Saidapet Town
This article has been extracted from THE IMPERIAL GAZETTEER OF INDIA , 1908. OXFORD, AT THE CLARENDON PRESS. |
Note: National, provincial and district boundaries have changed considerably since 1908. Typically, old states, ‘divisions’ and districts have been broken into smaller units, and many tahsils upgraded to districts. Some units have since been renamed. Therefore, this article is being posted mainly for its historical value.
Saidapet Town
Head-quarters of the taluk of the same name and of Chmgleput District, Madras, situated in 13 2' N. and 80 13' E , 5 miles from Fort St. George. Population (1901), 14,254. The Dis- trict head-quarters have been located here since 1859. The Collector's office and treasury are in a building called Home's Gardens, which has of late been much enlarged and improved, and which also contains the offices of a Deputy-Collector and of the taJisilddr and stationary sub- magistrate. Saidapet is practically a suburb of Madras, and as the South Indian line connects it with the business quarters of that city it is the residence of many officials and otheis. Weaving and dyeing are its chief industries. The handsome Marmalong bridge across the Adyar river, built in the early days of Madras by an Armenian merchant named Petrus Uscan, connects the place with St. Thomas's Mount, This has an endowment in Government securities, the interest on which is utilized foi its repair and for the upkeep of the steps leading up the Mount.
The most notable institutions in Saidapet aie the Agricultural College and the Teachers' College. The latter is under the management of a European principal, aided by a staff of assistants, and is designed to instruct persons who are taking up teaching as a profession in the theory and practice of that art A high school is attached to give the students an opportunity of practising, and there is also a well-equipped gymna- sium. The Agricultural College originated as a model farm, established in 1865, during the Governorship of Sir William Denison. In this many important agricultural experiments were made, some of which pioduced encoui aging results, indicating the general directions in which improvements might be effected in the agriculture of the country. Attention was given to subsoil drainage, improved tillage, the restora- tion of exhausted soils, the proper utilization of irrigation water, the fertilization of arable soils by the use of lime, saltpetre, oil-cake, pouarette, and other manures available in Southern India but little used by the ryots \ the introduction of new crops suited to the climate and adapted for cultivation under an impioving agricultural practice ; the production of live fences to afford protection from cattle, shelter from wind, and fuelj the introduction of water-lifts, barn machines, carts, ploughs, cultivators, cattle-houses, reapmg-knives, &c , of im- proved construction ; and the improvement of the live-stock of the country by careful feeding and breeding and by acclimatizing new breeds. In 1876 a school of agriculture was opened to extend the practical utility of the experiments The institution was later raised to the status of a college, and a handsome building and museum have been erected, A chemical laboratory is attached to it and a veterinary hospital has been opened. The college is intended to afford instruction to persons who desire to become acquainted with the theory and practice of agncultuie, and is under the charge of a principal, a vice-principal, and five assistants. Experimental work at the farm has now been given up, the cropping done being no more than is necessary for educational purposes, but other experimental farms have been established in more suitable localities. The college itself is shortly to be transferred to a more suitable site at Coimbatore.
