C50 
Supplement  to  the  ' Tropical  Agriculturist  I [March  2,  1896, 
culture,  but  to  fulfil  this  eiul,  they  slioukl  he  pro- 
perly orgiinized  and  managed.  The  holcliag  of 
such  sliort's  only  in  capital  towns,  at  very  long 
intervals,  and  on  an  elaborate  scale  with  a con- 
siderable and  costly  display  of  decorative  taste, 
results  in  little  heimfit  to  the  agricultural  masses 
in  a country  such  as  ours.  To  he  of  value  these 
shows  should  in  the  true  sense  of  the  word  he 
agricultural,  they  should  he  held  once  or  twice  a 
year  and  at  different  country  centres,  while,  last 
hut  not  least,  they  should  he  under  the  control  of 
a competent  Committee  of  Management. 
Our  attention  has  just  been  directed  to  an 
“Order”  dated  Nov. '27th,  189o,  of  the  Madras 
Government,  containing  a reference  to  the  subject 
of  agricultural  shows,  which  we  would  respectfully 
submitfor  the  consideration  of  our  local  aiuhoritios. 
Itruns  as  follows “ The  attention  of  Government 
has  in  this  connection  been  drawn  to  the  general 
subject  of  agricultural  shows  and  e.xhibitions.  In 
]jaragraph  til  of  G.O.,  No.  515,  dated  4th  July 
1890,  it  was  decided  to  confine  expenditure  upon 
these  objects  to  the  case  of  cattle  and  pony  shows, 
but  the  Government  is  disposed  to  doubt  whether 
this  dicision  should  be  adhered  to.  According  to 
the  system  in  vogue  prior  to  1890,  only  two  agri- 
cultural exhibitions  were'  held  every  year  for  the 
whole  Presidency,  and  the  benefits  ilerived  there- 
from were  confined  to  comparatively  small  areas. 
As  it  appears  to  Government,  what  is  required  is 
rather  the  institution  of  exhibitions  on  a minor 
scale  to  be  held  in  each  district  at  much  more  fre- 
quent intervals,  say  every  two  or  three  years. 
The  management  of  such  exhibitions  should  be 
under  the  general  sui)ervision  of  the  Director  of 
Agriculture,  the  details  being  as  far  as  possible 
left  in  the  hands  of  a local  committee,  and  the 
expenses  being  defrayed  by  means  of  local  sub- 
scriptions supjilemented  by  a small  grant-in-aid 
from  GoTernment  of,  say,  11500  per  district. 
The  offer  at  such  exhibitions  of  prizes  for  the 
best  agricultural  stock,  produce  and  implements, 
would  excite  considerable  local  intere,st,  and  their 
institution  might  ultimately  be  i)roductive  of 
real  good.  Striking  results  could  hardly  be  ex- 
pected in  the  first  lew  years. 
“The  question  raised  is  one  of  considerable  im- 
portance, and  the  Government  desires  that  it 
should  be  discussed  at  tho  meetings  of  the  Com- 
mittee which  has  been  appointed  in  G.O.,  ^o.  690, 
dated  23rd  October,  1895,  to  confer  with  Sir 
Edward  Buck  on  the  general  subject  of  agricul- 
tural education  and  experiment. 
(Signed)  E.  Gib.sox, 
Secretarij  to  Government." 
To  show  more  clearly  the  practical  value  of 
agricultural  shows  in  theEast,  we  gdve  the  follow- 
ing extract  from^a  report  of  the  Director  of  Agri- 
culture in  the  North-Western  Provinces  of  India: — 
During  the  year  under  report  agricultural 
shows  were  held  in  the  districts  of  Bara  Bank), 
Etawa  Aligarh,  Bulandshahr,^  Muzafifainagar, 
Muttra  Meerut,  Khairabad,  Banda,  Basti  and 
Benazir  (Kampur  State).  The  fairs  at  Etawah, 
Aligrah,  Bulandshahr,  Meerut  and  Benazir  were 
visited  liy  the  Assistant  Director  personally 
and  the  rest  by  other  officials  of  the  Deparrment, 
mostly  apprentices  from  the  Cawnpore  Farm,  in 
order  "to  arrange  for  the  exhibition  of  agricultural 
implements.  The  Assistant  Director  delivered 
lectures  on  agricultural  subjects  in  most  of  the 
shows  attended  by  him,  and  assisted  in  awarding 
the  prizes  f(  r cattle,  agricultural  produce  and 
implements.  An  interesting  and  very  popular 
feature  of  all  the.se  shows  is  a competition  be- 
tween the  implements  in  ordinary  use,  and  the 
imju'oved  but  more  expensive  implements  siqiplied 
by  the  Department.  Tlie  Watts,  Eaisar  and 
Baldeo  ploughs  are  shown  in  compelilion  with 
native  ploughs;  the  chain  i)ump  is  worked  against 
the  ordinary  swing  basket,  the  chaff-cutter 
against  labourers  using  the  chopper  and  so  on. 
Samples  of  iiroduce  of  the  Cawnpore  and  Cherat 
Fainis,  chielly  Muzaft'arnagar  wheat,  gur  made 
from  sorghum,  and  foreign  varieties  of  cotton, 
were  also  exhibited  in  them  ; and  prizes  were  given 
for  the  best  samples  of  produce  exhibited.  A 
dairy  in  full  working  order  was  arranged  under 
the  management  of  Mr.  Xe venter  at  Rainpur,  Ali- 
garh aiul  Meerut.  The  largest  sale  of  ploughs 
and  pumps  took  place  at  the  Bulandshahr  and 
Meerut  shows, 
“ As  stated  in  previous  reports,  the  agricultural 
exhibitions  are  becoming  more  and  more  j)opular 
every  year,  and  in  those  the  Department  finds  the 
best  oiiportunity  for  bringing  improved  imiilements 
and  methods  into  j)ublic  notice.” 
OCCASIONAL  NOTES. 
This  being  our  first  issue  since  the  arrival  of 
the  new  Governor  of  the  Colony,  wo  take  the  oj)- 
portunityof  reispectfully  welcoming  Ills  Excellencv 
Sir  Joseph  We>t  Ridgeway  to  the  Island.  Our  new 
ruler  has  already  expressed  his  sympathy  with  the 
casiie  of  agricultural  education  and  his  interest  in 
the  introduction  of  new  products  into  the  Island, 
so  that  we  may  expect  during  his  rule  that  every 
facility  will  be  given  for  the  iinprovenient  of  (he 
agriculture  of  the  Colony  in  the  direction  that 
improvement  is  poisible. 
Tomato  cultivation  has  been  carrieil  on  at  the 
School  of  Agriculture  with  raai-ked  siicce.ss  during 
the  first  t.vo  mouihs  of  the  year,  and  the  credit 
is  due  to  tlie  manager  of  thoGovernnientD  drv 
(Air.  J.  I'odrigo),  late  p actical  last ructor  at  t he 
School.  In  this  coniu'ction  we  wotdd  draw  atten- 
tion to  some  useful  Notes  on  the  Tomato  which 
we  have  taketi  over  from  the  AustralasUoi. 
A small  croj)  of  grapes  was  taken  from  the  vine- 
yard at  the  School  of  Agriculture  on  the  23:-d 
February  and  succeeding  days.  The  cro])  of  a!)ont  25 
bunches  of  various  sizes, — but  none  very  large, — 
were  the  produce  from  plants  only  18  months  old, 
and  which,  moreover,  were  Itroughtover  from  Aus- 
tralia about  6 months  ago.  The  long  drought  and 
excessive  heat  that  have  been  prev, ailing  ha\  e tend- 
ed to  mature  the  gra[iesrather  too  fast,  and  so  inter- 
fere with  their  proper  development  and  llavour,  but 
still  the  outlook  is  not  unpromising  for  the  experi- 
ment, which  is,  for  one  thing,  gi  ving  ample  ojipur- 
tunity  for  the  study  of  viticulture  fnun  a LkmI 
standpoint.  There  is  of  course  mucli  to  i)e«!oue  in 
the  way  of  modifying  the  treatment  of  the  \ ine.s 
to  .suit  the  conditions  ii.ider  which  (hey  are  at  pre- 
sent growing. 
We  would  draw  attention  to  a most  interesting 
contribution  to  our  knowedge  (hil  herto  so  limited) 
of  the  subject  of  plant  pliysiology,  by  Frofessor 
