opinion amongst the native cattle- 
owners did not take the form of serious and active 
resentment against measures which they are not yet 
advanced enough to understand. Our correspondent 
“ Truth,” evidently holds the opinion that rinderpest 
is no more indigenous than cholera ; that it always 
comes to us from India with imported cattle ; 
and that, therefore, it is capable of being cordoned, 
stamped out and prevented from spreading. A 
Commission might now do valuable service in collec- 
ting evidence and instituting research such as would 
settle differences of opinion on this question. The Com - 
mission of 18C9 were unable to say when or whence 
cattle murrain came to Ceylon, only suggesting that 
with increased imports of cattle from India in theyears 
following 1840, it may have been “ re-introduced.” 
Dor the minor diseases, treatment and medicines such 
as Mr. de Silva recommends may be more or less 
efficacious, although some of the recipes do look 
empirical. But surely Mr. de Silva has reason on 
his side when contending that the small, wiry 
Sinhalese cattle have merits of their own, such as 
agility and swiftness when used in the native carriages 
called hackeries, and that with good shelter, pure 
water, nutritious food and careful and humane treat- 
ment generally, they are capable of considerable 
improvement. These small but symmetrical and 
lively “ zebus ” (not zebras, as sometimes printed) 
have been greatly admired by visitors. One of 
the chief measures recommended by the Com- 
mission of 18G9, the provision by Government 
of bulls of Buyrerior breed, failed from the apathetic 
indifference ot the natives. This immobility it 
is which has to be conquered, in regard to all 
and every proposed improvement, and in an 
oriental country like this we expect servants of 
Government not only to hold out inducements such as 
we have already indicated, but to use a certain amount 
of benevolent coercion: compelling people who occupy 
very much the status of children to do what is 
beneficial to their own interests and the pu’olic v/eal, 
and to abstain from practices which are injurious to 
Loth. The difficulty, as all experienced persons 
know, is to obtain a native agency which would not 
pervert powers of compulsion into an instrument of 
oppression. The Nellore and some other breeds of 
Indian cattle aye beautiful milkers and splendid for 
draught, and there can be no question of the super- 
iority of British and Australian cattle. But Mr. de 
Silva is correct in indicating that in proportion to 
superiority of breed as judged by size, so is the cost 
of feeding and keeping the animals. At Pallekelle in 
Dumbara ; in the once famous sheds on the 
Mattakelle patanas in Dimbula ; and in other 
places in Oeylon, we have seen as fine collections 
cf pure imported and half-bred cattle as eye 
could wish to look upon; but the question for a 
Commission to ascertain would be, — did such cattle, 
kept, as they were, at large expenditure of 
money,— pay, either as manure or milk yielders 
or as converted into butcher meat ? The history 
of experiments in connection with that unfortunate 
failure, the Prince Alfred ModelFarm, is not in popular 
estimation encouraging, after all qualifications are 
made. The difficulty in this country is to get even 
Europeans to give a good price for a superior 
article. Demand is, after all, so limited amongst the 
beef, milk and butter using section of the com- 
munity that supply can easily be made to outrun it. 
Such are some of the difficulties to be con- 
tended with, in cattle keeping and dairying. 
In the days when heavy manuring of coffee 
was in vogue, we heard of a case where the 
bearing of an estate was brought up from a normal 
yield of 5 or 6 ewt to 13 cwt per acre ! When 
ail the cost of cattle keep, with preparation, carriage 
and application of manure, was calculated, however, 
the balance-sheet shewed a considerable loss 1 When 
the bad times of the coffee enterprise came, 
magnificent establishments of cattle were broken 
up, and the animals, thrown in large numbers on 
the market, were sold for a song. There can be no 
doubt of the benefit which tea would derive from 
liberal applications of cattle manure, but it does 
not accord with our observation that cattle are 
often kept on tea estates, save where the 
existence of adjacent patana and other circumstances 
are exceptionally favourable. Grain, especially 
leguminous grains and poonac, with cotton seed, 
are valuable as cattle food, but price puts a limit 
to the use of rice, maize, pulses, poonac (especially 
gingelly poonac), except for animals used for heavy 
and steadily profitable draught purposes, or by 
well-to-do persons for dairy produce. Our 
correspondent will think wo are acting the part 
of “devil’s advocate”, but it is well that all sides 
of the question of cattle breeding and cattle 
keeping should be looked at. 
We proceed to notice some of the criticisms of 
Mr. de .Silva’s pamphlet by our correspondent, who 
asserts that native meadow grass is unknown to him. 
It requires courage for a mere lay editor to differ 
from an expert, but we venture to assert that if our 
native grasses got fair play by being kept clear of 
weeds, and especially if they were irrigated by ordi- 
nary water, or better still with liquid manure, they 
would supply excellent cattle feed. That they could 
be converted into beautiful coverings for lawns, the 
writer knows from the fact that in the green turf of 
the grounds of the Melbourne Exhibition of 1880-Sl, 
he recognized one of the grasses most common 
in Ceylon. We would remind our correspondent, 
too, that, included in the Eeport of the Commis- 
sion of 1869 was a paper on the value of Indige- 
nous Grasses supplied by the late Mr. Thwaites of 
the Peradeniya Gardens. We are not speaking 
of the wiry grass common on some of the moun- 
tain patanas, which in its natural state is about 
as “fusiouless” stuff as could be found in the 
shape of grass. But even this, like the still more 
common mana grass, yields fairly good cattle feed 
in the shape of the young stalks which spring 
up after a patana burning. But,< as to the merits 
and demerits of the prairie grasses of Ceylon, eg 
