Page:The Economic Journal Volume 1.djvu/479

LAND REVENUE IN MADRAS 457 the period of extension of tillage to all wastes available. By far the most valuable of the wastes which remain are in process of being reserved for forests ? in the interests of all by the State. One effect of the general enclosure of existing holdings would be to improve the condition of cattle as instruments of tillage, makers of manure, or producers of milk, butter, and cheese. Public health would be greatly benefited by the exclusion from dwelling- houses and from the courts of crowded villages of the dairy cattle and a large proportion of the working cattle now stalled therein at night. The available fuel of the country would be increased by the loppings of the bush fences, which several indigenous shrubs are well able to supply; fibre-producing plants could often form these fences. The health of cattle fed in enclosures on the fodder grown therein with the aid of their manure no longer wasted, would be far more vigorous, they would not lose condition for want of shelter, and the breeds might be improved. The ex- perience of farmers in sub-tropical climates in America has proved the possibility of packing and preserving fruit and vege- tables of all kinds. As the growth of industries mitigates the poverty of the Hindus, the demand for garden produce in the growing towns will vastly increase; it will be profitable and easy to supply. such a demand: under irrigation market gardening cannot fail. Another suggestion or two from my own experience may be added. The uses of lard in English cookery are supplied in India by clarified butter; this article if well made and properly packed can be kept for long periods in wholesome and palatable condi- tion; the demand for it which has arisen in Australia has been met from Bombay to a limited extent. The aid of the best modern dairy appliances enormously increases the production of clarified butter per gallon of milk, and their use in a tropical climate is specially preferable to that of ruder methods. For the pur- pose of this special production the buffalo much excels the cow whether of Indian or European breeds; with the improve- ment in pasture and fodder a great trade in clarified butter rn?ght spring up. In the Deccan districts a tract of light rainfall is favourable to sheep farming; the introduction of a few merino rams from Queensland (where the breed has been acclimatized to the tropics) would greatly improve the local breed. Most useful serge frieze and blankets are now produced, they only need a little more length of staple and lustre in the wool to be of excellent quality.