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PUBLIC

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Is Is de la Iz Is

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whole establishment reduced to a care and maintenance basis I fear that it may be so disheartening as to destroy to a large extent the initiative and enthusiasm of an experienced officer who is capable of excellent work. I would strongly urge that if it is possible Mr. Sale be transferred elsewhere and the Department left for the time being in charge of the Assistant Conservator, though this state of things should not be allowed to continue for too long. If, however, it is not possible to transfer Mr. Sale at once I hope that another post may be found for him at the first opportunity. In that case possibly another opening outside the Colony might be found for Mr. de Carcenac, who is a trained officer of a type who may do very well in proper conditions. His capacities and energies would inevitably deteriorate, however, if he were left too long unsupervised under local conditions in Mauritius.

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22. The schemes of forestry development which have been sub- mitted by Mr. Sale come in for some severe criticism at the Com- missioners' hands on the ground of their "sketchy and incom- plete character. In fairness to Mr. Sale it should be pointed out that the incomplete character of these schemes was fully recognized by him but that without trained staff and with the burden of the existing routine to be borne it was literally impossible that a complete scheme with working plans, surveys, and estimates of costs should have been prepared. The first essential was the crea- tion of an organization capable of preparing and producing these plans and the scheme of opening up communications and providing quarters for staff which had been submitted was a necessary feature in the creation of an efficient staff. To justify this outlay it was however necessary that the future possibilities of forest develop- ment should be adumbrated and carefully reviewed, but it was in- possible to provide the detailed information which a definite plan of forest development requires. Further examination of costs and the development of a detailed plan might well have tended to show that Mr. Sale's forecast was correct and the Commisioners' view wrong. Their fears as to the possibilities of an overproduction of timber in the future with the consequent absence of export markets and a repetition in Mauritius of the position which has occurred in the case of sugar might or might not prove correct-I do not attempt to judge-but such arguments might equally well be advanced against almost any form of development. It is a fact in any case that Mauritius does offer the possibilities of pro- ducing a good stand of timber of a type for which the demand is likely to grow, that this can be done on public lands under favourable conditions as to the compactness and accessibility of the areas developed, and that their development offers possibilities of an alternative industry which could be established more cheaply as to capital cost than any other on an equal scale. I agree that it may be necessary to postpone any attempt at such development during the present crisis but I cannot agree that all thoughts of forest development in the future must be definitely abandoned.

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Agricultural Department.

23. Apart from proposals for the classification of the estimates and accounts of the Department, with which subject to reserva- tions in detail I am generally in accord, the principal changes proposed by the report are:-

(1) the abolition of the scheme for destruction of the Phytalus pest as now carried on by the Department;

(2) a change in the relations of the Department with the Agricultural College;

(3) the abolition of the Farm School."

24. Much of the criticism of the position into which the Depart- ment of Agriculture has been led in connection with the campaign against the Phytalus beetle is I think fully justified. The existence of the Improvement and Development Fund which was subscribed by the sugar industry and on which in the public mind that indus- try has the first claim has been largely instrumental in creating the present situation. If however it is suggested that the campaign for the control of Phytalus beetle should be left to the individual and unorganized initiative of planters I am entirely unable to agree. The proposals in this respect as furnished to me are not clear and may be modified in the report as presented. The draft furnished to me however states that "the special export duty levied for this purpose (destruction of Phytalus beetle) should no longer be collected. The posts of the Phytalus officers should at once be abolished. The task of dealing with Phytalus by these direct methods should now be left to the planters themselves." If this means that each individual planter is to be left to deal with it at his own expense the proposal shows a complete lack of appreciation of the difficulties to be encountered in dealing with serious agricultural pests under tropical conditions and of the mentality of the average planter, particularly in the case of small holdings. I have no hesitation in saying from experience elsewhere and in Mauritius that the adoption of such a policy would be equivalent to the abandonment of all effort to control the pest. I agree that the expense of collecting beetles should not fall upon the Government but I consider that the collection of the special duty or cess" for Phytalus destruction should be continued and the tate increased, the proceeds being handed over to a Com- mittee of the Board of Agriculture or other similar body, and the process of control of the collection of beetles carried on as at present, but under their organization and supervision with such advice and assistance as the Department is able to afford.

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25. The proposals in relation to the Agricultural College again are not clear to my mind. It is suggested that the College is an expensive institution for the limited purposes which it achieves

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