normal rotation of the cultivator should be proved. Such experiments should be carried on over a series of years.

We now pass to the question of distribution of the improved seed which has been evolved. The conditions of India in this respect are somewhat peculiar. Except for flower or vegetable seeds, there are no seed merchants in the sense in which the term is understood in European countries. For many years to come it seems probable that the work of seed distribution will have to remain in the hands of the agricultural departments. But if seed merchants of proved enterprise should be forthcoming, they should be given every encouragement. In present conditions, the co-operative agency seems to offer the best prospects of assistance to the agricultural departments in seed distribution though private seed agents, as distinct from seed merchants, might also be employed. They should be persons on whom the agricultural departments can rely and should deal only with seeds supplied by the departments in sealed bags or packets.

Until reliable seed merchants come into the business, the selection and distribution of pure seed should be controlled by the agricultural departments. It is not possible to lay down any rigid lines of policy. Departments must be guided by local conditions and must use such agencies as are available locally for the production and distribution of pure seed. But a considerable increase in the number of seed farms, both departmental and private, is very desirable. These can either be run departmentally or by cultivators who agree to grow seed for the departments under their supervision and control. Here again the co-operative movement can be of great assistance.

The problem of seed distribution is of such importance that, even with all the assistance which co-operative and other organisations can give, we consider that a separate organisation is necessary within the Agricultural Department, to deal with seed distribution and seed testing. The officer in charge of this work should be of the rank of a deputy director of agriculture and should take over all immediate administrative responsibility for seed testing and seed distribution. It would be his business to organise distribution through co-operative societies and other associations, through seed merchants wherever they are available, and through seed agents, as well as through the departmental staff and any other agencies which he may consider suitable. Whilst the agricultural departments ought not to look to seed distribution as a source of profit, the work has reached a stage at which it may legitimately be expected to pay its way.

Agricultural engineering is an important section of the activities of the agricultural departments and it is one to which, in our opinion, sufficient attention has not in the past been devoted. We consider that this section should be completely reorganised and that it should in all respects form an integral part of the department. Officers for the engineering branch should not only be recruited on the same terms as members of the new superior provincial agricultural services, but should be included in the cadre of those services. In provinces where

pumping and boring operations are of importance, it would probably be advantageous if this work could be entrusted to one branch of the engineering section and if a separate branch were to deal with agricultural machinery and implements. Where wells are numerous, it might be desirable to entrust the work on water-lifts to a third branch. All the activities of the agricultural engineering section should, however, be under the technical control of a senior engineer under the Director of Agriculture. This senior engineer could be selected either from the officers in the engineering section or from outside as necessitated by circumstances. Great care should be taken in the selection of the officer in charge of the work on implements and machinery. He should be a man who is not only an engineer but is also familiar with the use of agricultural machinery and implements. Amongst the most important problems to be dealt with by the engineering section is an enquiry into the capacity of the draught cattle of India with relation to the implements they are required to draw. Further, before discarding indigenous implements in favour of foreign designs, exhaustive trials are necessary to test the comparative merits of the two types under the conditions in which the cultivator works. In general, it may be laid down that the aim of the agricultural departments should be the evolution of a small number of types of implements and machinery suitable for a wide range of conditions and suitable also for mass production. In our view, the improvement of existing agricultural implements and machinery offers a more promising field than the introduction of new types.

It is desirable that, when new types have been evolved, their manufacture should be taken up by manufacturers in India. In order to overcome the difficulties of transporting such manufactures over the vast distances which one finds in India, we would suggest for the favourable consideration of the railway authorities a re-examination of railway freight rates on agricultural implements and machinery and the grant wherever possible of concessions. In this connection, it has also been represented to us that, whilst agricultural implements and machinery with a few exceptions are admitted into India free of duty, the high protective duties levied on imported iron and steel greatly increase the cost to the Indian manufacturer of his raw material whether imported or produced in India. We consider that this is a matter which might be investigated by the Indian Tariff Board.

Cultivators in dry and precarious tracts are those whose struggle for a livelihood is commonly the hardest. The problems of cultivation in such tracts in which crops are entirely dependent upon rainfall are, in our opinion, deserving of far closer attention than they have received from the agricultural departments.

The crops of the Indian cultivator like those of cultivators elsewhere are liable to suffer from insect pests and plant diseases. He is protected against the introduction of these from outside by the Destructive Insects and Pests Act (II of 1914). The rules framed under the Act are adequate but it is important that the co-operation of the maritime Indian States

should be secured, while Burma should consider the desirability of legislation to prevent the importation of pests and diseases from India. The Government of India as well as provincial governments should, as far as possible, strengthen their entomological and mycological staffs. It may also be advisable to frame provincial legislation to deal with internal pests and diseases, as has been done in Madras where an Agricultural Pests and Diseases Act was passed in 1919. Other dangers to crops are wild animals and vermin. The former can probably be dealt with by the grant of gun licenses on a more liberal scale, or by fencing if a cheap and effective method can be found. This is a matter for investigation by the agricultural departments. Where serious damage to crops is caused by vermin, a special staff might be organised for its destruction as in the Punjab and Sind.

A

serious obstacle to agricultural improvement is, in some

CHAPTER V OF THE MAIN REPORT.

provinces, caused by the subdivision and fragmentation of holdings. Subdivision is chiefly due to the laws of inheritance customary amongst Hindus and Muhammadans which enjoins a succession to immovable property amongst all the heirs usually in equal shares. Fragmentation is, in the main, due not to the laws of inheritance but to the method by which the law as to division of property amongst the heirs is carried into effect. The problem is being attacked by the Co-operative Department in the Punjab where some striking results have been achieved, and by legislation in the Central Provinces. The latter method is also proposed in Bombay. In paragraph 126 of the main Report, we state the general principles which, we think, should be adopted in any legislation designed to promote the consolidation of holdings.

IV.

In order that

DEMONSTRATION AND PROPAGANDA

CHAPTER VI OF THE

MAIN REPORT.

agricultural research may be of use to the cultivator, its results must be given to him in a form in which they may become a part of his ordinary practice. In a country in which illiteracy is so widespread as it is in India, ocular demonstration is the best method of convincing the cultivating classes of the advantages of agricultural improvement. But, before an improvement can be recommended for general adoption, it must be thoroughly tested on a government farm. It must be within the means of the cultivator to whom it is recommended and it must give a substantial financial advantage either in increased outturn or in the reduction of his cultivation expenses.

There are two methods of demonstration-the demonstration farm and the demonstration plot. Opinion is almost unanimous that the best and quickest method of influencing the practice of the cultivator is to demonstrate an improvement in crop or method on a small plot cultivated under departmental control or direction. This has the advantage of bringing the demonstration right into the heart of a village. The demonstration farm is open to the objection that it creates a suspicion in the mind of the cultivator that the methods by which it is cultivated are not applicable to his means and conditions. The farm buildings, which are often of a somewhat elaborate character, the superior cattle, the up-to-date implements and careful layout are apt to create an impression that the methods adopted are entirely beyond his means. Again, the influence of a demonstration farm is very limited and can only reach the cultivators in its immediate neighbourhood. If, however, a demonstration is carried out on the cultivator's own land, it is open to none of these objections. We admit, however, that demonstration farms may be necessary for special purposes, for example, to demonstrate the advantages of using a particular method of curing tobacco or of a small plant for making white sugar or high quality gur. In other words, we realise the necessity for special farms for demonstrations which involve industrial as well as agricultural operations. But, for demonstration of actual agricultural processes, we are of opinion that the demonstration plot is the most suitable.

As a rule, demonstration work should not be carried out on experimental farms. The conditions imposed by the experimental character of the work carried out on such farms are often of such a nature as to render the practices followed on them inapplicable to ordinary cultivators. There is, however, no objection to spare land on an experimental farm being set apart for demonstrations. We see positive advantages in seed farms being used as demonstration farms, provided the primary purpose of the farm is not detrimentally affected thereby. The seed farm affords special opportunities to the cultivator of secing the extent to which the adoption of improved methods of cultivation or the use of manures can increase the outturn of the seed issued to him.

A question which is often discussed is whether departmental farms should pay their way. Farms which have been established solely

for experimental work cannot be expected to do so. Receipts are an entirely secondary consideration in their case. Seed farms should ordinarily be expected to be at least self-supporting as far as their seed work is concerned. Demonstration farms established to demonstrate the possibility of commercial farming would obviously fail in their purpose if they did not yield a substantial profit. Where district and tehsil farms are opened to further the general propagandist work of the department, they should not necessarily be expected to pay.

We consider that short courses in particular subjects for cultivators given on demonstration and seed farms form an excellent means of establishing closer touch between the agricultural departments and the cultivator. These courses should be carefully thought out and a particular member of the staff should be detailed to give them. The question of providing stipends or free accommodation to attract cultivators is a matter for local settlement.

Two systems of demonstration on the cultivator's own fields are in vogue. In the first, a plot is hired for the demonstration and the cultivation is carried on throughout by the departmental staff. In the other, the cultivation is carried on by the cultivator himself from start to finish under the close supervision of the agricultural demonstrator. The first method has the advantage that more reliance can be placed on the data which are collected in the course of the demonstration; the second that, as all the work is done by the cultivator himself, he is placed in a better position to realise the true value of the improvement which is being demonstrated. Both methods have much to recommend them and we consider that they might well be tried in all provinces and the results compared.

The question arises whether the cultivator whose land is used for the purpose of demonstration should be guaranteed against any loss which may result. We consider the policy of giving guarantees to be one of doubtful expediency. It may be necessary if, without it, demonstration plots are not procurable. Even if no guarantee is given, some compensation should, of course, be made if, for any reason, failure in the methods adopted has involved the cultivator in loss.

There is no respect in which the short courses, the establishment of which we have referred to, should prove of more value than in promoting the use of improved implements, more especially if they include instruction not only in the use of the implements but also in their repair. We also consider that much could be done to popularise improved implements by peripatetic demonstrations. The demonstrators, wherever possible, should take with them a supply of spare parts and should be accompanied by an instructor who would teach the village smiths how to fit new parts and make adjustments and repairs. The use of the more expensive implements and machinery might extend more rapidly if suitable arrangements for hiring them out could be made either by the agricultural departments or by the manufacturers in consultation with the departments. We also desire to emphasise the importance of agricultural shows. These should include