82

AGRICULTURE.

work is the business of the Experiment Stations, of which
there are at present two, one of over 200 acres (exclusive of
a large reserve of forest land) at Peradeniya in the wet zone,
and another of 150 acres at Maha-iluppalama in the dry
zone ; the latter has been temporarily established with the
object of trying cotton and a few other products on irrigable
and unirrigableland. Onthe Peradeniya station experiments
are tried on a commercial scale : (1) with the existing staple
products of the Island, such as tea, cacao, citronella oil, &amp;e.,
with the view of finding out the best manures, improving
the methods of eultivation and preparation, selecting the
best seed for propagation, &amp;e. ; and (2) with products not
as yet staples, but which give hope of becoming such,
e.g., peanuts, castor oil, &amp;c.
Thus the Department of the Royal Botanic Gardens
provides a bureau of technical scientific information and
advice, to which any one may apply for information, advice,
or help in any matter connected with agriculture, horticul.
ture, botany, entomology, or allied subjects. To it apply in
ever-increasing numbers those whose crops are troubled
with insect or fungus diseases, those who think of trying
some new product which they have not hitherto attempted
bo cultivate, those who wish for advice as to what to growin
some newly opened district, or who wish for help in their
gardening difficulties, and so on. The information gathered
by the Department by means of experiments, reading, and
correspondence is placed freely at the service of all by
publications, personal interviews, visits to estates and
districts, lectures, and a large correspondence.
In relation to this Department and under the Department
of Public Instruction there exists a useful organization for
the improvement of village agriculture and gardening, in
the form of School Gardens, ag deseribed in Chapter III,
This organization depends largely upon the Botanic Gardens
for the supply of plants and information, and forms a means
of introducing new cultivations into the villages.

Tea.

The rise of the tea industry of Ceylon affords one of
the most remarkable instances of rapid development of an
agricultural pursuit, especially when the previous history
of the planting industry is remembered. In 1875 there
were barely 1,000 acres planted with tea. During the next
ten years of depression, due to the failure of coffee, this
acreage increased to 102,000; by 1889 it attained 205,000, by
1893 305,000, and it is now about 385,000. The Island