286 
Supplemerd  to  the  Tropical  Agriculturists 
[Oct.  1,  1896. 
of  Now,  without  going  beyond  Ceylon,  we  believe 
that  if  the  cultivator  iu  one  district  or  province 
found  a ready  means  for  obtaining  seeds  and  plants 
from  another  district  or  province  he  will  thereby 
materially  benefit  himself.  It  is  well-known  that 
in  certain  remote  districts  where  the  food  supply  is 
deficient,  juk  and  breadfruit  are  practically 
unknown  as  articles  of  diet,  though  the  trees 
producing  these  fruits  should  thrive  well  in  such 
places.  AVe  remember  hearing  some  time  ago  that 
a revenue  officer,  who  is  w'ell-known  for  tlie  interest 
he  takes  in  the  welfare  of  the  poorer  village  popu- 
lation, w’ent  the  length  of  offering  rewards  to  those 
who  planted  these  trees  in  their  gardens. 
AV'e  should  imagine  that  a w'orkable  scheme  for 
supplying  the  want  which  w'e  have  indicated  above, 
could  bo  formulated  in  connection  with  the  work 
of  the  Colombo  School  of  Agriculture.  This  insti- 
tution might  be  made  a sort  of  central  depot 
where  different  kinds  of  seeds  and  plants  of  food- 
yielding  trees — both  indigenous  and  introduced 
species  and  varieties — could  be  jirocured  by  would- 
be  growlers.  Nur, series  and  seedstores  for  keeping 
up  a supply  of  such  plants  and  seeds  as  would  be 
specially  suitable  for  cultivation  by  the  natives, 
would,  of  course,  have  to  be  established,  and  to  this 
end  the  school  will  need  to  be  properly  equipped 
and  furnished  with  the  necessary  funds.  The 
benefits  of  exchange  of  seed  paddy  are  two 
well-known  to  be  stated  here,  and  yot  the 
practice  is  but  little  adopted  by  paddy  cultivators 
in  the  island.  In  this  connection  w e may  refer  to 
the  successful  experiments  that  were  carried  out 
some  years  ago  by  Mr.  William  Jnnsz  of  fialle,  and 
which  conclusively  proved  that  better  crops  could 
be  obtained  by  sowing  “ fresh”  seed. 
There  are  also  many  foreign  varieties  of  paddjq 
unknown  in  Ueylon,  which  can  with  advantage  be 
introduced  into  the  island.  The  introduction  of 
the  variety  known  as  Carolina  paddy  many  years 
ago  was  admitted  as  a distinct  gain  to  paddy  cul- 
tivation in  Ceylon.  We  believe  that  the  agricul- 
tural society  (now  alas  defunct)  which  flourished 
in  the  forties,  did  good  work  by  introducing  new 
forms  of  economic  vegetation  into  the  island. 
If  such  a scheme  as  we  have  suggested  is  adopted, 
and  a central  depot  be  established  at  the  Colombo 
School  of  Agriculture  where  seeds  and  plants 
could  be  offered  on  easy  terms  to  intending  culti- 
vators— who  at  present  know’  not  how’  or  where  to 
obtain  them — a great  adv.ance  will  have  been  made 
in  the  improvement  of  grain  cultivation  and  the 
encouragement  of  fruit  culture  iu  the  island. 
OCCASIONAL  NOTES. 
We  have  received  more  than  one  application  for 
the  locally  manufactured  type  of  plough  referred 
to  iu  our  last  issue,  and  at  present  six  ploughs  are 
being  made  to  order.  One  of  these  locally-made 
implements  is  now  being  used  on  the  Havelock 
Ilacecourse,  and  is  doing  its  work  well. 
The  small  crop  of  grapes  from  the  vineyard  at- 
tached to  the  School  of  Agiiculture  was  taken  in 
early  in  Se])tember,  the  bunches  numbering 
about  '200.  Those  who  had  an  o])portunity  of  tast- 
ing the  fruit  passed  a iavoui’able  opinion  on  the 
quality  of  the  grapes.  It  is  to  be  hoped  (hat  (lie 
e.xperiment  in  viticulture  yvill  be  continued  till  Ih© 
vines  reach  the  “full-bearing”  period,  when  a 
final  decision  as  to  the  ])rospects  of  the  “exten- 
sive” cultivation  of  foreign  grapes  in  Ceylon  may 
arrived  at. 
The  Government  Agricultural  Instructorshiiis 
were  suppressed  at  the  end  of  August.  It  is  to  be 
hoped,  however,  that!  the  vote  for  maintaining 
the.se  iiosts  w'ill  not  lapse,  for  if  the  scheme  initi- 
ated by  Mr.  11.  AV.  Green — the  well-intentioned 
and  zealous  promoter  of^  agricultural  education 
in  Ceylon — has  been  found  to  be  barren  of  results, 
there  is  all  the  more  reason  that  a more  jiractical 
scheme  should  be  formulated  for  the  improvement 
of  native  agriculture,  to  take  the  place  of  that 
which  has  been  withdrawn.  An  initial  failure 
does  not  justify  the  complete  abandonment  of  a 
good  cause,  but  as  the  old  rhyme  teaches  us,  de- 
mands a second  and  third  trials. 
AA'e  would  direct  the  attention  of  our  readers  to 
the  first  of  Mr.  Zauetti’s  paper  on  “ The  Fruit 
Tree”  which  ai>pears  in  the  pre.sent  issue — AA^ehave 
no  doubt  that  all  fruit-grow’ers  will  join  us  in 
offering  our  thanks  to  the  w’riter  for  placing  his 
practical  and  u-seful  knowledge  at  our  di.xposal. 
AVe  may  mention  that  W'e  have  already  had 
many  applications  for  the  past  numbers  of  the 
magazine  w’hich  contained  Mr.  Zanetti’s  remarks  on 
“rruning,”-a  proof  of  the  usefulness  of  his 
contributions. 
]\Ir.  \V.  A.  de  Silva,  late  headmaster  of  the  School 
of  Agriculture,  and  a qualified  A'eterinary  Surgeon, 
has  severed  his  connection  with  the  school  and 
accepted  service  under  the  Municipal  Council  of 
Colombo.  As  an  Inspector  of  Cattle,  Meat,  and 
Milk,  Ac.,  Mr.  de  Silva  should  find  ample  .scope  for 
his  veterinary  attainments,  and  duties  congenial 
to  his  tastes.  Mr.  Iloole,  late  2nd  assistant  teacher, 
the  .second  old  boy  of  the  school  who  has  qualified 
as  a A^eterinary  Surgeon,  has  been  ajipointed  an 
assistant  to  the  Colonial  A’eterinary  Surgeon  and 
stationed  at  Anuradhajiura.  The  school  is  there- 
fore the  poorer  by  the  loss  of  two  teachers  whose 
idaces  on  the  staff  it  will  not  be  easy  to  fill. 
The  first  se.ssional  examination  of  forestry 
students  was  held  about  the  middle  of  August,  the 
sulijects  in  which  they  were  examined  being 
Sylviculture,  JMorphological  Botany,  Mathematics 
(Euclid,  Algebra,  Trigonometry  and  Arithmetic  1, 
Forest  Law  and  Surveying. 
Applications  for  rhea  cuttings  from  the  schorl 
still  continue  to  come  in,  so  that  before  long  we 
shall  probably  be  in  a position  to  arrive  at  a deci- 
sion as  to  the  prospects  of  remunerative  cultiva- 
tion of  this  much  valued  fibre-plant  in  Ceylom 
THE  FOBEST  l.AAVS  OF  CEYLON. 
(Conti/iHcd). 
The  chief  objects  of  the  Ordinance  No.  10  of 
1885  would  be  best  e.xplained  by  a few  extracts 
from  Mr.  Vincent's  Report.  In  his  introductory 
chai)ter  on  the  future  management  and  Avorking  of 
Forest  administration,  Mr.  A'incent  points  out 
the  evil  effects  of  not  protecting  our  forests.  He 
says  : “ Where  there  is  no  effective  forest  conser- 
