52 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[July i, 1897 , 
SCIENTIFIC AGRICULTURE AGAIN ; 
THE WEST INDIES VS. CEYLON. 
It is somewhat ludicrous to note the progress 
made by tiny insignificant West Indian islands 
in calling in science to the aid of their agricul- 
ture and planters, as compared with the do- 
nothingness of the Ceylon Government. The 
Ceylon Civil authorities seem to content them- 
selves with showing a budget worthy of the 
first of Crown Colonies, due mainly to a Cus- 
toms tariff, — which enlightened administrators 
ought to be ashamed of, — and to a Railway in- 
come with which no single Civil Servant has 
anything to do. The Ceylon Government got 
one of the most direct and terrible lessons durintr 
1878-83 ever served out to an administrative 
body dependent mainly on Agriculture ; but 
how lias it been taken and the experience so gained 
turned to practical use ? The only practical 
step taken in all the years of prosperity which 
have accompanied the rise of tea, has been the est- 
ablishment of the Agricultural School — now 
threatened with abolition ! One would think 
that, after the extinction of our coffee tlirougli 
the operation, first, of an insignificant fungus, 
and afterwards of a .scale insect in green-bug, 
that one of the first steps taken by a Ceylon 
Executive would be the establishment of a 
Scientific Board of Experts to watch over the 
new staple tea— on which local prosperity so 
largely deiiends — as well as over our palm and other 
'oranches of agriculture. Not a bit of it. The 
salary— even temporarily — of an Entomologist was 
grudged and absolutely refused by Sir Arthur 
Havelock who, however, took care to avoid fullilling 
his distinct promise to cut down the Uevenue Civil 
Establishments after a large part of their work 
was abolished with the disap])earance of the paddy 
rents. Everything in Ceylon, in fact, has been 
left for the planter agriculturist to find out 
for himself, save in so far as tlie Royal Botanic 
Gardens, the Director and his lieutenants could 
render aid. Anything like scientilic experiments 
at the instance of the Government, for the 
benefit of planters or farmers, Europeans or 
native, has never entered into the loca> official 
mind. 
Now let us turn for a contrast to the Far 
West. Antigua is one of the Leeward Islands 
with an area of 108 square miles, population 
under 40,000 ; total trade under half-a-million 
sterling and revenue under £55,000 — .and yet it 
can have what is denied to Ceylon, a colony 
nearly as large as Ireland, and the first in 
revenue, trade, and importance of all Crown 
Colonies. A recent mail brouglit us from Anti- 
gua : — 
“Report of the results obtained on the experi- 
mental fields at Skerrett's School, 1896, by Francis 
Watts, P.I.C., Assoc, Mason Coll., Government 
Analytical Chemist, and F. R, Shepherd, Superin- 
tendent, Skerret’s School.'’ 
And we have here, in the course of some eight 
p.ages of letterpress and as many of tables, 
most careful and elaborate experiments for the 
benefit of the local sugar planters after the 
pattern set by Sir .John Lawes and Mr. Gilbert 
for English Agriculturists. Everything is 
scientifically arranged, and the results for a 
whole seiies of “ experimental plots ” are given 
in a way that the simidest planter can- 
not fail to understand. Now this is only 
one way in which science could render 
help to our Agriculture and Planting. But 
how much money might have been saved, and 
liow much u.seful knowledge g.ained, h.ad Ceylon 
its two officers set apart for such work ; while 
.an Entomologist and Fungologist, also of the same 
Scientilic Board, were hard at work in the 
other directions in which so much can be done 
for our cacao, tea and coconut planters. 
We must sincerely trust that Governor Ridgeway 
will see his way to give the colony a Scientific- 
Agricultural Board, — two or three new officers 
to be associated with the Director of the 
Botanic Gardens, the Conservator of Forests, 
and Mr. E. E. Green among others — and if a 
model is wanted, it can be found in Java, if 
not in tlie M est Indian Islands; -while as to 
the funds, if there is any' scarcity, let them be 
found by amalgamating — doubling-up — some of 
the provincial agencies. An Assistant Agency 
in place of a full-blown Agency at Ratnapura, 
Badulla, Antiradhapura and even Kurunegala 
would not be such a revolutionary' matter ; 'and 
certainly the difference, .administratively, would 
not he observed by the people concerned ; while, 
on the otlier h.and, the absolute direct benefit 
from the Bo.artl of Science and Agriculture— or 
whatever it might he called— could not fail to 
make itself felt, almost from the very beginning of 
its work. Has Sir West Ridgeway realised "yet 
that, in coconuts alone, there is room, throiK'h im- 
proved cultivation among the natives, for nearly 
doubling the production of one of the most ini- 
portant local food as well as export products of 
the island; and has it not been m.ade jjlain that 
our cacao jJanters have been working in the dark 
for many years against a dire enemy ; while 
who can .say how long it may be before tea is 
afflicted'; Prevention is better than cure— to 
learn about existing, if latent, enemies beforehaml 
is far more advisable than to study life histories 
after destruction has set in. 
Here is an indication of what the Govern- 
ment of India is doing in a paragraph just re- 
ceived through the Fioncer : — 
“Chemistry and Agriculture.— It is understood that 
the abolition of the appointment of Agricultural 
Chemist to the Government of India next Novem- 
bei, when Dr. Leather s term of office expires, will 
clear the way for the appointment of a stronc'er 
scientilic staff for other economic investigations under 
the Revenue and Agriculturil Department exnsrts. 
The investigation of such troubles as wheat rust 
and insect blights, in particular, is likely to be 
uudertrJreu, but details are still very vague The 
principle likely to be adopted, however, Is broadly 
to confine the Government paid sciedtific help for 
the present to such industries as wheat culture, which 
are in the hands of those too poor to pay for the 
employment of scientists, industries like tea and indigo 
being- left help themselves, on the ground that they 
are well able to do so.— Cii-il and 2/ilitanj Gazette ’’ 
Insect blights in Ceylon deserve fully as much at- 
tention as in India and they ought to be thoroufdiy 
investigated. ^ 
The above was in type before we received tlie 
very practical and instructive Report for 1896 of 
the Director of Ceylon Botanic Gardens. Mr. 
Willis recognises the need for an Analytical 
Chemist, and we feel sure he W'ould be 'dad of 
expert aid in several directions. 
Dr. Paul Taubeut has died of yeilow fever durino- 
his exploration of the liitle-known territory Amazoiia” 
in IManaos. His death occurred on New Year’s D.iy 
last. — Gardeners' Chronicle. ' ^ 
