Vol. XIIL No. 311. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



101 



GREEN DRESSINGS. 



EXPERIENCE IN JAVA. 



Trials with green dressings have been conducted 

 ill liiiiteiizorg, Java, during the past four years, and 

 the following extracts from a translation appearing in 

 the Kcu- Bulletin of Miscellaneous I o formation 

 (No. 1, 1914) should prove of particular interest to 

 readers who are connected with orchard cultivation in 

 the Tropics: — 



Leitcaena ylattca, Benth. ThLs is one of the oldest 

 manurial plants under trial: it has been used about six years 

 in the gardens and it still gives great satisfaction. The 

 Leucaena or Lamotoro can be used in different ways, the 

 growth should be kept in check according to the plants 

 cultivated. In young coffee plantations it should be kept 

 down, but it may be grown higher underneath Hevea, Ficus, 

 and Cocoa-nut palms. Lamotoro requires fairly good soil: it 

 does not grow much more than 6 inches and looks very 

 sickly in poor soil. 



In West Java the growth is not as vigorous as it is in 

 the East and in Middle Java. Lamotoro may be planted from 

 tea-level up to 3,500 feet. It was noticed that seeds 

 germinated better and grew more quickly, when they were 

 sown at the end of the East monsoon, than did those which 

 were sown in the full rainy season Lauiotoro produces 

 jilenty of seed, but it soon loses its capacity for germination. 

 One cannot count upon more than -"lO per cent, germination 

 after the seed has been kept for lour or five months. The 

 seed may be sown in lines as well as scattered in the planta- 

 tion. In Coffee and Hevea plantations it is advisable to 

 sow the seed at once in broad bands between the trees The 

 seed will germinate in about a week's time. As long as the 

 soil remains uncovered, weeding about every three or four 

 weeks will be needed. Pruning can be done at intervals of 

 three or five months. The Leucaena is not much attacked 

 by blight or fungi, and will also grow fairly well in half 

 shade. One of the faults of this plant ia that the leaves do 

 not last long: the fine leaflets decay after a few days and 

 only the branches and leaf stems remain. 



For this reason the Lamotoro is not very effective as 

 a covering for the soil, and it does not protect the plants 

 amons which it may be growing against drought as well as 

 does Clitnvia cajanifolia, the next plant to be described. 



Clitoria cajanifolia, Earth. This plant grows best 

 below 2,000 feet and is one of the best for covering the soil; 

 it is also much used to plant on terraces to prevent the soil 

 from washing away. It lives long and stands cutting very 

 well. In plantations, where it has been sown for three years, 

 it does not seem to die away or lose its vitality. One great 

 advantage of this plant is, that when it has been cut down, 

 it spreads itself over the ground. The sowing is rather 

 troublesome, as the seeds are very sticky and adhere to the 

 fingers. The seed should be sown in lines, half a pod in each 

 hole, and they should not be washed before sowing, because 

 they do not germinate very well after washing. The quickest 

 way in which a piece of ground may be covered is by sowing 

 the seed in lines from 6 to 12 inches apart; after about 

 four months the soil will be covered and the plants can then 

 be cut over every four or five months. 



Clitoria is recommended for planting in Hevea and 

 'Coffee Plantations. One great advantage of this plant is, 

 "that the leaves are tough and last a long time. If the leaves 

 be cut in the dry season and laid round the Coffee plants 



and Hevea trees, they will last a long time and the plants 

 will not suffer much from drought; the plants also frequently 

 put out a crop of fresh leaves when they have been cut over. 



Clitoria like Lamotoro does not suffer from insect pssts or 

 fungal diseases. 



A further point in tavour of this plant is that neither the 

 leaves nor seeds are eaten by human beings or animals. 



Before proceeding to a description of the results 

 obtained with the species dealt with below, a few notes 

 are presented in the article with regard to Tephrosia 

 spp. It is stated that the great value of the Tephro- 

 sias, apart from their other good qualities, is that they 

 do better in soil of poor quality than Leucaena or 

 Clitoria. Although T. Hooleriana, Wight and Arn., 

 var. araocna, Prain (often wrongly called T. purpurea) 

 has given good results at high altitudes, the most 

 useful species has been found to be T. Candida, which 

 agrees with West Indian experience. To continue 

 with the extracts we come to — 



DesixoJium gyroides, D.C. This plant is the most 

 valuable of the many species of Desmodium known to us at 

 present. It grows in bushy form and produces many leaves; 

 it can also be cut to any height, and lives a long time 

 D. yyroides is to be found in the neighbourhood of Plaboean- 

 ratoe, up to 2, -500 feet. It produces a quantity of seed, 

 which is very small, and is therefore advisable to sow it in 

 lines. The seed will germinate in about a fortnight. One 

 drawback to the use of this plant, however, is that often 

 many of the young plants die shortly after they appear 

 above the ground for some reason which has not yet been 

 satisfactorily explained. 



This Desmodium is considered to be a very good 

 manurial plant for coffee and Hevea plantations, since it 

 produces numerous leaves, which form a fairly thick humus 

 layer. It does not suffer from any disease; the only fault 

 to be found with it is, that some of the plants, after being 

 pruned a couple of times, may be attacked by Corticiam, 

 salmonicolor. If the injured plants be removed immediately, 

 however, there is no fear of any harm being done to the 

 cultivated plants. 



Indiyonra Anil, Linn. This plant is of a bushy habit. 

 The seed is very small, and is sown in lines 18 inches to 

 2 feet apart; it will germinate in about seven to nine 

 days. When first the seedlings show above ground it is 

 almost impossible to weed amongst them, but after a month 

 to a month and a half the difference between plants and 

 weeds becomes sutliciently distinct for the weeds to be 

 identified. The plantation will be covered with a dense 

 growth after three or four months, and the plants can be 

 cut back after six or seven months. 



The plant lives about two and a half years. 



Another Indigofera {/. hirsata) has also been tried, but 

 it does not live so long as /. Anil, and as it can only be cut 

 once, it has not proved as useful as that species. 



It is stated in Bulletin No. 18 of the Department of 

 Agriculture, Federated Malay States, that considerable interest 

 was aroused lately as to the possibility of growing indigo 

 (Indigifera arrecta) as a catch crop among rubber. On 

 some areas the plant has grown satisfactorily. In view of 

 the quite recent revival of the demand for indigo, the idea 

 of growing the plant as a cover crop seems to be worth con- 

 sideration in the Tropics generally. 



