320 SCIENCE PROGRESS 



from " green manuring " i.e. planting leguminous crops between 

 the lines of the permanent cultivation, and hoeing them into the 

 ground when they grow up. In this way the nitrogen contents 

 of the soil, to say nothing of the humus, which is rarely present 

 in great quantity in the tropics, may be considerably increased 

 at small cost. 



The Experiment Stations work not only at the cultivation 

 of the various crops, but also at the best methods of harvesting 

 them and of preparing their produce for the market. Thus in 

 Ceylon much valuable work has been done upon the different 

 ways of preparing the best quality of marketable rubber, upon 

 the best ways of distilling oil of citronella or of lemon-grass, 

 upon the best ways of fermenting and drying cacao, and similar 

 problems. 



The work of the Experiment Stations was at first looked at 

 somewhat askance even by the European planting community, 

 for whose benefit the establishments were mainly designed ; 

 but a change has come over this, and now the stations are 

 visited almost daily by numbers of planters and other agri- 

 culturists, who come to see what is going on, and to find out, 

 in many instances, whether there is anything that they can 

 themselves try with some prospect of success. In fact, the 

 Experiment Stations are beginning to foster that most desirable 

 spirit among the planters, the experimental habit of mind. A 

 country in which the agriculturists are themselves ready and 

 anxious to try experiments upon both old and new products, 

 cannot fall very far behind in the race for agricultural prosperity. 



Not only is it desirable that private individuals should try 

 experiments upon their own land, but it is also of great 

 advantage in another way. It is obvious that the results of the 

 official experiments, say at Peradeniya, can only be of direct 

 applicability to the soil and climate of that particular place, and 

 to other places with similar soils and climates, while if they are 

 applied directly, say to the Kelani Valley district, which has a 

 more gravelly soil, and a much warmer and much wetter climate, 

 they may fail utterly. Hence they require to be very carefully 

 carried out and understood, and to apply them to other districts 

 needs the personal attention of the actual officer who carried 

 out the experiments, and who will therefore understand, as well 

 as can be understood, the modifications that they may require 

 before being applied to new districts. For this among other 



