Vermilion School of Agriculture - Yearbook (Vermilion, Alberta Canada)

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“FARMING IN INDIA” (Continued from page six) being filled in with cow-dung, and the roofs thatched with straw or palms. Mother earth supplies the necessary floor, and this is generally smoothened with frequent applications of liquid manure. Beds are a luxury, and then are crudely made of four posts, about a foot off the ground, with the necessary cross-pieces, and coir string criss-crossed to hold the scanty bedding; in most houses, a mat on the floor indicates the nightly resting place, and a thin sheet serves as the sole covering for the night, even in the coldest weather. Of other furniture, there is none. A mud oven may be inside the house, but is generally without. As for wall decorations, there is little to relieve the eye; perhaps a gaudily colored print of a god with several arms and heads, or of a figure possessing a squatting human, body and elephant’s head, (the god Ganpati). To the Western eye their habitations are almost untenable, more especially when a large family is clustered under a single small roof; yet the ryot’s contentment is almost blissful; his wife sweeps the floor, and occasionally applies an additional coat of cow-dung to it; her brass plates and aluminum dishes are kept assiduously clean by daily scrubbing them with mud and ashes; she has little trouble in dressing the children for their sole garment con¬ sists of a piece of string around the neck or waist, and she proves herself a veritable help-mate to her man. Wheat and rice are among the most important crops of India; in 1904, she was Britain’s largest wheat supplier, but has now fallen from that pre-eminent position. The annual wheat produced varies between 250.000,000 and 350,000,000 bushels, mostly soft varieties, and some hard Canadian wheats are imported for blending purposes. Rice is the staple food of the middle and better classes, and a fair quantity is also available for export. Millets supply the staple food of the ryot himself and the poo rer classes, and they grow prolifically; in some districts, better suited for its growth, gram (legume) takes the place of millets as the ryot’s main food. Linseed and castor seed are largely grown for export purposes; the linseed cake is also exported to the Continent, but the ryot recognizes its value for stock feeding if he can afford it. and the quality of the oil produced is recognized as of a high order—it is mostly consumed by indigenous paint companies. Such is the nature of Indian soil and climatic conditions, that it can produce almost any variety of cereal or fruit. The fruit orchards on the Himalayan slopes grown most European fruits,—though the Europeans will not admit to the taste and quality being equal to their home grown varieties—and the plains afford a vast profusion of tropical fruits. Tea and coffee cannot be excluded from the agricultural products of India; tea was introduced by European enterprise in the middle of the past century, and the majority of the tea-planters are English—and a lonely lot their s is too, with their vast estates staffed by coolies, (women, mostly, do the picking of the tender leaves to be later dried and used for tea), they seldom see a white face. Coffee is an indigenous plant, and is grown principally in the hotter regions of the south, the cultivation being largely followed by natives, though there are also several European coffee planters. The rainfall of India varies exceedingly; Cherapunji, in Bengal, holds a world’s record in submitting itself to a deluge averaging 500 inches a year; I have seen 1 2 inches—the yearly average in some parts of Canada fall in one day in Bombay, which has an average fall of 90 inches; but. this is not universal. Some tracts are particularly subject to drought. If it has been said that the Ind.an cultivator will not reform to modern advanced farming methods, he can surely teach his fellow worker on the prairies of Canada many instructive lessons in irrigation. His methods compare favorably with the colossal projects inaugurated by the govern¬ ment. Practically all the rain falls during the monsoon months, June to September, and it has behoved the ryot to devise means of watering the arid tracts. These are both ingenious and praiseworthy. I have seen farms in Canada skirting rivers and lakes, and the owners making no attempt to derive any benefit from their advantageous situations. Compare the methods of the Indian cultivator. Most faims have a substantial well, some 15 to 20 feet in diameter; these are located on the highest ground on the farm; a simple pulley is rigged up over the well, and a huge leather mussock capable of holding some 20 gallons of water is let down into the well, and pulled up by a rope over the pulley and attached to the yoke of the cattle. To lighten the task of the oxen, a slope is cut from the side of the well, down which they run. Arriving at the top, the mussock empties itself into an earthern or cement trough, from which it is fed to various parts of the farm by means of mud drains, built by hand. The ryot may be seen at his happiest irrigating his fields, for he balances himself on the rope attached to the oxen gaily chanting a bucolic song as the monotonous tramp up and down the slope continues. In some parts of the country, the cultivators bail water from a canal or river running by their lands, into a trough on higher land, and from this it is fed to their fields by the same clever system of mud drains. Rough holes are made in the sides of the drains through which the water flows to the fields, and these are easily closed with mud whenever necessary For bailing purposes a mussock or stout piece of matting is used with ropes attached to the four corners. Two or four laborers man these ropes, and lift the water to the trough on the higher level, keeping time the whiie to a song bawled out by one of the group. Occasionally, when the level of the land is appreciably higher than the water two troughs are made, and two gangs of water lifters ccme into play. Many Canadian farmers, situated near lakes or rivers might well emulate the Indians in their methods of irrigation. They have better means at their disposal in the shape of horses which are idle for a goodly portion of the year; they often have, or can readily procure a motor with which to pump water to their fields, and may use pipes instead of the rough mud d rains built by the Indian. At present they leave them¬ selves too much at the mercy of the elements. In regard to cattle, it has already been stated that oxen alone are used for farm work practically throughout the country near the Sind desert camels are hitched to the plow. The military authorities have some particularly splendid specimens of bullocks which are used for transport purposes, though these are now conceding place to the tractor; some of these animals possess magnificent, even terrifying horns branch¬ ing out to 4 and 5 feet between the tips. The buffalo—a cross between the wild bull and domestic cow—supplies a very rich milk, often too rich to feed to children, from which is made the best ghi or clarified butter with which most of the European cooking is done. This is too expensive for most Indians who use various oils. The cattle found on the farms are usually a sorry spectacle, due mainly to lack of pastures, and the ryot’s ignorance of proper breeding methods. Here again the poverty of the cultivator prohibits him experimenting in breeding methods; he cannot afford to buy good stock; in regard to pastures, he puts as much of his land as he can into a crop of some kind in order to make it as productive as possible. Cattle improvement is therefore left mainly to government agriculturalists. In many districts, goats represent the ryot’s dairy cattle, and supply him with his milk; it is not an uncommon sight to see the nanny-goats browsing on the dry parched plains with gunny bags tied round their udders, that their young may not deprive the owners of their milk supply. Although so desperately poor, the lot of the Indian ryot is gradually improving. The government agriculturalists strive to teach them the benefits of modern farming machinery and methods; they are attempting to improve the live-stock, and to unloose the strangle hold of the relent¬ less money-lenders; experiments are in progress towards improving seed (Continued on page 39) [ Page twenty-four ]

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Inter-School Dehate The Literary Committee T X he evening of Friday, March the sixth, found staff and students of the V.S.A. gathered in the assembly hall of the High School for the fourth successive debate between the two schools. Keen interest has always been shown in what has now become an annual event and this year, again, a large and appreciative audience listened to the contestants as they brought forward their arguments pro and con the New School Act. The resolution read: “Whereas the present system of school admin¬ istration in the Province of Alberta has proven inefficient, therefore be it resolved that the proposed changes as put forward by Hon. Perrin Baker be adopted.” Miss Lucille Erwine and Miss Ethel Shields up¬ held the resolution for the High School, and Mr. Thos. Hall and Miss Edith Hutchinson supported the negative. All except the last speaker had debated before, nevertheless she, too, showed a marked ability to speak in public and the standard of previous debates was well maintained. In his opening remarks, the chairman of the evening Dr. W. W. Bell outlined the system that it was proposed to follow in judging the debate. In order to test the ability of the audience everyone present was to be allowed to vote, though this vote was in no way to affect the decision of the judges, which was to be final. We were fortunate in having as judges Professor A. E. Ottewell of the University of Alberta, Mr. J. W. G. Morrison of Vermilion, and Rev. Halliday of Lloydminster. At the close of the debate, Prof. Ottewell in his usual kindly way, criticised each of the four speakers in turn and congratulated them on their effort. It remained for Dr. Bell to give the decision of the judges which proved to be in favor of the High School. This is the second consecutive win for the High School and the next debate therefore pro¬ mises to be even keenly contested, as each school has now won the cup twice. We must not forget to mention in closing the musical numbers given by members of the High School and the short programme put on by the Glee Club at the close of the debate, all of which were enjoyed thoroughly. Ed. Swindlehurst “Ladies and gentlemen, before I begin rry remarks I have something I should like to say to you. Mr. Whitbread (also might apply to Miss S.)— “I can do some¬ thing none else in the world can do.’ Mr. Turnbull “No, what is it?” B. J. W. “Read my own writing.’’ T X he Friday afternoon programmes sponsored by the Literary Committee have been most enjoyable and a good deal of unsuspected talent was brought to light for the entertainment of the students. Stump speeches and stunts of various kinds enlivened the various lit. periods, while budding violinists and soloists presented items of marked interest. Bob Mac¬ Donald delighted the gatherings on several occasions with solos played on an ordinary handsaw. After the Christmas vacation we enjoyed a talk given by Ian Mac- Lean on the work of the Boys’ Parliament, which he attended as Member for the Vermilion School of Agriculture. Plans for the future develop¬ ment of boys’ work in Alberta were outlined and an interesting resume of what has already been accomplished was given. The Literary Interclass competitions have provided an outlet for the enthusiasm of the various groups in the School and were very successful. The annual debate with the High School, held under the auspices of this Society, occasioned considerable interest and the account of this event, given elsewhere in the Yearbook, will be interesting to ex-students Social and Literary Committees Standing: Miss E. Hutchinson R. MacDonald Miss V. Latam Miss D. Hetherington R. Foster Miss J. Cochrane Seated: M. Reid S. Pawliuk D. Hay 1. MacLean [ Page twenty-three

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ThanlV ' fiir the Buggy UuLe { Page twenty-five ]